Kelly Lamb’s daughter was just 5 years old when she became the target of racially motivated bullying in school. When the concerned parent asked her daughter what the school should do about the situation, the child replied that she wanted a Black teacher, to show her classmates that it’s OK to have brown skin like hers.
Lamb, who lives in Easton, said the district had no educators of color, so she found other ways to address the very real need raised by her daughter: How do we represent and demonstrate diverse cultural perspectives in public schools when the state’s teaching force is overwhelmingly white?
In 2019, Lamb and others developed Raising Multicultural Kids, a program that trains BIPOC college students and other facilitators of color to visit elementary schools and present a curriculum on culture, race and identity. Lamb and co-founder Denise Lane have experience in education and program development, and over time built a team of experts to create and deploy the curriculum and trainings.
Easton Public Schools was the first district to adopt Raising Multicultural Kids, and Lane said the support from school administrators and educators was key to the success and growth of the program.
Students read books chosen for their ability that promote cultural awareness, spark conversation and cultivate culturally responsive classrooms. While the trained diversity leaders visit their classes weekly and lead discussions on the readings, classroom educators also attend the sessions, in hopes of fostering additional opportunities to address students’ cultural curiosity.
"Teachers have enjoyed it and it becomes a form of (professional development)," Lamb said.
With grant support from the MTA and state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Raising Multicultural Kids has been able to "professionalize," hiring RMK cofounder Lane as an executive director who oversees recruiting, training and placement of diversity leaders.
RMK programs are currently in the Easton and Hull elementary schools and will soon be available in Quincy’s afterschool groups.
The MTA recently provided another grant to RMK, and Lane said the additional funding will help the organization deepen its commitment to seeing more educators of color working full time in Massachusetts public schools.
"We want to create a pipeline of educators of color. We want a diverse school staff in general, meaning social workers, adjustment counselors and others who support students," Lane said.
Lamb said that a "lack of representation leads to a lack of representation," so when young people of color do not see other young people of color working in public schools, that can dissuade them from following that career path.
"But we have had success. A student (at Bridgewater State University) studying to be a social worker was encouraged to become an adjustment counselor in schools after being a diversity leader in our program," she said.
Kyanna Oliveira, another student at Bridgewater State, said she chose to become an educator because she never saw teachers who looked like her when she was in school. Becoming a diversity leader for RMK was not something she planned out in advance, but it certainly has contributed to her training.
Oliveira has led reading group discussions for elementary students in Easton, working weekly over the past two years with students ranging from preK to fourth grade.
"The older kids get into the conversations and really want to tell you what they know and share what they have seen. The little kids are just figuring it all out," Oliveira said.
The conversations have gone far and wide. A segment on clothing triggered a chat about the time a student saw a man wearing a kilt. In another instance, a young girl was able to express her pride in having perseverance through a poster design exercise.
"I see their minds turn on during our sessions," Oliveira said. "And I have learned a lot too."
The progression of work through the RMK curriculum begins with identity, Lamb said, allowing students to express themselves as individuals in a way that leads into talking about building community. Finally, students can talk about advocacy so cultural awareness becomes a normal and comfortable part of the school experience.
"There is such a deep need for this kind of work. We listen to teachers throughout the process and pivot as needed," Lane said. "Working closely with educators, we see how they are learning how to open up to students in ways that strengthen relationships and improve learning overall."
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