#COMEASYOUARE

Every year, Castilleja students, families, and employees gather for #ComeAsYouAre (CAYA), our signature Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging (DEIJB) event. Begun in 2018, CAYA is a community celebration where we hear from speakers, share our experiences, and learn from one another through workshops and hands-on activities. In planning #ComeAsYouAre, Castilleja’s ACE Center partners with student leaders from the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Leadership Committee (DEILC) to co-create programming that is responsive to our community and deepens our understanding of each other.

Come As You Are 25-26:

Connections Through Curiosity

Come As You Are 25-26: Connections through Curiosity is a community-building and inclusion event, enriching Castilleja families' connections by making new lasting relationships—relationships that will strengthen our ties and move us beyond our assumptions about one another.

At Castilleja, we believe that we are smarter and stronger together. Join us as we take a moment to pause and engage in the intentional work of community-building. This year’s CAYA experience will include a potluck, speaker conversations, and student- and adult-specific workshops that help us understand how curiosity fosters inclusion.

For more information, please contact Mame Diarra Dioum

Kate Schatz

Kate Schatz is an author, educator, speaker, and activist. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she is most notably known for her New York Times-bestselling Rad Women book series that have been translated into multiple languages around the world, as well as for her thought-provoking Do The Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book, which she co-authored with W. Kamau Bell, the Emmy-winning host of CNN’s United Shades of America. Kate speaks, writes, and consults on topics including feminist histories (and futures!), social and racial justice, and practical activism. Learn more about Kate here.

Past #COMEASYOUARE Themes & Guests

2024-2025 Building Belonging	On January 28, 2025, the community heard from the Founder of Project Wren Mimi Tran Zambetti and San Jose Downtown Association Street Life Manager Lou Jimenez, who talked about building belonging. Their presentation was followed by a festive potluck lunch and creative workshops by student members of our ACE Orgs and DEILC at the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center in Menlo Park. Read More
2023-2024 Dismantling to Restore	On January 27, 2024, antiracism educator and founder and CEO of Race-Work Lori A. Watson led a thought-provoking workshop centered on the theme of “Dismantling to Restore” at the Los Altos Community Center. Students from the DEILC also facilitated hands-on community workshops, where they explored the growth mindset, dominant societal narratives, and more.
2022-2023 Engaging Authentically	On January 28, 2023, Michelle MiJung Kim, speaker and author of The Wake Up, engaged the community in a fireside chat about advocacy and action at the Los Altos Community Center. Student members of DEILC Task Force led workshops based on themes they explored at the NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference.
2021-2022 Self-Acceptance	On May 21, 2022, Author Julie Lythcott Haims read from her book Real American: A Memoir for the Castilleja community at the Mitchell Park Library in Palo Alto. After sharing her experience of being Black in white spaces and finding self-acceptance, she invited participants to explore the full complexity of their own layered identities and histories.
2020-2021 Building Bridges	Alison Park, founder of Blink Consulting, joined us for Come As You Are on October 18, 2020 via Zoom, exploring the theme of Building Bridges. Alison provided our community with the tools to begin dismantling racism, ways to talk about race and antiracism, and what we can do to show up for others.
2019-2020 Celebrating	On October 19, 2019, Dr. Rodney Glasgow, educator & Founder of The Glasgow Group, led a discussion based on his work on Courageous Conversations at the Palo Alto JCC. Participants broke into small groups and students guided group discussions through an identity-themed reflective exercise. Once again, the event capped off with a huge potluck.
2018- 2019 Casti Intersections	Slam Poet S.C. of S.C. Says performed his work and discussed poetry as an art form to help us understand ourselves and our communities better, at the Lucie Stern Community Center in Palo Alto on March 9, 2019. Students, family members, and employees read their poetry in response to his workshop, and everyone enjoyed a potluck lunch of favorite family recipes.