The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) honored Spring Branch ISD administrators and employees June 23 with its No Place for Hate® designation, making the district’s staff one of only two school administrations to earn the Houston-based group’s anti-bigotry recognition.

To commemorate the occasion, ADL Southwest Regional Board Vice Chairs Jay Harberg and Janet Pozmantier presented the school district with a No Place for Hate® banner during the regular monthly meeting of the SBISD Board of Trustees.

To receive the designation, administrators signed a Resolution of Respect and performed three anti-bias activities.

District staff hosted a “Mix it Up” day at lunch, during which employees that didn’t know each other would sat together in random groups and discussed the origins of their names and other topics.

Administrators also posted inspirational quotes related to the theme of respect in the Administration Building’s hallways, inspiring employees to respect each other in new ways.

Finally, the administration created a “Respect Wall,” where district staff posted comments and notes which praised and acknowledged their colleagues for random acts of kindness.

In earning the No Place for Hate® designation, the district administration joins 33 district schools that have already achieved the designation. These schools are:

Shannon Boyer (center)

At the Elementary School Level:
Buffalo Creek, Meadow Wood, Memorial Drive, Nottingham, Bunker Hill, Edgewood, Frostwood, Hollibrook, Housman, Pine Shadows, Ridgecrest, Rummel Creek, Shadow Oaks, Sherwood, Terrace, Thornwood, Treasure Forest, Valley Oaks, Westwood, Woodview and Hunters Creek.

At the Middle School Level:
Landrum, Memorial, Northbrook, Spring Branch, Spring Forest, Spring Oaks, and Westchester Academy for International Studies.

At the High School Level:
High School of Choice, Spring Woods, Stratford, and Westchester Academy’s Upper School.

In separate but related news, ADL awarded its prestigious Walter Kase Teacher Excellence Award to Spring Branch Middle School counselor Sharon Boyer earlier this year.

For more information about No Place for Hate® and ADL’s ongoing work to end bias and prejudice, please visit http://regions.adl.org/southwest/

Written by Communications Department Intern Kelli Trapnell.
Photo courtesy Stephanie Maierson Photography.

posted 06-26-08