Shannon Whalen-Saraswate described to the 622 on 21 January 2008 what Harambee and Crosswinds have meant for her daughter.
I am sure you all have received numerous emails why District 622 should slow down its decision making on whether to withdraw from EMID. While I agree with all of the concerned parents, I am not going to restate the reasons. I will tell you as a parent to another parent why EMID has changed the life of my oldest daughter. I have two children that attend EMID. Unlike most others, we have attended EMID for only three years. We attended neighborhood schools prior. I have a daughter that is now in the 6th grade. My family in a multicultural family, my husband is from India. We chose EMID for many reasons and its diversity was very important. While this may be obvious, what isn't is that children get tired of having to explain that no they are not adopted and they are not of a particular heritage. Why should they continue to have to explain it?
Walking into Harambee, there was no questioning my daughter's heritage because others looked so much like her and so different from her. Her heritage was valued. We have a culture fest to incorporate all of the students ethnicity and traditions.
My daughter through her school years never connected with any teacher, she was always the problem. Not at Harambee! Her first teacher is an amazing man and teacher. He showed her that teachers care about students and their family. He involved the family is decisions regarding their child. When my daughter was in the 6th grade, her life changed academically. She had this amazing woman who understood that her personality is a gift and she brought out the best in my child. For the first time in her life my daughter learned that a female teacher cared about her and didn't want her to change her but to help her grow. What happens when children feel valued, loved and trusted in school? They flourish. My child struggles with reading and those so important standardized tests. Her teacher and her set a goal to improve her scores. As I am sure you can guess, she surpassed this goal. She made it to grade level in reading. Imagine how my daughter felt. She was accountable to not only herself but to her teacher as well and she didn't want to let her down.
Our students do better when they are in an enviroment when they feel valued. While I am confident District 622 have teachers that are similar, there would be none better than what we have here. Our schools incorporate academics with diversity.
I ask you to put yourself in my child's shoes and having to go to a new school at her grade. When she started Crosswinds for 6th grade, she wasn't asked where she was from but she was asked if she was "Jim"'s sister because they looked like twins. How much better could it be to be asked if a boy whom you don't know is related because you look like him? I call that fitting right in. How do you suppose her grades will be in this environment?
I urge you to look at this decision more carefully and take more time to understand its human impact and not only the financial impact. Please visit our schools and see what happens everyday!