Ten years ago, one of our lead facilitators led a moving conversation with a local South Miami faith-based private school. The administrative staff were incredibly appreciative of the interactive facilitation style and depth of discussion highly praising the simplicity and vulnerability of YES Institute’s dialogues. One of those staff members 10 years later was recruited to be the Assistant Head of School for Inclusivity, Equity, & Community Affairs at the Trevor Day School, where we were called to make a difference once again, this time in New York City.
Trevor Day School is an independent school in Manhattan, New York. As stated on Trevor Day School’s website, “[e]ach year the [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] Team offers a full calendar of unique programming to promote engagement between parents, faculty, and staff around topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion.” The 2023-2024 academic year is focused on gender. Trevor Day School specifically sought out YES Institute’s model of communication and education on gender to engage their entire school community including parents, faculty, alumni, board of trustees, and students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
“It is vital for families to have multi-generational discussions about thoughts and ideas related to the younger generations. Even as elders, we might not understand their experiences, but having a dialogue and learning how they experience life without speaking “at them” is one of the greatest gifts that we can give them.” – Trevor Day School Parent
YES Institute’s team, on two separate occasions traveled to New York and led large group assemblies, zoom meetings, individual classroom workshops, and professional development training for faculty, students, parents, and staff. During the parent session, one of YES Institute’s volunteer speakers, a Mom, courageously shared the adversity faced by her transgender son throughout his teenage life and the impact that the school community had on his journey through gender.
“I learned so much- what gender means, how it impacts our children, and how it affects their mental health (when not affirmed).” – Trevor Day School Parent
“Incredibly important talk for all parents and students on prevention of gender bullying and acceptance.” – Trevor Day School Parent
Our education team dove deeper into gender-based statistics during the faculty and staff professional development, citing the latest research on the equity pay gap and overall expectations in the workplace. Faculty and staff reflected on professional experiences in relation to femininity and masculinity. 
“The presentation was way more informative and useful for me as an educator and parent than I thought it would be going into it. Thank you!” – Trevor Day School Faculty
“I learned a lot both from the facilitators and my colleagues. I was impressed with how open people were willing to be, which to me indicates that this community is a supportive and safe space! Even though the presentation was long, it was engaging and 100% worthwhile experience. I hope to have more PD like this!” – Trevor Day School Faculty
“I think focusing on how different expectations are for the performance and treatment of women vs men has been very helpful for our community and I look forward to having a deeper dive into how these issues show up/are modeled in our school.” – Trevor Day School Faculty
“I really appreciated the amount of evidence-based practice and research included in this. Most content was backed up with clear specifics. Lots covered in only a couple hours.” – Trevor Day School Faculty
“It provided food for thought, an impetus for self reflection and to have more awareness of gender awareness in the classroom at school and in the workplace.” – Trevor Day School Faculty
Kindergarten through fourth grade students had age appropriate conversations beginning with an immersive activity where students were asked to place specific items into piles for ‘boys,’ ‘girls,’ and ‘everyone.’ Most of these items were toys and the kids themselves questioned why they couldn’t play with them and voiced their opinions about the subject. The older children shared anecdotes especially about sports that many of the girls wanted to participate in and artistic outlets that many of the boys wanted to explore.
Gender-based stereotypes and unconscious bias was further discussed with the middle and high school assemblies. When unpacking bullying, one middle school student said, “it seems that girls are stereotyped based on their physicality and boys are teased based on their emotions.” After each assembly, there were students that approached the YES Institute team and thanked them for the breadth and depth of the conversations.
“I learned about gender stereotypes and insecurities of each gender.” – Trevor Day Middle School Student
“I thought it was very interesting to hear all of the different opinions on gender and gender equality at our school, and I thought that it was impressive how the presenters got us students to participate to that degree.” – Trevor Day Middle School Student
“I learned that each gender has its own ups and downs. The YES Institute session taught me kindness and respect.” – Trevor Day Middle School Student
“I learned about a lot more stereotypes between girls and boys. I also learned more about the pressures girls face.” – Trevor Day Middle School Student
One of the students felt safe and shared their pronouns for the first time after the assembly to one of our staff. They opened up about their personal adversity at home, school, and uncertainty with friends. Once they shared their pronouns, they cried and hugged our staff member. These conversations left a profound impact on this student and countless others who felt seen and heard.
“The YES Institute made me think about the norms and boxes created by us as a society and how it affects our daily lives.” – Trevor Day High School Student
“I learned about different views and perspectives on masculinity and femininity.” – Trevor Day High School Student
“Today we learned about gender as a concept and about some of the ways that sexism impacts everyday life. It was really interesting to get to hear other people share experiences that were either similar to mine or dramatically different.” – Trevor Day High School Student
Our team extends our heartfelt gratitude to the entire student body at Trevor Day School, their faculty, staff, parents and alumni. We especially thank Koreé Hood and Debra Alleyne-James for their commitment and partnership to ensure the healthy development of all children and families.
If you are interested in creating a community, a school, or a workplace, as a safe place for people to authentically be themselves, please contact us. Our vision is a community in which all youth develop as healthy individuals free of suicide, violence and discrimination. Contact us at 305-663-7195 or [email protected]
Our Upcoming Courses are available on our website here – Upcoming Courses.