IYKMM Belonging at Park Day

[00:00:00] Speaker A: If you really knew me? If you really knew me? If you really knew me? [00:00:05] Speaker B: If you really knew me, you would know. [00:00:07] Speaker A: Hey, who are you? Who, me? Yeah, you. [00:00:11] Speaker C: It's Monday. [00:00:21] Speaker A: Oh, hi, it's you again. Glad you're back for another episode of if you knew me Mondays, a student powered park day inspired podcast that builds belonging by sharing stories and perspectives from the margins of our school and community. Say what? It's Tuesday afternoon in the podcast club, and we're sitting around at the table talking about the importance of belonging at park Day. My name is Zadie, and if you really knew me, you would know that my dad lives in Las Vegas and me and my sister try to visit him every other weekend. And I'm Shay. If you really knew me, you would know that my dog's name is Zayn. And we named him this because in Hindi it means guiding light. We got him during COVID and he brought so much joy to our family. [00:01:08] Speaker B: And I'm Lucas. If you really knew me, you would know that I have a cat named Sophie. From some angles, she looks black, although from others she looks gray and white. [00:01:17] Speaker A: Like Lucas's cat, Sophie. All of us have multiple sides of who we are, and what side you see depends on what angle you look from. Our identities encompass so much our race, gender, culture, and so much more. Each of these parts of yourself aren't always visible, and they show up at different times depending on where you are and what you're doing. For example, at home you might be quiet and relaxed, yet at school you might be loud and energetic. I agree. When I'm with my extended family, I notice that I'm more aware of how I'm being perceived, especially by my elders. When I'm with them, I'm a lot more formal and quiet. I use my best manners, but when I'm with my friends, I am much more comfortable with being a little less unfiltered and more extroverted. [00:02:06] Speaker B: One way to describe this when someone feels like they are free is belonging. Belonging is the opposite of othering. When someone is treated like they don't belong, especially because of their identity or differences. [00:02:19] Speaker A: The three of us and our podcast crew all have different perspectives of what belonging means in our park day school community. For me, I think that belonging is the effort that everyone puts in to know everyone's names, pronouns, and preferences. [00:02:34] Speaker B: One thing that comes to mind for me is being greeted by our head of school, Angela and others as I walk or roll through the school gates every morning. [00:02:42] Speaker A: And I think that it means having a safe place where you can express your thoughts, ideas and opinions. For example, our middle school affinity groups are exactly that. As an indian sri lankan student in my other classes, I don't learn much about my own culture. Yet in affinity groups, I can. I can also be around people who are like me. If the three of us have such a different ideas on this topic, you can imagine how many perspectives there are in our school community. [00:03:11] Speaker B: Well, we took this question across our campus to find out what others think about what belonging looks, feels, and even sounds like. And although we won't be able to hear from everyone, we ended up with a pretty strong sample of our community voices. We're glad you joined us today and hope that this episode inspires your own reflection on how you belong at park day. [00:03:35] Speaker D: Okay, I'm Rachel Stone. I teach 6th grade humanities. And to me, thinking about belonging at park day, I always think about the feeling that I get here, that everyone is truly invited to be their full selves. And I feel that personally as an adult on campus. And I hope that the students feel that too. [00:03:56] Speaker E: Hi, my name is Scott. I'm a fifth grade assistant teacher. And one of the things that makes me feel belonging is the community that's here and the fact that everyone knows each other's names and everyone's really friendly. And if you don't know anyone's name, they're not, like, offended. They say who you are and then next time you see them, you're like, hey, you. And they're like, hey, you. And then that's community. So that's one of the things that really makes me feel like I belong here. Also the fact that everybody knows my name and the fact that everybody sings park day. See, there it is. [00:04:28] Speaker A: Hello, my name is Logan, I'm in 7th grade and belonging to me in park day is fitting in and making friends in our community. Hi, my name is Jubie and I'm in kindergarten. I'm in Victoria and Paola's class. And what makes me feel included is when my friends include me into games. Hi, my name is Juno. I'm in Victoria Paola's class. And the thing that makes me feel included is that I have so many amazing friends. What makes me feel