ROCKPORT — With classes for the 2020-21 school year underway at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, some students at the school are participating in a new English course, “Let’s Talk: Why we need to talk about race and identity.”

“I think students need a place to explicitly discuss race and identity,” said course instructor Sara Cole-Pardun. “I am hopeful that this class is just the beginning, and that we will continue to weave this work into other classes.”

This school year is the first time the course is offered at Camden Hills after Cole-Pardun proposed the course in late 2019. 

“While many courses weave in micro-conversations around race and identity, I created this class because I wanted to really delve into topics related to race and identity,” she said. “I also feel it is vital to prepare students for conversations that challenge and expand their thinking, beyond their high school experiences.”

Being a white teacher in what she described as a predominantly white school, Cole-Pardun noted creating an accepting, compassionate classroom is essential. 

“Humanizing my interactions around race and identity is key, I don’t have all the answers and I won’t always get it right,” she said. “Through this model of acceptance and empathy, I hope students will begin to share and analyze their own interactions with race and identity. Situating students in their own identity and experiences is crucial to providing an environment that supports racial and identity equity.” 

Students enrolled in the course will examine intersectionality in students’ own identities and, later, examine the experiences of others.

“We will be doing a number of choice book studies focused on topics including systemic racism, indigenous identity, privilege, the power of language, and much more,” Cole-Pardun said. “This class is rooted in discussion and we will examine current events, films, and writings. I am truly excited.”

How Cole-Pardun approaches the topics of race and identity in her teachings will not be limited to this one course. 

“While the Race and Identity class focuses explicitly on equality and representation, I have also reworked my other courses to provide a curriculum more representative of the world in which we live,” she said. “I have paired each text with multiple perspectives including pieces by authors of color, authors from multiple cultures, and various genres and mediums. I think it is important to be very intentional with readings. Why am I teaching a specific text? Is there a more representative text that deals with the same issues? How is my curriculum inclusive of multiple cultures and identities? How does my curriculum build compassion and equity for all identities?”

As an educator in the Midcoast, Cole-Pardun hopes other educational stakeholders across the region and state will partake in similar initiatives to tackle the important issues surrounding race and identity. 

“I would like to see school leaders, teachers, students, and experts work together to help support educators in creating classroom experiences that are rooted in anti-racist teaching,” she said. “There is a strong cohort of educators in the MSAD 28 and Five Towns CSD doing this work, and I am hopeful that this will continue and spread. This is not a short-term change, but a systemic one. Thus, continued dialogue and professional development are needed for continued growth. Even more essential to this work, is the inclusion of our students and alumni in these discussions: what do students feel they need to be culturally responsive? Where might there be holes in the curriculum? How are we preparing them for life beyond school?”

For Cole-Pardun, at the end of the day, this school year is an opportunity to provide an avenue for students to become educated on essential values. 

“Undoubtedly the 2020-2021 school year is filled with new challenges, and while we are facing these, we have an incredible opportunity to adjust not only how we teach but what we teach,” she said. “Compassion, equity, and representative voices are essential in today’s schools.”