10 minute read
OPINION
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS | SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 Opinion
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Tempe Union board candidates speak their mind
The Ahwatukee Foothills News invited all three candidates for the two seats on the Tempe Union High School District Governing Board to write two Opinion page columns on topics of their choice. This is the first of the two. Incumbent Andres Barazza did not submit a column. AFN also invited the candidates to answer a questionnaire.
The responses of Stephan Kingsley and Amanda Steele can be found at Ahwatukee.com.
Kinglsey: What it means for me to be autistic
BY STEPHAN KINGSLEY
AFN Guest Writer
I’m autistic, but everything in this column is my opinion and doesn’t represent all people who are autistic. As they say, “once you have met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”
That is why we have the term “spectrum.” Every autistic person falls in a different place on the spectrum based on their own unique gifts and ways their brains are wired.
There may be general spectrum truths such as: words are hard, feelings are intense, it feels impossible to be understood, it is presumptuous to say how someone else is feeling unless you ask questions and focusing on specific interests makes one happy because it does not depend on anything else to be true.
For me, interactions with people can be hard. Social rules are hard to understand and seem pointless to follow as they often lead to miscommunication. It is easier to keep to myself.
I blame my autistic side when I’m logical, point out the obvious, or say what I am thinking when I am thinking it. In the moment, especially when I feel pressure to speak, I use words that first come to my head to communicate what I am thinking.
Sometimes I verbalize half a thought, say things backwards, or choose words that don’t reflect my true intent or what I’m thinking or feeling.
As a result, I’ve been told that I’m rude, in my head, not a good listener or communicator. When I remain silent, I am judgmental or unfeeling because my facial expressions are hard to read.
This feedback’s hard to hear because I value authenticity, direct communication, enjoy the present moment, and am curious about everything. I want to listen to others because that is how I learn.
I care a lot about people and empathize in ways not expressed in words. I can feel and hear a person’s heart, sense deep emotion when I look in people’s eyes for a short moment and find it easy to internalize energy.
That’s also why it’s easy for me to be overstimulated with eye contact or when I’m around people in a lively environment. Everything from others and my surrounding environment comes rushing towards all my senses all at once. That’s why I’m also still trying to figure out if I have a place in politics.
I chose to run for the Tempe Union School Board because I care about students and want what is best for them. As a classroom teacher I’ve seen so many things by getting to know my students, their individual stories, cultures, learning styles, and interests. In my classroom I cultivated a culture of mutual respect, learning to listen to each other, seeKINGSLEY page 38
Steele: Schools must tend to the whole student
BY AMANDA STEELE
AFN Guest Writer
As a proud Tempe Union alumni, parent, and public school advocate, I see the important role our schools play in the lives of our students and community.
I am running for a position on Tempe Union’s governing board because I believe in the importance of our public school system in providing students with equitable and inclusive educational opportunities that encompass the whole student.
The challenges of the past couple of years have emphasized the importance of caring for the well-being of our students.
I believe an even broader context is important for understanding the world our students are living in. Students in high school today were born post 9/11, living through multiple wars, two recessions, the threat of mass shootings, and now a pandemic.
To appropriately support our students, I believe we must incorporate trauma-informed practices, nonviolent crisis intervention, and restorative justice practices into how our schools function.
There has been a lot of talk about socialemotional learning and its importance for students. This includes developing important traits and skills including empathy, resilience, coping with stress, building relationships, self-control and a positive mindset. Fostering such skills in high school students serves them well in school and in their adult life.
In 2021, I was proud to serve on Tempe Union’s ad hoc advisory committee charged with recommending socialemotional wellness policies to the Governing Board.
Alongside students, staff, parents, community members and other stakeholders, we developed the most comprehensive mental health policy in Arizona for an educational institution.
The aim of our policy was to promote student well-being and academic engagement by prioritizing social-emotional wellness as an important component contributing to a positive school climate, safety, and learning.
We also focused on ensuring that school leaders were equipped with best practices for creating a safe and nurturing school environment, supporting the physical and mental health of students, fostering their social and emotional well-being, and being prepared to address teen suicide through appropriate supports.
The robust social-emotional policy our committee developed provides the framework for supporting the diversity of student learners that attend Tempe Union schools. Every student has the right to feel included and valued for who they are with teachers and staff prepared to meet them where they are to help them grow.
My priority is to equip the district with the knowledge and best practices on how to respond and support the social emotional needs of students and staff.
BY CANTOR ROGER EISENBERG
AFN Guest Writer
On Rosh Hashanah we celebrate the Birthday of the World. It is a holiday of wonder and gratitude. Gratitude is the portal to happiness.
