To join us for worship by computer, laptop, tablet, or mobile device for ZOOM Click Here

As a result of the Community Network Dinners last summer, JV Van Sant, a member of Multicultural BRIDGE, has worked in the area of diversity training and mentorship in the community and local schools. Here are notes from his visit to the Vestry on April 28, 2015.

At the April 28th vestry meeting, JV Van Sant was our guest. He reported on the work he has done thus far under the grant given to him by Grace Church. His work as a member of Multicultural BRIDGE focuses on education, especially diversity training, and mentoring programs. 

He beganMask We Live In the presentation by showing us the introduction to a movie he has shown to local audiences, The Mask We Live In. In addition to screening the movie he organized a panel of speakers to discuss its content after the showing. JV was the moderator of the panel and counted that as one of the things he had grown better at from doing this work. The Mask We Live In deals with the pressure put on boys and men by society to conform to a narrow way of being, shaping them to be less feeling and less fully self-expressed. The screening of a companion movie called Missrepresentation was another project of JV’s. This movie deals with society’s pressure on girls and women to conform to idealized beauty and body images. The Mask We Live In will be shown at the Berkshire International Film Festival and JV will be organizing that event and recruiting a panel of commentators for the audience to interact with after the screening. Other screenings are being planned at Railroad Street Youth and at Pittsfield High School. 

At the Pittsfield Conte Elementary School he created and runs a mentoring program to address the needs of a fifth grade class that was exhibiting problem behaviors. By training them as mentors and assigning them to younger students, he sees that their behavior has improved. He has also paired these fifth grade students with members of the community and teachers. A similar program is running at the Allendale School. He is also working on the summer camp Multicultural BRIDGE will run in conjunction with the Guthrie Center and Gideon’s Garden and is planning a Diversity Day for next fall at Simon’s Rock. 

We were all very impressed with JV’s enthusiasm and dedication to improving the lives of young people through these creative methods. Through these programs it is clear that JV is having a positive impact and we are so grateful that we are able to support his work.