The Unity Council council is centered around making Dover a welcoming place for all identities and beliefs and originated in 2018 because staff noticed that there was a sense of disconnect within the district. 

The Unity Council not only focuses on engaging students and the community but also addresses the experiences of marginalized people. District social workers Nicole Assi and Kirsten Johnson both cite their background in social work for the reason they joined the council. Johnson says, “social work values and ethics speak to issues of inclusion and diversity and social justice.”  

On October 14th, the Unity Council held its monthly meeting. Teachers Katrina Rothrock and Angela Krebs presented on the Online Equity Symposium they attended over the summer, which taught teachers how to think more inclusively about students. The symposium addressed how race and other social factors play into biases that can negatively affect students.  

Even so, the Unity Council is trying to broaden its horizons so it can be more community-oriented than district-oriented. “(The Unity Council) just doesn’t feel like a space to do the work that people are wanting to do because it feels very driven by the school,” Assi says. That is why members are focused on making the Unity Council a grassroots organization.  However, the Unity Council still wants to lead work in the district by training staff on social issues, making sure services and organizations are available for all students to feel welcome, and learning to navigate polarizing topics.  To achieve these goals, Johnson and Assi are working on an “Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Plan.”

“Unity work is about progress and understanding and moving forward,” Assi says.

Johnson wants people to know that “the council itself is really about diversity and perspective… to highlight that we have so many more things in common with one another than we do that are different, and the differences don’t have to divide us.”