On Wednesday morning, Middle School students gathered in the PAC to learn about affinities! With guidance from Dean of Lower and Middle School Student Voices Tamara Jaffe ’08, students learned about what affinities are (spaces for students of shared cultural, racial, ethnic, or other backgrounds to meet, support one another, and discuss various topics) and why creating identity-based spaces is important.

The Middle School supports students in this work through the JEDI program, which you can read more about here. The program is designed to help students understand identity and the concepts of being a force for putting things right—being an upstander—in pursuing justice and equity. Students are also introduced to facts regarding race and identity, which they can dissect and draw understanding from. These skills are discussed and further developed in the affinity groups.