Families Display Creativity and Collaboration at the JK DEIB Gallery Walk

Families of Parker’s youngest students came to school to present projects based on themes in books at the Junior Kindergarten DEIB Gallery Walk.  

Early in the planning, JK teachers asked parents/guardians to read Emily Style’s article “Curriculum As Window and Mirror,” in which she posits that students need two types of representation in curriculum: stories in which they learn about others (windows) and stories in which they can see themselves (mirrors). JK students were already familiar with these concepts, and teachers wanted to ensure that parents and guardians had a common lens and vocabulary to frame their projects. 

Families selected a book to read together and created a project based on the book’s themes. Teachers provided a list of books to help inspire each family’s choice. Families were welcome to pick from their home libraries, borrow from the classrooms or the Kovler Family Library or even visit a bookstore.

Teachers pointed out that the assignment should not be a book report. Rather, it was a creative opportunity to extend the ideas and conversations among each family before, during and after reading the book. As part of the project, parents/guardians included a label with a brief description of their family’s process or thoughts.

On the day of the DEIB Gallery Walk, parents/guardians brought each project to school in a standard grocery bag and set it up with its label for others to enjoy. Students began in their classrooms, then rotated through each of their peer’s classrooms to take in the wide variety of pictures, paintings, poems, sculptures, dioramas and more on display and engage with other family members.

Enjoy photos from this year’s JK DEIB Gallery Walk here.