belong to park day? My friends are really kind to me and I love my teachers. Hi, my name is Sauea, and what I think makes me feel that I belong at pipe day. Last year, when it was my first year, everyone was nice to me. Hi, my name is Camillo, I'm in third grade and it's my first year and the things that make me feel welcomed are how my friends play with me. My name is Simone, I'm in third grade in Denise's class. And what helps me feel included is when everybody includes me in projects. And it's not like you can't help us. I feel like I won't be lonely and everybody is so nice and they ask me to be friends with them. Hi, my name is Zahara, I'm in fifth grade and I've been at park day for four years. And something that I feel like I belong here is the teachers and my friends, and I feel very supported. [00:06:25] Speaker F: My name is Desi, I'm in 6th grade and my first really big sense of belonging here at Park Day was our first 6th grade meetup. And someone came up to me and they introduced themselves and it just made me feel so welcomed and I just felt like, this is perfect, this is the right school. [00:06:45] Speaker A: Hi, my name is Kieran and I'm in third grade. Something that really made me feel like I belong. When it started back three and a half years ago, there's other kids who are just coming in, so you sort of bond together if you're both new and then you find other friends, and then those friends have friends that you become friends with. So it's just this whole friendly community. You might remember when you were in kindergarten, when you were completely new, and how other people who are the same age as you and who are also completely new helped you feel seen and welcomed. When I was new to park day, I went into the first day of school knowing one person. I left school that day knowing at least ten people from each class. Over the course of that week, I developed friendships that would last until now. [00:07:45] Speaker B: When we went around campus talking to other students about belonging, there was one thing that a couple people mentioned. It was affinity groups. Affinity groups can help you express yourself with other people that share the same traits as you. For some people, they might have the same experiences as you. In affinity groups, you can be yourself with no one judging you for who you are. [00:08:05] Speaker A: Belonging really means in affinity groups. It's a space where we all have a common connection and we can go on trips together. For example, when I was in 6th grade, the whole asian affinity group went kayaking, and that was like a good experience to have a fun experience with people who you can relate with. [00:08:25] Speaker G: Soila Professor Despanol de Middle School what does belonging mean to me? Belonging, I think, is when I can see a reflection of myself, either in a whole campus, in a corner of a campus, maybe in a morning where I can feel seen or have my personality reflected in anything. [00:08:52] Speaker C: All right. My name is Sarah. I've been at Park Day. This is my 10th year, my third year teaching first grade, and before that, I was the fourth and fifth grade teaching assistant. And probably one of the first times that I really felt like I belonged here at Park Day was attending my first pride assembly, where I hadn't really come out as a teacher that was part of the LGBTQAI community, and I didn't really know a lot of families that were. And being at that assembly just made me feel really connected and kind of held in a way that hadn't happened yet. And then when my child attended middle school, I think that was another way for her to feel that this would be a safe space, a welcoming place where we could belong as a family, as part of the LGBTQAI families here. My name is Karina. I'm a teacher assistant in second grade, and I think belonging to me means making space for people in your communities and introducing people from your communities to new ones. I've had the opportunity to bring my grandpa to campus, talk a lot about Latinx Heritage month with my students, make it of Brenda in the second grade hallway, and it was really awesome to have students be integrated into that piece of my culture. [00:10:14] Speaker A: In addition, many people in our community felt like they were represented and feel like they belong when they're reflected in the community and when they have a safe place where they can be themselves. This is important because, as Karina said, having a safe place can help you feel like you belong, whether that's making an a frienda for Dia de Muertos to honor your culture or sharing your culture with others alike, having a place where you are culturally represented is important in so many ways. As you've heard, a sense of belonging is often about a feeling. But walking around campus, we've noticed some of these feelings are stronger in certain places. For example, have you noticed how busy it is during recess on the field? There