DEI Director Helps Recruit METCO Leadership

Since joining the district leadership team in April 2021 as the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), jamele adams, who prefers to use lower case letters in his name, has cultivated a “LIT” community based on love, inclusion, and trust at Scituate Public Schools. As the leader of this community-wide mission, adams can be seen walking the halls of Hatherly Elementary School while talking to students or cheering on the sidelines during SHS field hockey games. His presence throughout the SPS community has also been promoted through his “always we, never me” motto. 

This year, when the district was looking for an interim director of the METCO program, one of adams’s former students, Darryl David, was recruited to fill the position for the remainder of the school year. David, who describes himself as “a thrill-seeker at heart,” has made a tremendous impact on the SPS community, and on April 12, the superintendent sent a letter to the community announcing David will continue his work in Scituate through the 2022-2023 school year. 

A Brooklyn, NY, native and a graduate of Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, David traveled the world as a DJ before working under the METCO director in Sudbury, MA. He came to Scituate with the hopes of being an “ear to talk about anything” and a communicator in difficult situations and conversations. 

In addition to announcing David’s position as the director of the SPS METCO program, Superintendent Burkhead welcomed another new member of the METCO team on April 12th: MarKaveus Barnes, who was hired as the METCO Coordinator for Scituate Public Schools. Barnes will be working primarily with the high school student population while David oversees the programming throughout the district.

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, Barnes pursued crime and justice studies with a focus on urban studies. Spending his undergraduate summers working with Upward Bound as a mentor and tutor, Barnes was a residential supervisor of the program. During his senior year in college, Barnes served as a student leader for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America program. Upon graduation, Barnes worked as a student success coach in Dallas, Texas, and a youth behavioral counselor in Atlanta, Georgia. Barnes also interned with the program director at the New Bedford Boys and Girls Club.

During the upcoming 2022-23 academic year, adams looks forward to collaborating with David and Barnes to “continue to affirm all relationships and partnerships that have been put in place and grow them.” adams hopes to create change and promote “LIT” throughout professional development opportunities and community engagement.