November SCIL Day Adds Color to the Picture of Cultural Awareness
DELLONA TOWNSHIP, WI – The November meeting of the Sauk County Institute of Leadership (SCIL) met in the Dellona Town Hall on November 10, 2022, to have a look at diversity and cultural awareness. Led by SCIL facilitator Morgan McArthur, the group was encouraged to look beyond their previous understanding of diversity and to explore their attitudes and biases.
Holding an artifact of their own heritage, each member of the group took a moment to help open the session by expressing how this piece of their culture and history held clues about their diversity. The activity shed light on connections seen and unseen for the members and the connections they are starting to build as a learning community.
Diversity expert Santo Carfora then took the group into a half-day program on cultural competency for a modern world. Carfora showed the group tools to break down barriers by having courageous conversations as well as ways to create relationships with those who are different from us. Carfora engaged the SCIL leaders in exercises that helped them see the ways stereotypes and biases can come up but also showed them how to intervene when conversations turned negative so they felt more confident in expressing this part of their leadership moving forward.
In the afternoon, Marcy Huffaker, co-chairperson of Baraboo Acts Coalition joined the session to continue to push the group’s ability to expand around diversity awareness. Huffaker, a SCIL alum, was moved to act in the aftermath of the photo posted to social media in November 2018, of a group of Baraboo High School boys giving a Nazi salute. The photo garnered unfavorable international attention and Huffaker and other city leaders formed the Baraboo Acts Coalition to elevate and celebrate the conversation about diversity and inclusion. The group was eager to ask thoughtful questions of themselves, the community and how to process such events together while maintaining respect for all.
The day’s impactful discussions concluded with a presentation by Lance Tallmadge, tribally-enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. Mr. Tallmadge shared a brief history of the People of the Big Voice. He shared the historical and present footprint of the Ho-Chunk Nation in Sauk County and how the communities weave together to embrace the native culture. Mr. Tallmadge expressed joy for all aspects of his heritage and how being able to embrace his identity as Ho-Chunk, Sauk Community member, afforded him many happy memories.
-Amanda Coorough
