Acknowledgment of Learning
Merrohawke recognizes that diversity is multifaceted, and it is our responsibility as educators to understand, embrace and celebrate the uniqueness of every child and family we serve.
Equity and inclusion have always been important at Merrohawke, be it through our program design and delivery or ensuring accessibility to our programs. Since our founding in 2007, we have never turned away a child who wished to attend Merrohawke but lacked the funds to do so. We have nurtured strategic partnerships with organizations that specialize in at-risk and underserved populations, ranging from homeless youth to developmentally disabled adults. We honor the origins of our nature connection curriculum and acknowledge the historical trauma to the first people of these lands. We are a supporting member of the Mass. Center for Native American Awareness, where our Executive Director serves on its Advisory Council. We see the gender gaps in maritime trades and the great outdoors and seek to support growing strong women and girls, through leading womens’ circles, girls circles, and related programs.
And yet there is more that we can do.
We are committed to learning how to explicitly address narratives of inequality, and we are taking measured steps to strengthen our understanding of biases, injustice, equity, and inclusion and its intersection with class, gender, ability, age, and so on, in our community.
We continue to do our own work as individuals by reading books, listening to podcasts, and viewing media that explicitly address issues of race and racial justice in the United States.
In 2021, we began working in earnest to establish Merrohawke’s long-term equity and inclusion goals, which included writing our Land Acknowledgment and Equity Statement. We acknowledge that this process takes time, work, and deep reflection, and we invite our community to follow our developments here. Our efforts will evolve as the landscape of our society changes and our understanding of equity and inclusion deepens.
We invite your patience, participation, interest, and support as we aim to understand what specific work we can do together to ensure that Merrohawke is always a safe and welcoming place for all children and families to grow strong by nature.
To support our efforts, contact Executive Director, Kate Yeomans.