The Essential

It's hard to believe we're already in November! In this month's issue we highlight Native American Heritage to recognize the first peoples of Turtle Island (the North American continent). We seek to continue our learning through historically accurate narratives and representation of indigenous tribes and their cultures and traditions. We also want to acknowledge the caricaturization and erasure that has occurred in our re-telling of history.

It's challenging and often imperfect work to learn to honor the survival, value, and beauty of communities we've not taken the time truly know. Truth telling makes us better educators.

In 2017, the Oregon Legislature enacted SB13, now known as Tribal History/Shared History. This law directed the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to create K-12 Native American Curriculum for inclusion in Oregon public schools and provide professional development to educators.

Over the last two years, educators across DD have participated in Early Adopter Cohorts for THSH. Participants completed the full ODE training on the Essential Understandings of Native Americans in Oregon, discussed their learning and unlearning with colleagues, and piloted lessons in classrooms. This year, Grade 4 Teachers will begin teaching chosen lessons in Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science, and PE/Health.

Tribal History/Shared History will create opportunities to educate students on the accurate and authentic experiences of tribal peoples in Oregon.

Stephanie Neilson, Social Sciences TOSA

Maria Adams, LDS at Earl Boyles, helped facilitate a listening circle with Native students and recorded an interview with one student about their experience in the circle. Click on the video below.

Marissa Quesada gives us an example of teaching her kindergarteners about land acknowledgment and indigenous history. Click on image below.

Tara Williams and students from the Indigenous Student Union went on a field trip to Oxbow Park for the Salmon Homecoming. Click on the image below to see the pictures in the drive.

This month, we're kicking off our district wide equity PD for staff. Each school has equity chairs and teams that have been meeting to support the district equity plan designed to address the specific needs of the school. Teams have been asked to continue to support culturally responsive teaching practices (CRT's) and to develop an academic or behavior goal addressing racial disparities in schoolwide data.

If you have questions about your school's equity plan, make sure you find your equity chair and inquire. Find your equity chair here. Every school and staff team will participate in the racial equity training this year, including our superintendent and district cabinet team, who have already completed the first training. This level of commitment recognizes we all have something to learn and that we, as a district, are committed to seeking the change necessary to serve our students by addressing disparities and creating welcoming and safe culture for ALL our students and staff.

Learning around equity is never complete. The world is constantly changing and we, as educators, must be committed to seeing and addressing the many diverse needs of each of our students and helping to eliminate the marginalization and exclusion they face in our world.

DDSD currently has a number of jobs that that are open. In an effort to increase the representation of staff that reflects our student population, our Grow Your Own program provides opportunities for people who work for the district to get financial help continuing their education toward a teaching certificate. We seek to hire former students and classified staff as future teachers! If you know of folks in the community looking for work, please direct them to the job openings portal here. Studies show that "teachers of color are linked to positive academic, social-emotional, and behavioral student outcomes" (Education Week, February/2022).