From Tolerance To Acceptance: What Do We Do With Our Differences?

Press release from Pelham Memorial High School:

In October 1998, Judy and Dennis Shepard lost their 21 year-old son, Matthew, to a murder motivated by anti-gay hate.  Judy Shepard is now speaking to audiences nationwide about what they can do as individuals and communities to make this world   more accepting of everyone, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.

On Wednesday, May 18, Judy Shepard will come to Pelham to address 8^th through 12^th grade students, faculty and residents as part of the Ingalls Seminar, a program begun in the 1980’s to connect students to the world by addressing issues of importance.  In choosing this year’s speaker, the Ingalls Task Force pointed to instances of bullying and suicide in high schools and colleges across the country as well as the continued presence of genocide around the world.  “Diversity in our schools is increasing,” said supervisors Maria Thompson and Jessica Vitale. “The Task Force recognizes the need for us all to embrace this diversity. We will start by helping our students to examine closely the full range of responses and their implications. In the spirit of the Ingalls Seminar, we also want to give our students the tools to become global citizens when they leave Pelham.”

In addition to her evening presentation, Mrs. Shepard will speak during the day to 9^th and 10^th grade students.  A live video feed will be set up for 8^th graders.  During the week of May 18, New York State Bar Association lawyers will also meet with eleventh and twelfth grade students via their social studies classes.  The lawyers will address issues of cyber-bulling and intolerance as well as the legal implications surrounding both issues.

The Task Force will continue with the theme of  From Tolerance to Acceptance throughout next year.  In the fall, fifth through eighth grade students will experience Rachel’s Challenge, named after Rachel Scott, the first person killed at Columbine High School in 1999.  Her acts of kindness and compassion coupled with the contents of her six diaries have become the foundation for this program, which has been called “life-changing.”  The students will participate in morning assemblies comprised of a multi media presentation and discussion on effecting positive change. In the afternoon a group of approximately 80 students will participate in a peer training session, which is designed to give student leaders in each building the tools and capacity to engage students in their schools in positive change.  An evening program will allow parents and community members to share in a similar experience. What is unique about Rachel’s Challenge is the follow up in which Friends of Rachel Clubs are established. The Club will provide ongoing support through the help of a consultant, Webinars, and other resources during the 2011/12 school year

More programs will be planned for the spring.

Since 1980, the Ingalls Foundation has sponsored a series of outstanding seminars, broadening the educational horizon of secondary students and the community.  This Foundation is funded through an endowment established by the estate of former Pelham resident and Board of Education President, Rosoe C. Ingalls.  Mr. Ingalls was noted for his annual trips with PMHS seniors to the New York Stock Exchange and for his term on the Board of Education, having served also served as its president during the 1940s.

Past Ingalls presenters have included  former Senator Bill Bradley, author Maya Angelou, President, NAACP, Elaine Jones, astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium Neil deGrasse Tyson, and  Lilly Ledbetter, the woman whom the Supreme Court ruled against for pay discrimination but inspired the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that was signed into law by President Obama.