ROOTS

Rising Out Of Two Stories
Ages 11-14 (Preteens)

What it Means to be Biracial

Intended Outcome: Preteens explore what it means to live between two racial identities and begin forming personal language to describe their experience.

 

• Introduces the term "biracial" and encourages participants to share what it means to them.

• Helps normalize feelings of in-betweenness or not fitting into boxes.

• Begins shaping a shared group understanding of complexity, dual identity, and both/and thinking.

• Encourages storytelling and metaphor to support safe, creative self-expression.

​How I See Myself vs. How Others See Me

Intended Outcome: Preteens begin exploring the gap between their internal sense of self and how they are perceived by others—building tools to navigate mislabeling and bias.

 

• Encourages awareness of how racial identity is shaped internally and externally.

• Supports healthy processing of stereotypes, assumptions, and identity confusion.

• Builds language for holding multiple truths—what others see and what they may miss.

• Reinforces the power of naming and claiming one’s own racial identity story.

My Family Tree (The Real & The Felt)

Intended Outcome: Preteens reflect on both biological and emotional connections in their family, exploring how each influences their racial identity and sense of belonging.

 

• Encourages naming of all meaningful relationships—regardless of bloodline.

• Supports deeper understanding of ancestry, culture, and influence.

• Validates complex family structures and lived realities.

• Builds space for pride, grief, and personal narrative to coexist.

​Culture, Skin, and Belonging

Intended Outcome: Preteens explore how physical features, cultural experiences, and external messages influence their sense of self and where they feel they belong.

 

• Encourages naming aspects of cultural identity that feel affirming or confusing.

• Supports conversations about how skin tone, hair, and language affect daily interactions.

• Builds critical thinking around stereotypes, invisibility, and racial labeling.

• Reinforces the idea that belonging can exist across multiple cultural spaces—and within themselves.

​Code Switching & Speaking Up

Intended Outcome: Preteens examine moments when they change how they speak or act based on who they're with, and begin practicing ways to speak up without losing themselves.

 

• Introduces the concept of code-switching as a survival skill and emotional weight.

• Encourages children to identify when, where, and why they shift parts of themselves.

• Provides tools to speak up in peer settings while honoring their full identity.

• Builds confidence in using their voice to share truth without performance.

​Microaggressions & What To Do About Them

Intended Outcome: Preteens learn to recognize, name, and respond to microaggressions in ways that protect their dignity and preserve their energy.

 

• Defines microaggressions in accessible, relatable terms.

• Encourages reflection on past experiences and how they felt.

• Provides practical tools for response—silence, questions, assertiveness, or support-seeking.

• Validates the emotional impact of repeated small hurts and affirms their right to speak up or walk away.

Pride vs. Perfection

Intended Outcome: Preteens explore the pressure to “perform” or prove themselves and are guided toward self-worth rooted in identity—not achievement.

 

• Unpacks how biracial children may feel pressure to overachieve to "prove" belonging or worth.

• Encourages differentiation between healthy pride and exhausting perfectionism.

• Supports compassionate self-talk and acceptance of complexity.

• Reinforces the value of being, not just doing, as a foundation of identity.

​Exploring My Voice & Limits

Intended Outcome: Preteens practice identifying and expressing their needs, boundaries, and values—even when it feels hard or uncomfortable.

 

• Helps preteens build internal awareness of what feels right and what doesn’t.

• Supports language for communicating boundaries and asking for space or clarity.

• Encourages healthy disagreement and respectful assertion.

• Reinforces that voice and identity can evolve—and are worth protecting.

My Community and My Place In It

​Intended Outcome: Preteens explore their connections to peers, schools, neighborhoods, and cultural groups—and begin to define what community means to them.

 

• Encourages mapping and discussion of cultural, social, school, and family communities.

• Helps preteens name which spaces support or challenge their identity.

• Builds awareness of the importance of safe, affirming environments.

• Supports a growing sense of agency in choosing who and what to align with.

​Who Get To Say Who I Am?

Intended Outcome: Preteens explore how their identity fits within the communities they belong to—and where they feel most seen, valued, and safe.

 

• Encourages questioning of labels and categories imposed by peers, systems, or adults.

• Builds confidence in choosing how to identify—and knowing that choice may evolve.

• Introduces the concept of self-definition as power and protection.

• Supports reflection through journaling, drawing, and group affirmation.

When It Feels Lonely

Intended Outcome: Preteens name the emotional experience of racial loneliness and explore strategies for connection, support, and self-compassion.

 

• Validates the emotional weight of being misunderstood or unseen.

• Encourages discussion around isolation in school, family, and friend groups.

• Builds practices for self-soothing and seeking affirming connection.

• Affirms that loneliness is real—and doesn’t mean they’re alone.

Building My Language for Identity

Intended Outcome: Preteens explore vocabulary and self-descriptors that feel authentic to their lived experience and begin experimenting with ways to speak about identity.

 

• Introduces terms commonly used to describe biracial and multiracial identity.

• Encourages curiosity around which words feel true, helpful, or limiting.

• Supports language development for sharing their racial experience confidently.

• Reinforces the idea that language is flexible and personal—and they get to decide.

Storytelling Through Art & Words

Intended Outcome: Preteens explore creative outlets for sharing their identity story, using art, poetry, and metaphor to express experiences that are hard to put into plain language.

 

• Supports storytelling as a form of self-healing and identity affirmation.

• Encourages risk-taking in expression—no story is too small or too messy.

• Introduces visual and written techniques to share what they know, feel, and wonder.

• Builds confidence in using their own language, symbols, and imagination to tell their truth.

What I Want the World to Know

Intended Outcome: Preteens craft messages about their identity and experience they wish others—friends, teachers, strangers—better understood.

 

• Encourages bold expression of truth, hopes, and frustrations.

• Offers structured reflection on what they wish more people knew about being biracial.

• Builds communication skills through letter-writing, video messages, or spoken word.

• Creates a powerful bridge between inner voice and outer impact.

​Celebration & Community Wellness

Intended Outcome: Preteens reflect on their journey, share their growth, and participate in a collective closing that honors each voice and identity.

 

• Encourages reflection on personal transformation and expanded understanding.

• Provides a safe and affirming space to share identity projects, messages, or art.

• Reinforces peer support and belonging through witnessing and being witnessed.

• Closes with intention, ritual, and celebration of each participant’s voice and courage.