It is not enough to have, it is to be grateful for what we have. Imagine how so much had to line up perfectly in order for there to be a now. How many mistakes had to happen in order for our great-great grandparents, our great grandparents, our grandparents, our parents to meet, fall in love, and ultimately have us?! What if some minor detail had changed – one of our forebears missed the bus, came home from work or school on time, and never met the love of their life?
Small changes in the lives of generations before us could have generated cosmic consequences. Our spouses, our children, our close friends, our work associates, if they existed, would have experienced a different world without us in it. Gratitude means not to take anyone for granted. It is a miracle that we would all be here together.
How we measure the events of the world has much to do with what we have experienced in life and we have learned both in and outside the classroom. We may not be accustomed to being grateful. And, we may not be accustomed to awe and humility. It takes a lot. It takes a lot because we are wired to create solutions by getting from point A to point B.
Instead, what if we stopped and listened deeply? No looking at your watch! We cannot be guaranteed agreement, but everyone feels heard. Once we have stopped and listened, it is time to look. Look around you at the magnificent space and the magnificent people surrounding you. Isn’t it a blessing?
Sometimes surprises happen when left to the unfiltered responses of a child. Tiny moments of laughter remind us of the blessings that bring life a gift. In 1982, I travelled to Israel with my wife, Liz/Elizabeth/Leelah and my 2-year old son, Chaim. Liz was pregnant with our daughter, Shira. Still, she got around amazingly well - most of the time!
Chaim was an inquisitive child with a natural sense of wonder. We travelled to Haifa where we visited some cousins. Included in our travels to Haifa, we visited an overlook where we could see the city lights cascading down the mountain, almost to oblivion. I wanted Chaim to see this astounding view, so I picked him up to help him see over the wall. That natural sense of wonder really kicked in when he blurted, “Look Daddy, Israel Lights!
As individuals and as a community we have faced difficult challenges, be it an assault on our physical health through the likes of COVID-19 and other issues or political divisiveness that wedges between good people. Perhaps we are being tested to see and embrace the blessings of family and friends that remain intact despite distraction. Gratitude remains within our reach!
I think the synagogue has a responsibility here. I think our institution can be a place where we can practice gratitude. We can help remind ourselves how very fortunate we are. Even in times of grief, we can be grateful for the compassion of those who comfort us. Even in times of fear, pachad, we can find hope in yirah in the humility of awe.
Cantor Roger Eisenberg is the spiritual leader of Congregation Nefesh-
Soul.
KINGSLEY from page 37
following a social contract, and working together to solve problems to come up with solutions.
The world of politics seems to have different rules; political social rules that are hard to understand and follow.
There are groups and cliques, loyalty
STEELE from page 37
By supporting the Tempe Union community as a whole this will have a ripple effect on the students. Importantly, academic engagement will be even more successful when built on positive relationships in a school climate that emphasizes the well-being of our students. We must attend to the whole student.
Should I have the privilege of serving on Tempe Union’s board, I will continue to prioritize social-emotional wellness because when we care for our students’ well-being they will be at their best to thrive academically and socially.
to parties and ideals that seem to be stumbling blocks to solving real problems that affect the lives of the everyday voters.
Along with a select few, I say what I think. I’m authentic to who I am. I care about the people I represent. Thankfully the people I interact with who are in office, or running for office, feel the same. But they seem rare.
The world of politics feels vulnerable for me because I don’t fit in with the majority. I fit in with the rare individuals who want to represent their voters and their communities. Not fitting in has been the story of my life. Asking for help is hard, but I need help to be voted into office. I want people to know I will represent them, say what I think, and stay authentic and true to my platform of being inclusive of all perspectives.
I think it would be cool to see if an autistic person like myself has a place in politics. Being elected to school board seems like a great place to start. I think it would be a great social experiment.
Parents should play role in stopping students’ vaping
Thank you for informing AFN readers about the ongoing horrible vaping epidemic, its impact on our local schools and how the schools are fighting back. Unfortunately, you never mention the
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
most important teachers in our student’s lives - parents! We have forgotten, or do not stress enough, that a parent’s main responsibility is to teach morals and values to our kids.
Parents, uncles, grandmothers, friends, we need to stand up and fight for the importance of caring, honest, extremely valuable, parenting. Teach them, at home, the rights and wrongs. And most importantly …lead by example.
Any excuse for the demise of the family unit is not a good enough reason to slack on good parenting. As parents, we are responsible for our future adults, who may be parents themselves someday. Teach and show them how to treat others with respect; care for themselves in a healthy manor; be financially self-sustaining and value the choice to “Do The Right Thing.”
The school system is not a substitute for you, the parent!
-Elizabeth Parkinson
