PRESS RELEASE
Cheltenham School District Announces MontCo-wide Cultural Proficiency / Equity Student
Ambassadors Initiative in Partnership with Local NAACP
ELKINS PARK, PA. (January 21, 2020) – The 40 members of the inaugural cohort of the Montgomery County
race and equity student ambassador initiative will be pinned as official student ambassadors at the
program’s public launch Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. at the Upper Dublin High School Performing Arts
Center (800 Loch Alsh Ave, Fort Washington).
The ambassador program, spearheaded by Cheltenham School District Superintendent Dr. Wagner
Marseille in partnership with the Cheltenham and Ambler branches of the NAACP, includes students from
the Cheltenham, Upper Dublin, Norristown and North Penn school districts.
The two-year initiative will engage students in learning the tenets of cultural proficiency, engaging in
peer-to-peer dialogue through a series of social justice documentaries and culminate the project objectives
by participating in intergenerational community dialogue discussions centered around race & equity, then
and now.
“Cultural proficiency is the key to thriving in culturally diverse classrooms and schools,” said Dr. Marseille,
“and it can be learned, practiced and institutionalized to better serve diverse students and their families
and communities.”
Ambassadors will develop a cultural proficiency/equity student leadership council; build capacity to engage
and serve as allies for their peers and others, creating a space for student voice on social justice issues;
develop strategies to self-advocate; establish peer leadership opportunities; and developing student
diversity trainers. These students will serve as cultural proficiency ambassadors for their communities and
beyond. The group has met three times and discussed the continuum of cultural competency, how to
identify culturally proficient beliefs, values and practices, developing strategies to respond to culturally
insensitive events, and equity and social justice issues which impact them directly or indirectly.
“There has been no greater time or opportunity than now to engage our high school students around
sharing their voice and perspective about race and equity,” said Amber NAACP President Carmina Taylor.
In 2009, the FBI reported 6,604 criminal incidents, yielding 7,789 offenses; of which, 11.8% were biases
against ethnicity/national origin. In 2019, the FBI reported 7,120 hate crimes, resulting in 8,646 victims; of
which 59.6% were against racial/ethnicity and ancestry biases. In 2017, Pennsylvanians reported 78
incidents of hate crimes, 52 were related to race/ethnicity/ancestry biases, 17 were related to religion, 6
were related to sexual orientation and three were related to gender identity.
In the 2018 report from the Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, stated
that about 20% of students 12-18 reported being bullied at school during the school year, 16% of students
in grades 9-12 reported that they carry a weapon such as a gun, knife or club anywhere at 1 day during the
previous 30 days and 4% of the students reported carrying a weapon on school property at least 1 day
during the previous 30 days.
The launch event will mark the NAACP’s 111th anniversary, and will also include the announcement of the
finalists of the Ambler NAACP’s second annual Black History Month essay contest. After the essayists are
recognized, Montgomery County Attorney Michael Anthony Walker moderate a group discussion about the
themes gleaned from the evening.
Elie Wiesel once said: “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence
encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are
endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.
Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must
– at that moment – become the center of the universe.”
February 12th will be OUR moment. Join us.
Please R.S.V.P. by February 1st, the latest to:
Carmina Taylor, President Ambler NAACP
carminanaacp@gmail.com
(215) 284-5680
English