Equity & Inclusion Newsletter

National Hispanic Heritage Month is Sep 15-Oct 15 and was first observed in 1968 and enacted into federal law as a month-long celebration in 1988. It offers the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the knowledge, richness, experiences, and diversity of Hispanic and LatinX families and staff members in Region 15!

Join us in celebrating by viewing the video below and hearing some of their voices! We hope you may find an opportunity to share this with your students!

No matter your age, we hope you find the monthly read aloud video to be valuable! The intention of the monthly read aloud is to build collective, common experiences across the district amongst students, families, and staff members - one read at a time. So please share with those around you!

Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Méndez and Jaime Kim is read with permission of HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Special thank you to our students, staff, and family member guest readers in this video!

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to collaborate on this more specifically. Here are just a few articles and resources:

• Explore Native Land: you can put in a zip code and explore the indigenous land in which that zip code is situated: be sure to check out their "why it matters" section
• Lots of instructional ideas across age groups in this article, Reconsider Columbus Day
• Unlearning Columbus Day Myths & Celebrating Indigenous People's Day (Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI))
• Learning for Justice's Indigenous Peoples' Day articles (2020)
• Native Knowledge 360's Essential Understandings About American Indians (NMAI)
• American Indians in Children's Literature is a blog created by Dr. Debbie Reese, of Nambé Pueblo: I like to checking titles I have on her website to see if there is a review of that text.
• Recommended booklists for American Indian/Indigenous Peoples/Native American
• Indigenous Peoples' Day clip from PBS Learning Media (1:39)
• Newsela's Indigenous Peoples' Day text set (use your google login)

The following months have been designated by Presidential Proclamation, Executive Order, and Public Law:

Sept 15th - Oct 15th National Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month

October National Disability Employment Awareness Month

November National American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month

February African American History Month

March National Women's History Month

April Arab American Heritage Month

May Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May Jewish American Heritage Month

May National Mental Health Awareness Month

June Caribbean-American Heritage Month

June LGBT+ Pride Month

We invite students, families, and staff to recognize and participate in a video for each of these months to raise awareness, promote inclusion, celebrate culture and build community. Please email: equity_inclusion@region15.org if you are interested in participating.

Also, if you know a month that has a designation by Presidential Proclamation, Executive Order, and/or Public Law, and you would like to collaborate on a video for the newsletter, please let us know.

In Library Media at MMS and RMS to launch the school year, all students focused on orienting to one another and to their Library Media class with a focus on the importance of names. Students first considered and dialogued with one another about why knowing someone's name and pronunciation is important. After watching video clips including people reflecting on the importance of their names, students then engaged in small-group discussion which yielded impactful reflections and connections. Students then created google slide introductions about themselves, in which they practiced digital media skills such as embedding audio pronunciations of their own names and bulleted points highlighting important information about themselves. They shared their work with their teacher and in small groups. This lesson is one example of the care and connection that staff and students are working to mindfully build in launching a new school year.

• Start Here: Sustainability and Success with Anti-bias Anti-racist Classroom Practices, Liz Kleinrock, Heinemann: starting Oct. 13
• Changing the World One Word at a Time: Conversation and Read Aloud with Kelly Yang (ADL): Oct 13, 5pm
• For Students with IEPs in grades 7-12 and staff: Why Not You! A Back-to-School Celebration for Students, Oct 14
• Check out SERC's (State Education Resource Center) calendar of events

Background photo credit: Pre-K, Mrs. Kimble-Cusano

Instagram: r15equity_inclusion

The importance of listening to your lived experiences, insights, ideas, and perspectives cannot be overstated. Please feel free to reach out! We'd love to connect.

*Note: Quotation (c) 2019 CLC Collective and Dottir Press

Email: equity_inclusion@region15.org
Website: https://www.region15.org/community/equity-and-inclusion
Twitter: @r15equity