URBANA, III (WAND) - “I think that the presence of someone who looks like you is a constant reminder of what is possible."
Diversity in schools, not just in students but among faculty and staff, can make a difference in the lives of students. Urbana Middle School is trailblazing through a high diversity standard and they aren't stopping anytime soon.
Associate Assistant Principal, Patrick Russell, tells WAND News about the power a diverse teaching staff holds. "It's a very powerful message when you are working around someone that looks like you someone that is an authority figure and is responsible for your education but also your well-being as a person." Russell says.
UMS has almost tripled their number of teachers of color since 2018. They have increased from a staff of only 12% teachers of color to a whopping 40% in just three years. Christina Leon is a math teacher of Mexican heritage at UMS who says this increase is not only beneficial for students, but necessary in 2021. She also mentions how diversity is important for white students as well, helping students of all races and backgrounds to intermix and learn from each other.
"It's so important for kids to have people that they could look up to that look like them because you know it could bring out their confidence." Leon tells WAND News. Teachers say the diversity helps students reach their full potential. The school's clinical mental health professional says teachers of color represent the possibility in a child's future.
"A lot of students, you know they look like at me and it's like, 'wow, you have ADD? Oh I do too.' or 'Oh, I can be successful?' and [I tell them], yes, you can go to college, yes, you can get a doctorate degree, yes, you can do all these things." Through new UMS Initiatives, the school is also preparing students for the diverse world outside of class. Their newest Anti-Racism committee is helping students open new and instrumental conversations about race.
Ziggy Booth, a family and consumer sciences teacher for 6th to 8th grade, says the committee is crucial at middle school ages. "This committee has been doing a lot of groundwork to get policy. And just a conversation of race going. Ways for intervention, ways for prevention, waves for pro-activism, so that we can have an equitable school environment."
Barbie Price says she began teaching as only 1 of 6 teachers of color and tells WAND News, "When I first came into the building, it was so few that sometimes people didn't expect me to be a teacher. I wanted students, especially female students to look like me. I wanted them to know that I understood them."
The school has come a long way. With some classes even being taught for bilingual students. Dual language science teacher Darienne Ciuro says the reason she came to UMS was because of their wide variety of teaching abilities.
"I have the ability to be able to teach in my own native language. My native language is Spanish. And I've always been really passionate about science and having those two come together so nicely in curriculum.">
Urbana Middle School is always looking for more diverse students and teachers.
