Christ Presbyterian Academy

Intercultural Development

In 2017, CPA launched the CPA Strategic Plan. This plan included two strategic initiatives: “Grow Our Us” and “Mature Our Mission.” Though the progress has cultivated considerable growth and awareness, it has only just begun! 

"All education begins with these two principles. We teach who we are and we cannot take anyone where we have not been. Therefore, the first work within CPA needed to be with us, the faculty." -Head of School Nate Morrow

 

Learning Together

  • In 2019, CPA partnered with the Institute of Cross-Cultural Mission (ICCM of Grace D.C. Network) to perform an intercultural development inventory (measurement tool for intercultural awareness). Led by ICCM Executive Director Pastor Irwyn Ince (also moderator of the Presbyterian Church in America), the Academy was able to identify areas of growth and strategic initiatives to increase diversity and intercultural awareness both in curriculum and programming.

     
     
     In 2019, CPA continued this program with PCA Mission North America African American Ministries coordinator Wy Plummer to complete individual Intercultural Development Inventories (IDI) with every member of Academy faculty and staff. Wy’s mission is the   process of gospel-centered sanctification among organizations supported through data-backed research and interpersonal   assessments. Wy ran campus-wide diagnostics through detailed surveys and   monthly coaching meetings in both individual and small-     group settings to discuss where we fall on the intercultural continuum (denial, polarization, minimization, acceptance, adaptation) to   take us from a monocultural mindset to an intercultural mindset. Wy’s implementation of individual action steps, resources, and   growth plans are in continual work at CPA, both school-wide and campus-wide.  

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  • In 2019, our Board of Trustees went through the IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory process) along with individual assessment meetings. 
     
  • In 2019, CPA developed an intercultural task force representative within our faculty to help review and recommend policy, develop strategies for growth and problem solve existing challenges within our community on diversity.  
     
  • In 2019, lower school leadership in partnership with community members of color reevaluated our lower school field trips that align with our intercultural goals.
     
  • In 2019, CPA Upper School launched the Institute for Cultural Engagement, offering students the opportunity to discover the intersection of their passion and purpose in order to make a meaningful contribution to the public good- culture shapers. A four-year program containing four components of programming (curriculum, collaboration, internship, Telos project), Centers include schools of Mercy and Justice, Arts and Entertainment, 
    Business and Entrepreneurship, Media and Publication, and Inquiry and Design. Click here to learn more about these centers and how they will address and inform discussions on intercultural initiative. 
     
  • In 2020, two within this task force began a three-year cohort program with Institute of Cross-Cultural Mission (ICCM of Grace D.C. Network) to help us ensure we are caring well for the families of color within CPA and are attractive to new ones. 
     
  • In 2021, work within the IDI assessment's small-group meetings continued as faculty and staff engaged in monthly discussions on intercultural fluency. Discussions were led by Wy Plummer and CPA Spiritual LIfe's Pastor for Cross-Cultural Mission and Discipleship Arneal Strain. 

Leadership attends a monthly Intercultural Development Inventory assessment meeting led by PCA Mission North America African American Ministries coordinator Wy Plummer. Faculty and staff attend small group sessions with Wy each month. Wy’s implementation of individual action steps, resources, and growth plans are in continual work at CPA, both school-wide and campus-wide. 

Listening Together

The Academy's Perspectives speaker series has been an open forum for topics of faith in all areas of culture. CPA has been honored to host several renowned speakers on diversity, sharing stories from their experiences in the civil rights movement. All events are free and open to the public so as to encourage community conversation and engagement. 

In 2018, the Academy hosted Dr. John M. Perkins, a leading voice on civil rights, racial injustice, and social activism. Key takeaways from Dr. Perkins included the importance of open conversation on topics of racial inequity and a call for reconciliation between racial divide in the Church. 

In 2018, the Academy welcome professional baseball player Darryl Strawberry to hear his stories on life and faith in his arenas, including the MLB, the Church, and his work of ministry to incarcerated people of color. 

In 2019, the Academy embarked on a campus-wide study of author, speaker, and civil rights spokesperson Anthony Ray Hinton. Hinton's book The Sun Does Shine is an account of his incredible testimony in the face of racism and extreme injustice at the hands of the American legal system. All CPA upper school students, faculty, and staff explored The Sun Does Shine as required reading, attended multi-disciplinary lectures on the book, and attended Hinton's Perspectives talk as well. More collective studies and exercises of this nature are in the works for the 2020-21 school year.