Auburn Elementary is ‘No Place For Hate,’ according to ADL designation
There’s a celebration of diversity taking place at Auburn Elementary.
The Auburn Hills-based school wanted to align its values with a bigger cause. This past spring, it was designated a “No Place For Hate” school by the AntiDefamation League.
The 350-student population is about 40-45% white; about 40-45% black; and includes a mix of Hispanic and Middle Eastern children.
Jodie Middleton, principal of the K-5 school the past five years, said she was looking for a way to represent the school and its mixed population in a more grandiose way. After conferring with community leaders, elected officials and parents of students from different backgrounds, she began researching how to highlight and bring attention and partner with what the school is already doing.
That’s when she came across the ADL campaign, which fit in “beautifully” with what the school has already done regarding celebrating diversity.
“Diversity is what we celebrate at Auburn all of the time, and I was looking at a way for us to stay connected as a community where everyone felt safe after being gone and disconnected,” Middleton said.
That has included creating the Auburn Ambassadors, involving kids and teachers and expressing what is important in the school — which took a pledge, as Middleton described, to be “a place where everybody could be who they are and be safe.”
She said the biggest thing she’s noticed is that it has become a major part of the school’s identity, with students constantly expressing problem-solving skills or using language that is representative of a bigger social ecosystem.
In first reaching out to the ADL, the school highlighted its array of diverse literature along with field trips based around diversity in the arts.
“It’s something that their kids get excited about,” Middleton said regarding the community’s response. “It’s something they can look at and be very proud in our community, and they can participate.”
The student response has also been great, she added, notably in a time in which kids of all ages are exposed to more things now than students ever were before.
“They’re seeing it and feeling that. … That allows them the freedom to be more open and connect with more kinds of people,” Middleton said. “We are designating this a place where it’s safe for everyone to learn.”
Next spring the school will find out if they received a repeat designation.