R15 Equity & Inclusion Newsletter

Monday, January 15 marks Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which was first declared a federal holiday in 1983. Dr. King is honored for his leadership in the fight for civil rights. The "I Have a Dream" speech and his nonviolent approach to activism are widely focused on, and this annual federal holiday marks an opportunity to teach further into his deep work to upend systemic racism, such as in the resources below:

Students in our preschool program, Friends Together, engage in teaching and learning through a thematic curricular approach. The first theme this year was family. Please enjoy Mrs. Stango's class sharing of family trees below. The students and teachers also made a class family tree after focusing on the book "Our Class is a Family."

How do artists create a sense of 3-D space? RMS artists explored this question with Mrs. Murphy. Students referenced real places, which is reflected in the architectural influences of the pieces featured here, and to consider what gives a community character.

• 1/5/24 GURU GOBIND SINGH JI’S BIRTHDAY, Sikh: Guru Gobind Singh was the 10th Sikh guru of Nanak and founder of the Khalsa. India
• 1/6/24 CHRISTMAS, Armenian Orthodox Christian: The day Armenian Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. Before the Roman empire adopted Christianity, this was the original day all Christians observed the birth of Jesus. Armenia
• 1/6/24 EPIPHANY | THEOPHANY, Christian: Celebrates the manifestation of Jesus as Christ. The Western Church associates Epiphany with the journey of the Magi to the infant Jesus Christ, and the Eastern Orthodox Church associates Theophany with the baptism of Jesus Christ by John.
• 1/7/24 CHRISTMAS, Eastern Christian: Commemorating the birth of Jesus, most Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas 13 days later than other Christian churches based on their use of the Julian rather than the Gregorian version of the Western calendar.
• 1/15/24 MAKAR SANKRANTI, Hindu: Seasonal celebration marking turning of the sun toward the north. Southern Asia
• 1/25/24 MAHAYANA NEW YEAR, Buddhist: In Mahayana countries the New Year starts on the first full moon day in January. (This date varies from region to region.) East Asia: China, Japan, Korea
• 1/25/24 TU B’SHVAT, Jewish: New Year's Day for Trees, and traditionally the first of the year for tithing fruit of trees. Now a day for environmental awareness and action, such as tree planting.

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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