Category Archives: PLAID

Virtual Jewish Cultural Night

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PLAID held a celebratory Jewish Cultural Night on Tuesday, October 6th and, even though it was online, it was an evening filled with singing, dancing, and eating! The MC’s for the evening, Grade 8 students Ella Kowal, Bennett Wintroub and Laney Segal, taught the 80+ participants about all kinds of Jewish New Year traditions. We played trivia about famous Jewish women, watched videos of Hamlin girls dancing, blowing the shofar, making a delicious looking honey cake and so much more! Rabbi Jessica Zimmerman Graf, Hamlin alum and K parent, invited us into her sukkah and explained the story behind this temporary structure that is built during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

In breakout rooms, participants reflected on the past year and shared with each other goals for this new year. We enjoyed eating apples and honey and all wished each other a “Happy and Sweet New Year!” Clearly, even online, the Hamlin community knows how to have fun!

Carnaval de Hamlin 2020

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Last Wednesday night students, parents, and faculty members gathered to celebrate Latin American and Caribbean heritage. Guests tasted traditional foods while listening to a live musical performance by La Mixta Criolla. There was also a performance by Hamlin’s capoeira students and a student poetry reading.

Our PLAID parent group created Carnaval de Hamlin.

PLAID is a Hamlin Parent Association group focused on educating our community about diversity and promoting an inclusive environment. We seek to broaden perspectives and experiences via cultural events, dialogues and films, and deepen connections at Hamlin by fostering open dialogue and celebrating our commonalities and differences. 

Please join PLAID’s next event, a Middle East & North African Cultural Celebration on March 12.

To learn more about PLAID, please visit: https://www.hamlin.org/page/plaid

Jewish Cultural Celebration With PLAID

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The first PLAID event of the year – a Jewish Cultural Celebration took place on Wednesday, October 2. This well-attended event featured music, a performance and Hora dance led by our students, a short presentation on the high holidays by Hamlin alum (and the first female rabbi at Congregation Sherith Israel) Jessica Zimmerman Graf ’87, and tons of delicious food.

PLAID’s mission is to support a vibrant and inclusive environment in which all members of the community can celebrate their authentic selves. We foster open dialogue through family programs, parent education, and community outreach.

This next PLAID event is: Parenting Generation Z Kids-Gender Inclusivity Film Screening and Discussion, 6 p.m. on November 4.

To learn more about PLAID, please visit: https://www.hamlin.org/plaid

Gender Inclusivity Dialogue with PLAID

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On Tuesday morning, our PLAID parent group and some of Hamlin’s administrators showed the film Creating Gender Inclusive Schools, followed by an engaging dialogue.

PLAID’s mission is to support a vibrant and inclusive environment in which all members of the community can celebrate their authentic selves. We foster open dialogue through family programs, parent education, and community outreach.

Politicians and 24-hour news outlets spend a lot of time talking about gender and schools, yet most people are left wondering: how are schools talking about gender with students in grade-appropriate ways? Creating Gender Inclusive Schools shows how one school approached this important subject, and along the way demonstrates the power of having a conversation with youth about gender.

A large group of parents and faculty members gathered to watch the film and talk about gender inclusivity in small groups, and as a larger group. Head of The Hamlin School, Wanda M. Holland Greene facilitated the session with care and compassion.

The following were some of the key ideas that surfaced from the both the film and dialogue:

-Being inclusive doesn’t mean just inviting people; you have to work at it.

-Gender is not about biological parts; a person gets to decide their gender.

-At Hamlin there is a space for girls with all sorts of gender expression.

-Students don’t have to follow rules around masculine and feminine stereotypes, such as favorite color choices, types of dress, and free time activities.

-Many students (in general) are not binary in terms of gender, they often have aspects of their identities that are masculine, feminine, or neither.

-When thinking about gender inclusivity, it is important for schools to create an environment where students are safe and seen.

-“Hamlin provides a supportive and nonjudgmental environment for my daughter.”

To learn more about the film and topic, please visit: https://www.genderspectrum.org/creating-gender-inclusive-schools/

 

 

Hamlin Shows the Documentary: Waking Dream

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Tuesday evening, Hamlin’s PLAID parent group showed the film Waking Dream. Theo Rigby, who last shared his creative visual work at Hamlin in November of 2016, created the film.

PLAID’s mission is to support a vibrant and inclusive environment in which all members of the community can celebrate their authentic selves. We foster open dialogue through family programs, parent education, and community outreach.

Waking Dream weaves together the stories of six undocumented young people as they sit in limbo between deportation and a path to citizenship. DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) has provided nearly 800,000 undocumented young people a chance to work legally, go to college, start businesses, and pursue the “American Dream.” After DACA is rescinded, Waking Dream follows the unfolding fate of six of these young people as they fight for legal status in the U.S., struggle with the deportation of family members, and pursue their dreams in a country that is trying harder and harder to push them out. They know their fate must go one direction and they are fighting for their future in America.

After the film, Wanda M. Holland Greene (Head of The Hamlin School), led a discussion with a panel speakers. The three panelists were: Theo Rigby (Director of Waking Dream), Iliana G. Perez (Director of Research and Entrepreneurship with Immigrants Rising), and Dilan Pedraza (a Social Studies Teacher who is in the film).

Highlights of the discussion included:

-It is important to stay curious and continue to ask probing questions about immigration and DACA, rather than just believe homogenized media-generated opinions.

