“Fairness. Balance. Equal opportunity,” is how YSY coordinator Rachel Pream Grenier defines equity. Equity means different things to different people.

Edina High School English teacher Jackie Roehl said, “Many people confuse the word equity with equality, and that is a big mistake. Educational equity involves giving each student what he or she needs.” These two are just a couple of the many teachers who are involved at the Equity Team at EHS.

The Equity Team works to equalize opportunities for everyone while learning at the same time. They want to reach out to all kids and give everyone an equal opportunity to learn. According to Grenier, the E-Team’s mission is “to shift the culture of the school/district toward embracing equity and excellence for all students.”

The “E-Team” plans to accomplish their goals and eliminate the achievement gap at EHS with the help of all four committees on the team. The committees are: EHS Equity Leadership Team, CARE Team, Dare to be Real, and the Parents Committee. Each of these committees have jobs they do including staff development and adressing school climate in terms of race and equity issues.

To close the achievement gap, different teachers use a variety of techniques. Roehl believes that using thinking maps is a great way to learn about a student and how they think so she can help them in the future. “Students use thinking maps to explicitly show on paper what’s happening in their brain, and the final product of the Thinking Map varies from student to student. I love being able to quickly look at what a student is thinking,” she said.

The Equity Team also has Equity Walks around EHS supporting the idea of equity at EHS. English teacher Elizabeth Barniskis took part in an equity walk in November and plans and being part of a larger one this week. The point of the equity walks are to “look for specific things teachers do to support equity and take note of areas that we can improve equity,” said Barniskis.