Embracing Our Differences offers year-round programs that help students and educators explore kindness, respect, belonging, and different perspectives. Through art, reading, dialogue, and hands-on activities, students practice looking closely, asking questions, listening to others, and connecting what they learn to their schools and communities.
In the 2025–26 school year, EOD programs reached 49,901 students and 2,030 educators.
Programs for students
Exhibition Field Trips: Students explore the annual exhibition through in-person, live virtual, and on-demand tours. High school docents use Visual Thinking Strategies to guide student-centered conversations. In 2025–26, the tours reached 9,237 students through 98 tours, with 113 student docents.
Reading Days: Our Pre-K–3 literacy programs pair books with engaging read-alouds, discussion, and activities. In 2025–26, Bucket Fillers Reading Day reached 11,365 students, and EOD Reading Day reached 9,016 students.
Unity Days: High school students take part in interactive workshops that build communication, cooperation, empathy, and student leadership. In 2025–26, Unity Days served 456 students at seven schools.
Coexistence Clubs: Student-led service clubs help create more welcoming school and community spaces. In 2025–26, the clubs included 258 members across eight schools.
Make-A-Day Of It!: Schools can extend an exhibition field trip with additional arts and cultural experiences.
Sarasota Youth Opera Matinee: Students experience live opera through a school-day performance.
Programs for educators
Education Ambassadors: A year-long professional learning program that helps educators bring EOD’s values into their school communities. In 2025–26, 24 educators from 22 schools participated, with projects and educator engagement impacting 7,497 students.
Art Intensive: A professional learning experience for visual art educators. In 2025–26, it brought together 50 educators from 36 schools, with an estimated 9,969 students impacted.
Educator Workshops and Resources: Professional learning and classroom-ready lesson plans support art appreciation, critical thinking, and character development.
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