TASCC Holds Year-End Wrap-Up Meeting with Parents and Administrators

By Lindsey Kundel, Director of Communications & Marketing and Connie Ma, Alumni & Community Outreach Officer

The TAS Cultural Connection hosted a virtual Year-End Wrap-Up Meeting on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 9 AM through Zoom. 

Head of School Dr. Grace Cheng Dodge opened with remarks on the importance of JEDI at TAS. 

TASCC member Steven Yao presented on TASCC's mission and events throughout the year. Divisional Associate Principals Becky Klar, Megan Pettigrew, and Jill Fagen and Director of College Counseling Melanie Hamre presented on the work of the TAS JEDI Committee in all three divisions over this past year, answering pre-submitted questions from the parent audience. 

For additional information on KA-12 and faculty events, please be sure to check out Interim Academic Dean Amanda Jacob's recent article summarizing the major curricular and co-curricular JEDI activities from this school year, found here.

This was the first year that the TASCC was able to host a parent-wide event to summarize the work that they have been doing in our community.

Since last year, the TASCC has been able to host the following events:

• May 2021 - Film Screening and Discussion of "Asian Americans" with the Director S. Leo Chiang and Educator Nick Yeh ('13)

• September 2021 - Parent Conversation on Resilience and Inclusion, with the Head of School Dr. Dodge, Lower School Associate Principal Becky Klar, and KA-12 Counselors

• October 2021 and February 2022 - JEDI Workshops and Anti-Bias Training with Alumni & Community Outreach Officer Connie Ma and Upper School Teacher Darby Sinclair

• October 2021-February 2022 - Six 2-hour Diversity and Inclusion Training Workshops with DEI Consultant Anthony Kelley

• November 2021 - Virtual Author Visit with Shawna Yang Ryan, Author of "Green Island"

• December 2021 - Theatrical Screening and Discussion of "American Girl" starring Caitlin Fang ('24), Director Fiona Roan, and Producer Clifford Miu ('11)

• February 2022 - Zoom Webinar on Black Lives Matter with Anthony Kelley and Middle School Teacher Weston Wang Cooper

• April 2022 - Virtual Book Club and Discussion on "So You Want to Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo

• April 2022 - Zoom Panel with TAS Alumni from the Tiger Talk Podcast

In the future, Yao explained that the roadmap for SY2022-2023 includes events that raise awareness, help the community better understand their identities, and activities that involve as many parents as possible in this shared JEDI commitment.

The TASCC was created in 2020 as a parent organization dedicated to helping the School with its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Yao explained to attendees that the TASCC believes that parents are essential in helping their children become informed global citizens. As a result, the TASCC wants to organize opportunities to participate in these important and ongoing DEI conversations.

Simultaneous Mandarin translation was also provided. Click here to watch the recording and listen in English or Mandarin 中文. 

More information about the JEDI Committee's work this year can also be found on the JEDI page in the Parent Zone.