12th Annual Governor's Diversity Day

The 12th Annual Governor's Diversity Day, March 26, 2009, seeks to raise diversity awareness and cultural competency among Kentucky's elementary, middle and high school students.  Schools across the Commonwealth of Kentucky have developed local events to celebrate this special occassion!

Governor Steve Beshear and Personnel Cabinet Secretary Nikki Jackson have a special Governor's Diversity Day message for Kentucky's students!  (Please click on the picture below to access the Diversity Day YouTube page.)

Today’s technological climate has altered the way information is presented to the Commonwealth’s younger generations.  Video is the new effective medium for presenting information to a generation that is increasingly reliant on visual, as opposed to textual, expressions of ideas.  The visual representation of ideas could significantly increase students’ comprehension of diversity issues.  The planning stages of producing a video encourages detailed discussions of the meaning of diversity among participants and advising faculty. 

2009 Theme:  The Importance of Diversity

A special Finalists Panel, composed of representatives from various state government agencies, judged the video entries.  With Governor Beshear and Secretary Jackson, the Office of Diversity & Equality is please to announce the 2009 Governor's Diversity Day Video Project Winners:

High School Winner
"Differences Realized Together"
Henry Clay High School
Fayette County Schools
Shirley Morton Williams & Iris Cheeks, Advisers

Middle School Winner
"The Bully"
J T Alton Middle
Hardin County Schools
Becky Murray, Adviser

Elementary School Winner
"We Are Not Robots...Diversity in Clark County"
Strode Station Elementary
Clark County Schools
Amy Shoemaker, Adviser

To view the winning videos, and all the entries, visit:

http://www.youtube.com/KYDDVideoProject 

Governor Steve Beshear, Personnel Cabinet Secretary Nikki Jackson and the Office of Diversity & Equality would like to express our gratitude to the Governor’s Diversity Day Video Project Judges!  Their assistance has helped to make this new endeavor a great success!

• Barbara Barnes, Personnel Cabinet
• Tressa Brown, Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet
• Gwen Buffington,  Education Cabinet
• Michael Dailey, Education Cabinet
• Delquan Dorsey, Sr., Governor's Office for Minority Empowerment
• Nila Meeks, Personnel Cabinet
• Geoff White, Frost Brown Todd, LLC
• Eboney Whiteside, Office of the Governor
• Tiffany Yeast, Tourism, Arts &Heritage Cabinet

Here is a sampling of Governor's Diversity Day activities:

Hopkinsville High School, Christian County

A Variety of Activities at HHS for Diverstiy Day

• Diversity Day Mentor Luncheon: all mentors and students will be served foods form different countries.  They will be encouraged to discuss how our diversity makes us special and unique.
• HHS students to record "diversity spots" for play on a local radio station.
• Sculpture class students to create a sculpture/mobile which represents diversity of colors, sizes and ages.
• English class to create a PowerPoint presentation on the roots of discrimination through race, music and politics.
• One class is teaming up to "interview" each other and report on their relationship with their "culture buddy."  This is a collaboration between the ESL teacher and a special education teacher.
• Classroom lessons on immigration dealing with leaving a country to flee repression and the challenges facing moving to a new country.
• Arts and Humanities lesson on the Tuskegee Airmen, the first black fighter pilot squadron.
• Another Arts and Humanities class is studying West African Folk Tale and students will have the opportunity to write their own ficticiouis folk tales.
• A guest lecture by an Assistant Principal on how our challenges make us diverse and unique.

Paris Elementary School, Paris, Kentucky

Diversity Literatures: Every grade level homeroom will complete a literature based lesson that highlights an area of diversity.

• Kingergarten: The Crayon Box That Talked
• 1st Grade: Stone Soup
• 2nd Grade: The Name Jar
• 3rd Grade: Pink and Say
• 4th Grade: Amazing Grace
• 5th Grade: The Sneetches

Diversity Assembly

• At the conclusion of Diversity Day, there will be a school assembly in which the 4th grade classes will perform a play about diversity.  Following the play, these students will lead a discussion about the play, including questions specifically designed for each grade level.

South Christian Elementary, Christian County

Diversity & Creative Expression

• Students will be encouraged, on Diversity Day, to express how they are unique and special by draying a self portrait, writing a short poem about themselves, or using other means of self expression.  These expressions may be posted in the room or shared during the author's sharetime.

Union County Public Schools (Union County High, Union County Middle, Sturgis Elementary, Uniontown Elementary and Morganfield Elementary)

Diversity Video:

• Each public school participated in the creation of a Diversty Video.  Though this video was not completed in time for the Diversity Day Video Project, it will be shown to all schools in Diversity Day.  The video, a collaborative effort by Family Resource and Youth Service Center coordinators and media students, features clips from students (from all schools) explaining the importance of diversity.  The Union County Schools Superintendent spoke on the video and there was music featured throughout. 

Christian County Career & Technical Campus, Christian County

"The World's People and Products on the Move"

• Students will watch a presentation then participate in a analytical discussion on the global workforce, movement of products, techinical works and delivery methods and the significant changes over the past forty years. 

Southside Elementary, Versailles, Kentucky

Primary Level

• Primary teachers read to students The Color of Us, followed by a writing assignment.  First graders will research "Dolls from Around the World" and second graders investigate their family histories (understanding that students represent familes from all over the world, some having been here for hundreds of years and others only a few months).   On Diversity Day each child will share what they have discovered and mark on a map where their family began its journey.

Intermediate Level

• Intermediate students will participate in a poster contest.  Each will choose a "diversity slogan" and make a poster or collage to illustrate that slogan, or design a Diversity Day logo.  Their design will include a description of their logo's meaning. 

Morgan Elementary in Paducah, Kentucky

Component One: Classroom Connection

• This is designed to give the classroom teachers some input in the formation of knowledge during this most important day. The regular classroom teachers will work individually or in their collaborative teams to introduce the concept of diversity to the students using grade level appropriate activities. These activities can be teacher created or one that correlates with the adopted social studies curriculum. (Social Studies Alive)
• An additional list of supplemental activities will be sent out the teachers to assist in the formation of an idea for the grade level.

Component Two: Cultural Expo

• With the assistance of the community and parent volunteers the students will matriculate through a museum of sorts that highlights the cuisine of various cultures.
• A display board will be used to give information about the cultures and to assist the volunteer curators with giving tours of the museum.
• A display dish will be prepared for each culture to highlight the various items that the cultures are responsible for contributing to the American way of life.

Component Three: Salad Bowl

• Each child will be asked to bring in an item from a list that could found in a salad.
• Each classroom teacher will discuss the items individually pointing out their “value” individually.
• The teacher will ask each student to bring their items up to the front of the class were there is a salad bowl. (Be mindful of allergies of students in your class)
• Each child will add their ingredient making a huge, and most delicious salad for the students to enjoy. (Be prepared to mix the salad and serve it when the dish is complete.)

Component Four: Open-Response

• Each grade level will complete an open-response writing that is grade appropriate using the school-wide four square process.
• Teachers are to grade the responses and the students with a rating of 4 will receive a prize.
  

Diversity Day Toolkit - (PDF - 2 MB)

Announcement Letter to Principals (PDF - 18 KB) 

Governor's Diversity Day Video Project Forms (PDF - 48 K