EQUITY CORNER
September 15th - October 15th - Hispanic Heritage Month
October: Learning Disabilities/Dyslexia Awareness Month.
Wednesday, October 2nd: Rosh Hashanah, Begins at Sunset
Thursday, October 3rd: Navratri
Tuesday, October 8th: World Dyslexia Day
Friday October 11th: Yom Kippur Begins at Sunset
Monday, October 14th: Indigenous Peoples' Day
Wednesday, October 16: International Pronouns Day
October 17th - October 23rd: Sukkot
October 31st - November 4th: Diwali
Thursday, October 31st: Halloween
*If we miss or incorrectly communicate a holiday, please don't hesitate to reach out*
The Science of Skin Color
Here are two quick videos that help students better understand the Science of Skin Color. This can be a great introduction to sharing our differences.
Halloween is a time of year when you can come into school dressed as a unicorn or a zombie and includes creativity, candy, and costumes.
However, it is not an excuse to mock someone else’s culture, racial, ethnic, or gender identity.
Whether it is intentional or not, wearing certain costumes has real consequences and negatively impacts the people who deal with this kind of discrimination every day.
In the spirit of INCLUSIVITY in education, consider letting Halloween be an at-home experience for those participating in the activities. Many alternatives to Halloween can still be fun for learners. Many educators have shifted to celebrating the seasons. It’s not Halloween per se that makes the learning or day fun. It’s the culminating sensory, hands-on, social experiences that do.
Halloween is often considered a secular holiday, like Valentine’s Day or Thanksgiving, meaning it’s not associated with any particular religion. This is why it’s not unusual for public schools to have Halloween activities dedicated to the day (unlike Christmas or Hanukkah which often become “winter celebrations” to be inclusive to all). However, Halloween actually has roots in religious tradition, so it makes sense that certain religious groups don’t celebrate Halloween.
Hispanic Heritage Month is an annual celebration of the history and culture of the U.S. Latino communities and their contributions. It takes place from September 15 to October 15 every year.
Visit the National Museum of the American Latino website to learn more about this important celebration.
- Founded by Mireya I. Ramos and Shae Fiol in 2008 by playing mariachi music busking in the subways of NYC and Times Square. Ramos asked Fiol to start this band with her to break the cycle of male dominance in this genre of music. They believe in “challenging the status quo” through music.
- Their members have many cultural backgrounds such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Australian, Colombian, German, Italian and American. They may play with as many as 9, though usually play as a 4 piece with their core members.
- They fuse genres such as reggae, R&B, bachata and more with a traditional mariachi style. They perform a variety of songs: originals, traditional mariachi, arrangements of popular Latinx artists and arrangements of American popular songs from jazz standards to modern rock artists such as Nirvana and ACDC.
- They were nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2015 for their self-titled debut album and in 2017 they won a Latin Grammy for their second album Las Caras Lindas.
- In 2019 they collaborated with John Legend to perform the song “Quisiera” and recorded a music video together.
