Welcoming DEIB into Our Youngest Classrooms

At Open Window School, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) are coming to life in the most heartwarming way. Thanks to a Lott Family Summer Grant and the creativity of our amazing Kindergarten team—Jasmine Dailida, Trudy Tauscheck, and Anita Erskine—we’re excited to share their project, DEIB Stories for Students! 📚✨

Each month, teachers receive a set of carefully chosen books inspired by the U.S. Diversity Calendar. These stories highlight cultural heritage, important moments, and values like empathy and respect—all tailored for young learners. Through these stories, students are gaining a sense of the world around them, right in line with our Bobcat Virtues of kindness, inclusion, respect, and responsibility. Each book comes with a lesson plan designed to help teachers spark meaningful discussions that bring DEIB values into everyday learning.

The teachers shared their excitement about the project’s impact in the classroom. "The grant allowed us to bring representation into the classroom, including making sure our own cultures were being represented," says Anita. Trudy notes that “grants like this allow us to gather and purchase materials ahead of time, but more importantly, they give us time to do this work with intention.” Jasmine adds, “This allowed us to choose books so that everyone, including us as teachers, could read books from the 'I statement' perspective."

Together with our library team, they’ve created a rotating collection of books that keep shelves fresh and stories inspiring. 💡 It’s all part of helping students explore the rich variety of voices in the world while living out our Bobcat Virtues of kindness, inclusion, respect, and responsibility. 💙