Menu
Open Sidebar

Ears to Hear and Eyes to See

October 26, 2020 | Tania Oro-Hahn

“Ears to hear and eyes to see–both are gifts from the LORD.”  –Proverbs 20:12

 

We know that by age three children are developing self-image and beginning to notice identifying features such as skin color, hair, and more.  By age three children are already engaging in conversations about race with each other, family, and teachers.  Our staff see the need to give children language for the conversations they are already having in the Nest.  We are centering our conversations about race within the biblical narrative.  We see in God’s story that we are all created in the image of God and we are God’s delight, every shade, every color, and every language.  From the Nest to the Middle School our staff is wrestling with language and ideas to help our community deepen our conversations and understand God’s delight in diversity, equity, and inclusion.  

 

Last year our training consisted of the following themes: understanding systemic racism; white privilege, bias, and cultural competencies in the classroom.  This year our training will focus on the following themes:  the difference between diversity, equity, and inclusion; how to counteract implicit bias;  how to find ways to bring DEI conversations into our classrooms; and how to assess our curriculum, how to identify our cultural lens. I am thankful that staff will process their thinking and learning through a diverse committed small group at staff training events.  

 

The leadership team began a formal DEI assessment this summer and continues to examine our decision-making process, leadership development,  goal setting, and policy writing through an equity lens.  

 

No one is culture neutral. Each of one of us sees, assesses, and draws conclusions through our very textured cultural lens. We strive to make our school a place where we can see better, where we can see our cultural lens, and counteract bias within and without.  This is part of our call to be one yet without losing our differences, our otherness.  These differences we offer to the community as gifts.

 

Thank you for joining us in this journey of self-reflection and commitment to equity.  Pray that we would have the eyes to see the ways we can continue to build a beautiful and “impossible” community at Mustard Seed School.    

 

As we look to our upcoming election and its results, as we tell stories from the Bible and from the lives of Saints, we hope that you will find and make time for conversations at your home. Find time to discuss current events. Find time to discuss and share what we consider during worship. Find time to consider a viewpoint different from your own. 

 

May we all find ways to live into one of our core commitments: We believe in creating unity as we embrace diversity. By engaging with our differences, we teach our students to genuinely know themselves, their neighbors, and the world. We work to value engaging with differences and we suspect these next weeks will challenge all of us. 

 

Tania Oro-Hahn

Spanish, Grades Two through Eight; Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

Señora Oro-Hahn was drawn to Mustard Seed School because of its mission to serve an economically and racially diverse community. Teaching students has been a part of Sr. Oro-Hahn’s life for the past 30 years. Prior to working at Mustard Seed School, she worked with college students through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She has a passion for helping students grow spiritually and linguistically. Sr. Oro-Hahn’s goals as a teacher are to create a loving classroom community so that students will understand the perspective of other cultures, be brave, and take a risk in speaking Spanish, realizing how fun it is to use language. As a language teacher, Sr. Oro-Hahn strives to make work seem more like play, and so she often uses games, skits, and group activity in the classroom. She loves to mentor students.

Sra. Oro-Hahn uses her art background to help students illustrate poetry, and develop creative dramatic ways to communicate in Spanish.

Related Stories

May 31, 2023

LAUGHTER!!… my favorite assessment tool and a creative force in language acquisition!

Learn More
April 26, 2023

Wow!! Look at them now! ¡Mírenlos ahora!

Learn More
March 1, 2023

Celebrating Black History at Mustard Seed School

Learn More