can be two or more communities there gathered at the same time. You can find the soccer lovers laughing while they fight for the ball, while simultaneously across the field, the unofficial school gymnastics team is tumbling on mats in their own corner. When you step back from the field and look around, you can see all kinds of spaces of belonging within the larger school campus. You can find the ballers at the basketball court, the middle schoolers sitting down and chilling at the rainbow chairs. It seems like everywhere you look, there are different groups of people connecting through their shared interests and identities. In addition to some of these more informal spaces at Park Day, there are a lot of spaces designed specifically for you to belong. You can find groups like the eco llamas hanging out at the chicken coop and the GSA members socializing in Profess Gracia's room. Of course, there are affinity groups that we mentioned earlier. And then there's our school counselor's office. Emma's room creates a place where students can be vulnerable and express their feelings and identities. Here's Emma now. [00:12:07] Speaker C: Hi, all. This is Emma, Park Day's school counselor. And today I just want to share about how my office not only has a bunch of toys and a cushy blob to hang out on, but it is a place and a safe space to build belonging and connection between students. And one of the ways that we can do that in here is really listening with our whole bodies and our whole hearts in here. And that means that everyone shares the air. So when students come in as a group, often we use talking pieces or I help facilitate in ways so every single voice can be heard, so we can come to an agreement together and resolve issues in a shared way. [00:12:50] Speaker B: And there's the efforts our learning specialists make to build belonging for our neurodiverse students. [00:12:55] Speaker C: Hi, this is Carrie Cartman. I'm the middle school learning specialist at Park Day School. In addition to being the learning specialist here, I work as an educational therapist. And the work that I do, I feel, is very important to creating a community of belonging because I specialize in helping people, in this case, students who have learning differences or disabilities, to access education in a way that works best for them and that allows them to show their intelligence and their creativity. And a big part of that is awakening the people around them, whether that's students, staff, teachers, parents, many people, to the fact that we don't all learn in the same way, but we all deserve to be respected for how we learn, and we look for ways to make it equitable so that everybody can learn in a way that's meaningful. [00:13:57] Speaker A: Hi, my name is Victoria. I teach kindergarten here at Park Day school. And what does belonging mean to me? Belonging means having colleagues and friends at work that kind of see me for who I am. And so when I come to work, it kind of feels more than just work colleagues. It feels like friends and having a really tight community that you can grow and learn from and also spend time with at your job, which is where you spend a lot of hours, and then also creating that community within your classroom. So it feels like a little family just within your classroom too. Hi, my name is Robin and I'm in first grade in Danny and Yesi's class. And what feels like I belong at Park Day is mindfulness. My name is Selum and I'm in first grade and I'm in Danny's class and it makes me feel that I belong here because I like art and craft. Hi, my name is Alder. I'm in 8th grade here and what it means to belong here is, I guess anyone can belong no matter what. After our adventure around campus, we're finally back at the podcast room. We talked to over 20 students and staff and like our own podcast club, the voices we heard from all had different ways of thinking about and experiencing belonging. [00:15:27] Speaker B: A recurring topic we noticed was that when students are with their friends, they especially feel a sense of belonging. [00:15:35] Speaker A: Now we want to hear from you. Has there ever been a time when you feel like you truly belonged at Park Day or somewhere else? Share your stories with us on this episode's padlet, you can share your experiences and hear from others in the community after the episode ends. That's a great place to keep the conversation going after all, the more we talk about this topic, the more we're able to learn from each other's experiences. That's what this podcast is all about. Before we go, this is a friendly reminder that if you knew me, Mondays is a place where you will always belong. So please subscribe and while you're at it, share this episode with your friends and family. Once again, we're your hosts, Shay, Lucas, and Zadie. Thank you again for listening, and don't forget Alder's words of wisdom. Anyone can belong, no matter what. That does it. See you next time.