Mrs. Christen Tedrow-Harrison is finishing up her final year here at Cathedral Catholic. She has accepted a position as the Diversity Director at the Francis Parker School in San Diego. Make no mistake, Mrs. Tedrow-Harrison did not make the decision to leave Cathedral lightly, and it was in no way an easy decision for her to make. “I love the Cathedral school community,” she said.

The challenge that lies ahead for Ms. Tedrow-Harrison will certainly be a different one for her than what she is accustomed to at Cathedral. As Diversity Director at Francis Parker, she will have responsibilities that are very broad in scope. It will be her duty to further the school’s vision for diversity and inclusion. She will be involved in the many facets of planning, including strategic planning and reviewing the school’s curriculum to ensure that it promotes diversity and equity.

“Diversity has a very broad meaning,” Mrs. Tedrow-Harison said. “For instance, in an English class, making the decision to incorporate diversity into the curriculum is far broader than race or gender. My role will be to focus on the various multiplicity of social identities or diversity factors. Not only is it important that the choice of literature doesn’t come only from a male perspective, it is important to include writers from different regional backgrounds, sexual orientations, male and female.”

Most of the big-scope tasks that Mrs. Tedrow-Harrison will be required to focus on are gender, race, religion, age, ability, sexual orientation, social economics/class and ethnicity, otherwise known as GRASSE. Mrs. Tedrow-Harrison said “the acronym helps me to remember how broad diversity is.”

Concerning the success of her classroom, she credits the “trust and autonomy that the administration has given” in making her experiences on campus great ones. For Mrs. Tedrow-Harrison, this has translated into a happy teaching career here at Cathedral. She said she “loves the faculty, the larger community here, and especially the kids.”

In fact, she added a note regarding the caliber of students that Cathedral possesses. “You guys are really good kids, you are fun, you are real, you care about your education, and you care about the larger world and global perspective,” Mrs. Tedrow-Harrison said. From a student perspective, she feels that she “has always had the support needed to do well in the classroom.” All of this has made teaching English 1A, English 2 and English 4 a rewarding experience for her.