Robbinsdale Equity Allies provide culturally responsive support to students and staff
For Aiysha Mustapha, equity work comes naturally. After growing up in a New Jersey neighborhood that was only 6% White, she attended high school at a boarding school in Connecticut where most students were White. “I’ve been doing this for most of my life,” she said, “I can honestly say I live the work.” Mustapha is a School Climate and Culture Specialist for Robbinsdale Area Public Schools, a position she has held since 2023. Before that, she spent several years as a Family and Community Engagement Specialist with the district.
Both Mustapha’s current role and former role are funded through the Achievement and Integration for Minnesota program, which is designed to “pursue racial and economic integration, increase student achievement, create equitable educational opportunities and reduce economic disparities based on students’ diverse racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds,” according to the 2013 state statute that established the program.
As a School Climate and Culture specialist, Mustapha works as a consultant with the admin team and the MTSS Committee to ensure that a school’s policies are equitable. She also provides support for students and staff—especially staff of color—ensuring they have support spaces. “Because of implicit bias, I am sometimes presented with some difficult conversations and situations,” Mustapha said. One of her responsibilities is to ensure that behavioral and academic interventions are applied with race, sex, gender, disability and socioeconomic factors in mind. Oftentimes, this looks like conversations about discipline: Does this disciplinary action make sense for what the student has done? Is this approach most effective for this student?
School Climate and Culture Specialists provide cultural context to students and staff. “I do a lot of bringing perspective and cultural pieces that people may not have thought of,” she said. For example, a student whose parents are recent immigrants may not watch the local news—so while it may seem obvious that they’ve heard about a specific event, that may not always be the case. In another instance, the district pitched the idea of moving to twice-monthly paychecks instead of the current biweekly system. Equity allies pushed back, explaining to the district that what may seem like a simple change to them would have a significant impact on ESPs who work multiple jobs and have to balance multiple pay schedules.
Another aspect of this work is providing culturally responsive support. That can include educating students about the cultural and historical context of words they’re using. “A lot of these kids have heard specific words used casually [or in music] but they don’t understand where those words come from,” Mustapha said. “And so I open that up and we have a conversation about the history of those words and why they mean what they mean.” She says these conversations help the students better understand rules around usage of certain language and terms. Culturally responsive support and education also incorporates celebrating cultural months and important holidays, which Mustapha works with the school to organize. “Right now, my office has a medicine wheel and LED lights in Native colors. I have flags and then I have some surprise decorations for the students for Ramadan.”
Mustapha stresses that the benefit to this work is that it brings perspective and insight that people otherwise might not have, which helps build a stronger community. “Everyone’s idea of building community isn’t the same,” she said. “This work requires us bridge those different ideas and provide perspectives.”
“Ultimately, it’s about making sure that everyone feels a sense of belonging,” she said.
