Tyler

By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer

All Saints Episcopal School has added a new position to its staff, one it hopes will help the school fully realize its mission, which includes embracing diversity.

The school’s new diversity coordinator, Charmyst Amie, officially begins his job this month.

“I’ve never been one to be confined by the ideologies of race and socioeconomic differences,” Amie said in an interview about the new job in late May. “This opportunity just seemed to be a great fit for what’s in my heart.”

The idea for the position was born out of discussions between Amie and All Saints Headmaster Arthur Burke.

“All Saints presents a wonderful opportunity for changing lives and growing,” Burke said. “Most people don’t know that the majority of the faculty did not come from an independent school background … We recognize this is a very privileged setting. The discussion Charmyst and I had centered around — we want to make this available to as many kids as possible.”

Burke said that for years he’s felt there has been a “void in the school — that we’re not fully implementing our mission.” Part of the mission, he said, is to be inclusive and more diverse.

The school wants to be more inclusive of races, cultures, religions, socioeconomic differences — “it’s not just about those obvious things like race, but it’s about being more inclusive and open-minded to people who have different views, different opinions,” he said.

“I see it as part of the bigger picture of what an Episcopal school philosophically represents,” the headmaster said in May. “One of the basic tenets of an Episcopal school is that we’re all God’s creatures and we all embody the spirit of Christ in what we do. And as such we need to seek to understand each other better, and that’s a part of the Episcopal school tradition that Charmyst is going to help us on.”

Amie, a 37-year-old Tyler native, is excited about stepping into the role.

“I think that this is the providence of God that allowed this opportunity, to come to do what I’m very passionate about,” Amie said. “I’m excited about exploring it and developing it and I’m going to try my best to be absolutely as successful as possible. Bottom line is it’s affording opportunities and developing a potential in the youth in East Texas, and that is my passion.”

Amie graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1989 and attended Stephen F. Austin State University. He also had a short stint in professional football in Cincinnati in1993.

He later returned to Tyler, where he is a staff pastor at what he called a diverse church, New Life Worship Center in Tyler. He and his wife have “always had a heart for secondary education and to give opportunities to those who have great potential,” Amie said.

“I am driven by a desire to have a positive legacy in my community — that being African American as well as Tyler and East Texas,” Amie said. “That’s really my internal combustion that is driving me to touch, to affect in a positive way as many people as I can.”

Burke described Amie as a family man with strong Christian values who has excellent communication skills and a passion for kids and teaching.

He called Amie, “The right man for the right position at the right time.”

Amie’s job as diversity coordinator at All Saints will be multi-faceted, Burke said.

“First and foremost, he will bring to the school a position as a leader and raising our awareness and raising us to be more inclusive and more open-minded in certain aspects of the school,” he said.

Specifically, Burke said, Amie will work with a committee of the board to brainstorm ideas on how to be more inclusive and more diverse.

His role will involve investigating an international student exchange program, starting a multi-cultural club at All Saints and promoting, through the arts and through chapel, a more diverse presentation of programs, such as different speakers or performances.

“The other thing that is important is that he will be the liaison, the sponsor that kids will go to, and he will mentor, he will be a leader … If kids have questions or concerns about ‘how does this operate’ or ‘how does the school function in this area,’ where they may have been reluctant to go to me or someone else before, Charmyst will be the ‘go to’ person for our kids, for people of color for example.”

Burke said currently the school is not that diverse, with about a 12-percent minority population, although he noted there is not a goal to have a certain percentage.

That 12 percent is up from past years, he said.

“It’s not an issue here that I think we should sweep under the rug,” Burke said. “All Saints is not a blended school. We don’t have a great many people of color here. We have very few. I would suppose it’s difficult sometimes for people … It would be difficult for me if I were within a broader society where I’m quite distinctly different. It’s nice to have someone who’s your champion, someone who understands where you’re coming from.”

Burke said Amie will explain the mission of the school “in very clear terms to a segment of people who may have thought, well, this is too imposing … this is too restrictive or too different.” Burke said it is not really recruiting but explaining the mission and “helping get the word out that All Saints is inclusive.”

“There are certain kids that Charmyst would be able to reach or know that we might not be able to reach or know to explain what our mission is,” he said. “If that leads to their enrollment, that’s great.”

Amie will also work with admissions, outreach around the community and will coach various sports.

Burke said some may wonder what this new position means to the school.

“It means the school becomes better,” he said.

“I think this is a very important step in the life of All Saints Episcopal School. And the benefits of this will be long term.”