A Conversation with WFS Faculty

Head of School Ken Aldridge and current faculty members: Lara Munch, Karen Horikawa, Carlos Charriez, Amanda McMillan, Rose Gnade, and Erica Childs, discussed diversity, equity, and inclusion work at the School. Watch the Zoom recording

If you are a current parent, alumna/us, or parent of alumni who is interested in becoming more involved in DEI work at WFS, please contact Tina DiSabatino, Director of Alumni Programs and Giving at tdisabatino@wilmingtonfriends.org.

Carlos Charriez is entering his 15th year as a middle school science teacher at WFS. He has helped plan and integrate DEI topics, such as implicit bias, air quality and poverty, race, identity, and genetics, into the science curriculum. A member of the Race, Identity and Cultural Competency MS faculty focus group, he’s helped organize annual events exploring topics such as privilege, disabilities and race. Last year he led the International Day of Peace celebration focusing on disabilities and worked with the University of Delaware’s Center for Disability Studies to bring in speakers to the Middle School throughout the month of September. Carlos also leads the urban gardening initiative at WFS, maintaining our on-campus raised beds and off campus garden at Bellevue State Park.  To date, we have grown and donated over 1,500 pounds of produce to local food banks in Wilmington, mainly to Lutheran Community Services, and the Sunday Breakfast Mission.

Erica Childs has been teaching Mathematics at WFS since 2016. She currently teaches 9th grade Integrated Math 2 and Advanced Integrated Math 2. Erica is also the 9th Grade Team Clerk. She has served as the faculty sponsor for the Black Student Union since 2017 and is also a member of the Upper School faculty and staff diversity committee. This summer, Erica and others developed a new initiative entitled 'READ- Reading and Educating ourselves about Anti-racism and Discrimination' which is designed to encourage dialogue among faculty and staff about diversity, equity, and inclusion issues inside and outside of WFS. 

Rose Gnade has been teaching science at WFS since 2017. In 2018, she joined the college guidance office as an assistant director. She currently teaches General Chemistry and is the 10th Grade Team clerk. Additionally, she serves on the Stewardship Committee, and the Upper School's Faculty and Staff Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. This summer, Rose worked on several committees focused on DEI work at WFS and helped develop the READ journaling group with Erica Childs and other faculty and staff members. Her recent DEI work outside of WFS includes programs with Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, The National Black Student Association, and the Multicultural Resource Center at the Association of Delaware Valley Independent School's Cultural Competency Institute.

Karen Horikawa joined the WFS faculty in 2000 after teaching at several Quaker schools in Philadelphia. She currently teaches 7th grade Earth and Space Science and 8th grade Biology, and coaches middle school tennis. In 2007, she joined the school's SEED program. SEED stands for Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity, which grew from the National SEED Project, founded by Peggy McIntosh of The Wellesley College Centers for Women. She has attended the NAIS POCC (People of Color Conference) several times and she has served as a facilitator for the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Affinity Group. Several years ago, she was honored to serve as co-clerk of the school's Membership Renewal Process, also known as the Quaker self study, affirming WFS's membership in the Friends Council on Education. In spring of 2015, she traveled to Montgomery, Alabama with several colleagues to attend the opening of the Legacy Museum and Peace and Justice Memorial, meet Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative, and attend the Peace and Justice Summit. Most recently, she co-clerked the Black Lives Matter Long Term Action Planning Group. The mission for this group was to facilitate changes in curriculum, policies, and practices at WFS to be anti-racist and inclusive. resulting in measurable actions and outcomes.

Amanda McMillan has been teaching English to grades 7 and 8 at Friends for seven years. Since her arrival to WFS, she has been a facilitator for the faculty SEED group. Four years ago she started an affinity group for middle school girls from the African Diaspora called Sisters of Color(SOC). It began with just 8th grade girls but has since expanded to include 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Each year she works with Dr. Erica Childs and the upper school Black Student Union to present a collection for Black History Month. Amanda was also co-creator of the middle school Diversity Committee. She is a regular attendee at the People of Color Conference(PoCC) as well as middle school diversity leadership conferences at Haverford, Tower Hill, and Friends’ Central Schools.

Lara Munch has taught Spanish for 28 years and is entering her 7th year at the lower school. She has been the Clerk of the LS Diversity Committee for the past 6 years. The committee has hosted diversity book groups, shared activity ideas with faculty and staff, brought expressed concerns and ideas to the administration, and offered opportunities for professional growth through workshops and conferences. Laura has attended the People Of Color Conference, White Privilege Conference, and chaperoned the US Black History summer course trip to Alabama to visit the Legacy Museum. She has also served on the school wide Black Lives Matter short term and long term committees, participated in the 21 Racial Equity Challenge, attended ADVIS and Friends Council Diversity Trainings, and participated in SEED 1 and SEED 2 at WFS.