Experts Lead Parents in Discussion on ‘Intersectionality’

The event, entitled "A Panel Discussion on Identity Through An Exploration of Blackness, Mental Health, Gender & Sexual Orientation," was hosted by the school’s Parent DEI Taskforce. Panelists explored the ways that these identities show up in the lives of young people today, and offered advice on how to ensure a more inclusive experience for children. 

 

The panelists encouraged parents to consider the behaviors they are modeling for their children, citing the adage “More is caught than taught” and challenged parents and guardians to think about the role they might play in creating a more equitable future rather than relying on the next generation to bring about the next societal change.

 

The Parent DEI Task Force regularly holds events for parents and guardians including film screenings, roundtable discussions and guest speakers.

“We are grateful for the work of our Parent DEI Taskforce to raise topics of identity, and to help increase the sense of belonging that everyone in our community should feel,” said Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Kojo Clarke who facilitated the event. 

 

DR. CHRISTOPHER BOGART is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked in both the private and public sectors for the past thirty years. Dr. Bogart works with children, adolescents and parents, conducting comprehensive psychoeducational and AD/HD evaluations as well as therapy services. He also provides program consultations to local schools, as well as supervision to doctoral students in psychology. Dr. Bogart serves as the Board President of the Board of Trustees of Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, and as member of the Board of Trustees for New Canaan Country School, for which he chairs the Board’s DEI Committee.

 

Prior to co-founding the Sasco River Center, Dr. Bogart held various clinical positions including staff psychologist at the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and Director of Psychology at the Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg, New York. While serving as director, Dr. Bogart organized and administered an American Psychological Association approved training program for clinical psychology and social work graduate students. He supervised staff psychologists on children’s and adolescent inpatient units, and he devised a hospital-wide behavior modification program for the children. Dr. Bogart has provided numerous classes, lectures and training programs on various topics such as parent education, executive functions assessment and coaching, psychological testing, and stress management. He has also conducted research studies in various areas including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Social Skills Training, and depression in children.

 

Dr. Bogart received his undergraduate training at Georgetown University and received his doctoral degree from The American University in 1986.

 

 

CADENCE PENTHENY (they/them) is TCC’s passionate Community Educator, with a demonstrated commitment to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community through training and education. They hold a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Franklin & Marshall College, and a Graduate Certificate in Human Sexuality through the University of Minnesota. Upon graduating, they served two years with the AmeriCorps program City Year, where they supported students in an under-resourced elementary school. Before joining the team at TCC, they worked as Coordinator for LGBTQ+ Programming & Initiatives at the University of Mississippi, doing a wide variety of work involving intersectionality, diversity, equity, and education, especially around LGBTQ+ issues and sexual and gender liberation.

As leader of TCC’s LGBTQ+ Training Institute, Cadence is responsible for engaging with the wider community to provide educational opportunities and professional development surrounding LGBTQ+ cultural competency/humility across Fairfield County and beyond. Further, they facilitate interactive workshops on sexual violence prevention for schools and sports teams through the Sexual Violence Prevention Collaborative of Fairfield County’s Coaches as Partners program.

 

 

ALYSSA THOMAS '13 is a Jamaican-American woman from Stamford, CT. She also has close ties to Bridgeport, CT. She attended Waterside School from 2nd through 4th grade and was then accepted at Country School. She attended NCCS from fifth through ninth grade (class of 2013), where she was a multi-year spelling bee champ. She participated in CAFE and attended SDLC in ninth grade, where her passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion took shape. She gained the language and framework to make sense of her experience as a Black girl in a predominantly white space and experience pride in my Blackness. After NCCS, she attended Emma Willard School, an all girls’ boarding school in Troy, NY where her passions for social voice grew stronger. She later attended Johns Hopkins University where she studied English literature, social policy, and computer science. She is currently a technical writer for Palo Alto Networks, a global cybersecurity company based in Santa Clara, CA. In her free time, she enjoys lifting, spending time on Twitter, reading - she is currently reading “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett, and listening to Clubhouse rooms on topics such as race, capitalism, and relationships.