Parents take on minority issues

Menomonee Falls — A group of parents in Menomonee Falls is trying to change the way the community talks about racial issues.

"It's the big elephant in the corner," said May Beard, assistant principal at Menomonee Falls High School, and one of the brains behind the parent group FAME - Families advocating for multi-cultural education.

"For years you tip(-toe) around him (the elephant) because if you say the wrong thing, you can get the wrong label on you. A lot of those subjects, it stays in the corner and people don't address, such as racism, such as achievement gap, a lot of things people are afraid to talk about, the FAME group is putting it on the table for discussion."

Building a foundation

Beard and a group of more than 30 parents meet to discuss issues facing parents and students of multi-cultural backgrounds, a discussion they say just wasn't taking place before. Kelly Terry, an African-American mother of two and FAME president, said she wasn't sure what to expect when she first received a letter requesting parents of multi-cultural students to meet at the school.

"When I first got that letter, I was like, 'What is this?' I really didn't understand because it was for parents of multi-cultural students and there were issues we were having at the school," remembers Terry. "I didn't know if we were being singled out.

"Not necessarily our children, but (was) there a general feeling of students of a multi-cultural background starting problems or whatever the case may be? I really wasn't sure."

What she found was the exact opposite: a group of parents from diverse backgrounds coming together to talk about issues facing their children, many of which are unique to minority students.

"We had to change the wording of the letter because it said 'diverse parents.' But it was brought to my attention there are parents of (racially) diverse children that are not minority parents," Beard admitted.

Changing the conversation

Among those parents was Stephanie Schneider, a white mother with six adopted children, all from racially diverse backgrounds. She used to live in Milwaukee and used the Chapter 220 program to send her children to Menomonee Falls.

Now a resident, Schneider wants to bring awareness to parents about issues they may not even know exist. She said she had heard about problems minority students were having and she wanted to be proactive.

"That's why this group was created, too, to be a positive, proactive group," she said. "I think the big thing in this community is keeping the dialogue going and keeping the dialogue positive."

For FAME, the hope is that dialogue brings support to its members, helps educate a broader audience, but also elicits change. Felicia Perkins-Peterson, a MFHS social-worker, said the group has met with Superintendent Keith Marty and other key administrators to discuss strategies to help change the culture in the district.

Some of the suggestions were making a concerted effort to recruit and retain minority teachers, as well as mandate diversity training for staff.

"It wasn't that these parents weren't involved in their children's lives at all. They were very involved. It was just access, too. How do we get the access to you?" explained Perkins-Peterson. "We wanted people to be able to have a voice and a place to speak. Often times you don't have a voice in other forums, so we wanted to bring people who have similar experiences to be able to speak."

Breaking barriers

Meta Zentress, another FAME parent, said she believes there are resources available, but the community just doesn't know about them. She remembers leaving a scholarship event with her daughter and being astonished that she was part of one of the only black families there.

"I walked away from that thinking, 'Oh my God, that was really great, the foundation is offering a lot of money to our kids,' but when I looked around the room, I didn't see any diversity."

Terry admits the change must also come from inside the minority community, as they must become a more vocal presence in the district.

"We're talking about things that sometimes aren't so great. But how do we change that? It's more than just coming together and dumping whatever's going on. What are we going to proactively do to make a positive impact and to make some change?" she said.

"Our community is changing. We're not the same community we were 15 years ago, so I think it's just that process of weaving ourselves within that collectively. So we have to look at what does that look like for two, three, four years down the road?"

Extending their reach

FAME plans to expand next year beyond the high school to K-12 parents. Terry and her group also hope to draw more parents of students who aren't residents of Menomonee Falls, having students in the district either through Open Enrollment or the Chapter 220 programs.

Beard said her goal is to have more representation at School Board and PTA meetings. She admits, even as an administrator, she's felt isolated as an African-American and the only person of color in the group.

"The times that I've gone, it's been all white," she said. "I got the feeling how a parent would feel if they came into that group. I didn't feel welcomed, and I didn't need to feel welcomed because it was my job, but if I had been a parent, I would have sneaked out quietly."

With leaders like Beard and Terry, FAME doesn't plan on moving quietly, but rather turning up the volume because this discussion is one that simply can no longer be ignored.