Pike at a Glance

Middle School Affinity and Multicultural Groups

Mix and Match
Let’s say you finished your homework, so you don’t have to stay in from recess. What could possibly make you want to sacrifice a soccer game, the swings, or even the SuperNova? Ask a Middle Schooler and many will tell you that they wanted to stay in to participate in the Affinity Group. The Middle School Affinity Group is open to all students who are interested in exploring diversity. For the first large group meeting, twenty-six students packed the art room during lunch and recess. Students from all three grades threw themselves into activities that helped them reflect on themselves in some familiar and other less familiar ways. They started with dimensions of families: “Stand on this side of the room if you are the youngest in your family.” Then they responded to whether people in their family speak more than one language. Observe Rosh Hashanah. Go to church. Or celebrate Ramadan. With each new statement, interested eyes scanned the room to see how others lined up. Moments later a new question set bodies in motion again, students dividing themselves in new ways. Each time they gained new insights into their classmates—in interesting dimensions that had yet to surface in years of classes, lunches, and recess. Revelations abounded:
“It was good to know that other people’s families were the same as mine.”
“Your family’s from Bombay? My family’s from Bombay too!”
“I was surprised—people who didn’t look like me had some of the same experiences.”
“It would be so boring if we were all the same.”
These insights show why affinity groups are said to provide mirrors and windows. Mirrors are to see yourself more clearly and windows are vantage points for seeing others. Even in our first meetings, these mirrors and windows are helping Middle School eyes see in new ways.
--Bo Baird, Head of Middle School

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Invite a friend
Affinity group members read the book, Mrs. Katz and Tush, by Patricia Polacco. The story is about a young African-American boy and elderly Jewish woman who develop an unusual friendship through their mutual concern for an abandoned cat named Tush.  Together they explore the common themes of suffering and triumph in each of their cultures (from www.patriciapolacco.com).  After discussing the theme of friendship, students made invitations to invite a friend to the next affinity group meeting.  At the next meeting, affinity group members and their friends wrote diamante poems about their similarities and differences.