Milly's Monday METCO Message

June 22, 2020

Step into the legacy. Together.

METCO Class of 2020 Celebration

The first annual virtual ceremony for all METCO graduates!

Saturday, June 27, 1-2pm

metcoinc.org

Go to metcoinc.org this Saturday at 1pm sharp to cheer on every single Boston student who graduated from a METCO high school! Introduced with inspiring speeches by luminaries from across the Commonwealth, including the Governor, the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Mayor of Boston, METCO's legislative champions, and long-time director of METCO, Inc. Dr. Jean McGuire. With keynote addresses from alum Kim Janey, Boston City Council President; and Shawn Bernier, member of Wayland's class of 2020; and a few very special surprises! Follow and join in: #metcograd20

How well do you know the story of Boston's educational justice movements? Get the stories the history books don't include from the eight METCO high school students who participated in METCO's Boston Education Activism Tour (B.E.A.T.). internship this spring. In this online presentation (in lieu of the originally planned walking tour), these scholars from Lexington, Natick, Newton North, Wayland, and Wellesley High Schools summarize their own research on the boycotts, Freedom Schools, demands, and groundbreaking solutions (including METCO itself) that black Bostonians created in pursuit of educational equity for their children. Q&A with the students after the presentation!

TUESDAY, JUNE 30

AT 4PM ET

Register at metcoinc.org/BEAT .

Planning for a wide spectrum of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives next year? We can help. BASI Outside of the Box, Act Two has once again partnered with METCO HQ to bring culturally-oriented performing, visual, or multi-media arts events to your communities. Applications are open for mini-grants from $250-$2,000 to support or develop a culturally-oriented school performance or event. We're looking for performing-arts-related projects that celebrate diversity, cultural difference, social justice. It could be a performance, interactive activity, or something brand new; for an individual school, multiple schools, or district-wide; during or outside of school hours. It must be open to students, parents, teachers and faculty. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Click below to apply or visit the METCO District Portal to find the link later.

This week, the Black Lives Matter movement gained energy all over the world in historic protests of systemic racism. METCO's partner towns were part of that wave. Leaders were especially vocal.

Newton Mayor Ruthann Fuller said, "The Newton Public Schools also need to engage more in important work around race. Our educators are reworking the curriculum, including what literature students read and what history is taught. Our teachers need even more intensive professional development on teaching students of color and leading courageous conversations on race. We know we need more people of color teaching in our classrooms.

The President of the Hingham School Committee, Michelle Ayer, said: “We need to recognize that our METCO parents place an enormous amount of trust in us every day when they put their children on a Hingham school bus. Can we say that that trust has been earned? This provides far greater value to the students of Hingham then it does to the students of Boston. It is an honor for Hingham to have this program, and we need to begin treating it as such." 

Meanwhile, students led demonstrations that brought large, diverse crowds together in solidarity (with masks and distancing):

WAKEFIELD: Boston student Reighnyah Grant and her friends Faith Defendre and Aurora Leal (left, top) put together a Black Lives Matter peace walk with speeches from the girls.

DOVER/SHERBORN: Over 400 people attended a community peace vigil, including Rev. Manny Daphnis, Asst. Superintendent Beth McCoy, and Superintendent Dr. Andrew Keough (below), who told the crowd, "In the coming years it is my hope that Dover Sherborn will become a beacon of anti-racism, and that others will look to us for guidance when seeking to establish a system that promotes equity and social justice in all realms."

Days later, Dover-Sherborn High School freshman Sanyah Earl , a METCO student, organized a rally (left, bottom) and shared her experiences alongside other students, including an original poem that ended: "Going to the METCO office where I am free to be me, without explanation, my mask is off, my speech is on, I am loud and proud, thank you for seeing me."