-It is important to stay proximate to both the nuanced issues related to immigration and to the individual people and their specific stories.

-It is important to remember that we are all interconnected as human beings.

Audience members were very moved by the film.

One Hamlin father stated, “You did an outstanding job with the film. You really humanized the situation.”

To watch the trailer and learn more, please visit: http://inationmedia.com/waking-dream/

Hamlin Celebrates Lunar New Year 2019

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On the evening February 6, over 150 community members gathered at The Hamlin School to celebrate Asian Lunar New Year with home-cooked food (including a full pig) and festive cheer. The uplift and positive energy was palpable, with laughter ringing out in all directions. This event was hosted by our PLAID parent group.

PLAID’s mission is to support a vibrant and inclusive environment in which all members of the community can celebrate their authentic selves.

In communities around the world, the Lunar New Year is the most important and most festive holiday of the year. Through centuries of agrarian tradition, this was the one period when farmers could rest from their work in the fields. Family members from near and far would travel to be with loved ones in time to usher out the old year and welcome in the new, with great celebratory flourish. Today, all over the world, during what is often commonly referred to as the Spring Festival, passenger trains, buses, and river boats are packed with holiday travelers; shops do a flurry of business selling gifts, new clothes, and festive foods; kitchens are bustling with preparations for elaborate feasts; and streets are filled with the sounds of firecrackers and seasonal greetings.

Lunar New Year is celebrated in countries and territories such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, and Thailand (among others).  

Participants at our celebration watched a traditional lion dance, played Mahjong, and made crafts. Everyone enjoyed handmade fortune cookies with messages created by Grade 3 students. Parents also shared heartfelt words, expressing what Lunar New Year means to their families.

 

Unity Festival Celebration

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On Thursday evening our Hamlin community gathered to celebrate the many cultures that make up the African Diaspora at our Unity Festival hosted by PLAID. (PLAID is a Hamlin Parent Association group focused on educating our community about diversity and promoting an inclusive environment).

The event featured: bracelet-making, opportunities to play mancala (a board game originally from Africa), Soul Food, heartfelt poetry readings by students Niyah, Kennedy, and Adella, and an invigorating dance performance. By the end of the evening students, parents, and faculty were all smiles and laughter as they danced together.

To learn more about PLAID, please visit: https://www.hamlin.org/page/plaid

 

Hamlin Celebrates Diwali

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On Thursday night, almost 200 people celebrated Diwali with joy and vibrant energy. Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit word Deepavali, and means “row of lights.” It is a time to rejoice in the triumph of light over darkness and is embraced by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists. Diwali provides a reminder to start over and invite new energy into your life. The holiday began on November 7 and will last five days.

Lower school girls performed a celebratory dance wearing colorful traditional clothing in front of a large audience comprised of faculty, family members and classmates. Students were also able to create decorative art called Rangoli with chalk. Adults and children alike enjoyed traditional Indian foods like saag paneer and raita, while festive music played in the background.

This event was sponsored by PLAID, to learn more about PLAID please visit: https://www.hamlin.org/page/plaid

 

Carnaval de Hamlin

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On Wednesday night students, parents, and faculty members gathered to celebrate San Francisco’s Latin American heritage. Guests tasted traditional foods like pupusas and tamales, while listening to a live band. There was also a performance by Hamlin’s capoeira students. This festive event was enjoyed by over 140 people.

Carnaval de Hamlin was created by our PLAID parent group.

PLAID is a Hamlin Parent Association group focused on educating our community about diversity and promoting an inclusive environment. We seek to broaden perspectives and experiences via cultural events, dialogues and films, and deepen connections at Hamlin by fostering open dialogue and celebrating our commonalities and differences. 

Be sure to join PLAID’s next event, a celebration of Diwali on November 8.

To learn more about PLAID, please visit: https://www.hamlin.org/page/plaid

 

 

Elsa and Jarron Collins: Activism, NBA and Parenting

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Monday night, Hamlin parents and faculty members gathered to learn from a dynamic and altruistic power couple, Elsa and Jarron Collins. The evening was our first PLAID event centered on this year’s school theme, What You Do Matters.

PLAID’s mission is to support a vibrant and inclusive environment in which all members of the community can celebrate their authentic selves. We foster open dialogue through family programs, parent education, and community outreach.

Raised on both sides of the border (San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico), Elsa Collins was the fifth of five children. Both her parents were born in Mexico. She is a first generation college graduate. She earned her BA in Communications and a MA in Sociology from Stanford University (where she met Jarron). She then pursued a JD from Columbia Law School.

Ms. Collins is the Co-founder of The Ideateur, a social impact and political consulting group focused on sports, culture and the entertainment space, helping clients construct a strategy to address the issues they care about. She works closely with groups like My Brother’s Keeper, Voto Latino, and Rock the Vote, fighting for equality in all spheres.

Jarron Collins is an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors, having joined the team prior to the 2014-15 Championship campaign as a player development coach. Collins played 10 seasons in the NBA with the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers.

Collins attended Stanford University, where he was a two-time All-American and finished his Stanford career in the top ten all time in four career categories: rebounds, blocked shots, field-goal percentage and games played.

Elsa and Jarron Collins shared thoughts about: raising children of color (they have two daughters and a son), being activist community members, and how professional athletes can develop and use their platforms for the benefit of others.

The following is some of what they shared:

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