The first two groups of town associates have completed a 5-week study circle training allowing diverse groups a chance to work together on understanding each other and how we are all different.
The first two groups were elected officials including 6 Town Council members (Don Spann did not participate), the town judge and clerk treasurer as well as all but one department head. The two separate groups of 8 each met for 5 consecutive weeks for about 90-minutes to ‘share’ backgrounds, discuss current events, and review our sorted history going all the way back to the very beginning of the United States.
The sessions for me was a real eye-opener of how we can all have very different life experiences all while growing up within a few miles of each other.
Some of the history of our country was NOT so pleasant to review again. Most of it we forget about and reviewing how ‘American’s’ treated each other was painful to review again. Frankly, it is disappointing to see how some fellow humans were treated.
A reporter from The Times did a superb job about this topic and I have linked the article below for your review. Rest assured that one of my many action plans is to make sure all town employees (about 160) go through the Diversity Study Circles as a first step toward a better understand of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity. This will be just the beginning of an on-going commitment to this important topic.
Here is the link: https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/merrillville-councilmen-embrace-diversity-training/article_9e5e4756-9d78-503a-8be3-44e524a7a492.html