Our Employees Shine

Last year, Ed McManis, a beloved and longtime Head of School at Sterne and his wife Linda, created a DEI Scholarship Grant Program to support Sterne teachers in promoting and supporting the following: 

• Seed money to activate "visible" work that aligns with Sterne’s DEI Mission and philosophy 

• Professional growth that promotes the spread of knowledge and understanding of the importance of DEI in the student body and in the overall community 
• The establishment of a yearly legacy opportunity for these scholarship recipients as a way to honor the educator and ensure the continuation of this important work

Our first McManis DEI Grant was awarded to Nick Marti, Lower School Faculty member. Nick used the funds to attend a Personal Approach to Change and Equity (PACE) DEI workshop. This is what Nick had to say about why he applied for the grant and what he learned after participating in the DEI Workshop ….

“It is an honor to receive this Grant award as I am deeply motivated to expand my awareness and understanding of DEI, both personally and professionally. I believe in justice: what’s fair, what’s right and how we treat each other. Our experiences impact one another. All of this is so important and I’m continually looking for ways to dive deeper into these topics. I wanted to participate in this particular PACE workshop, because our DEI consultants, Liberation Consulting, will be using similar tools from the workshop in their consultancy with Sterne. 

Since participating in the workshop, I feel much more confident, comfortable, and equipped with tools and strategies to facilitate important dialogue in the classroom. I feel that I can meet my students where they are and support critical thinking skills around DEI, history, and where we are as a society/culture. That said, I will continue to struggle and figure things out as I go. This is not an easy journey but it’s important to make a commitment, even when it’s difficult. When people are dedicated to an idea like justice, it doesn’t ever go away. There are more opportunities I want to seek out so I can continue to hone my skills and build a foundation in this practice. I also want to serve as a resource to my colleagues and the school at-large. The school is putting a lot of resources/ attention toward DEI and I want to help support this vital work.”