SAY Connects 010219

SAY CONNECTS

Wednesday Journal, January 2, 2019

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JOURNAL

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A YEAR-LONG SERIES FOCUSING ON COMMUNICATING OUR PRIORITIES FOR CHILDREN

INTRODUCTION

We all want to belong

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elonging is a basic human need that transcends age, background, and culture. It is especially critical for children, who have been known to languish or thrive based upon their feelings of belonging. Schools must play an integral role in ensuring that students feel this sense of belonging so they can learn, grow, and flourish within our community.

There are a myriad of ways that classrooms and schools can help students feel connected and valued enough to thrive. Amongst others, these include creating culturally responsive spaces within schools, ensuring that schools are harassment-free zones, and fostering greater acceptance of students who identify as LGBTQI throughout our classrooms and schools. To ensure that school-based inclusion strategies are authentic and successful they must also be coordinated and intentional.

As you’ll read in the following articles, authentic efforts are underway across our communities to ensure that all individuals –– and especially students –– will have the experience of being a part of a school community that is truly inclusive and welcoming.

We all want to belong.

BELONGING: From left, Whittier students Aden Liss, Madden Spurlock, Milla Liss and Arielle Spurlock, point to the back of their school shirts that say “Where I Belong.” (ALEXA ROGALS/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Beyond sombreros, D97 schools get a grip on cultural awareness

By LACEY SIKORA

Contributing Reporter

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Ed Condon Superintendent District 90 River Forest Public Schools

hen Cynthia Brito’s daughter was a student at Percy Julian Middle School, it was standard practice for winners of academic awards in Spanish class to be awarded with the opportunity to wear a sombrero. The third-generation Mexican-American student railed against the culturallyinsensitive practice.

Her mother says issues such as this

In partnership with

made her daughter feel very alienated in school and also created a spark of activism. Jocelyn approached the administration about ending the practice, and it is no longer in use today. For her mother, it was an eye-opening process.

“It was unnecessarily complicated to get the practice to stop. It took a long time.”

Cynthia Brito, now a member of District 97’s Diversity Committee, says that both of her daughters -- Jocelyn, a sophomore at OPRF, and Marlene, a seventh grader at Julian -- are question-

ing the institutional approach to Latinx culture in Oak Park schools.

“There’s an institutional side of this.

There’s a lack of Latinx history in the history, music and language arts classes.

We’re not seeing it in the mainstream culture. That has had a huge impact on my daughters. They aren’t finding themselves in lessons about our heroes.

It has a very negative impact.”

After witnessing what her daughters experienced, Brito knew it made sense to join the Diversity Committee, now in its third year at all District 97 schools.

She was active on the policy team, which helped draft the equity policy for the district and notes there is still much work to be done.

She points out that the curriculum’s Euro-centric teachings don’t cover a lot of important information. “In Spanish, indigenous cultures aren’t taught. They are only covered during Latinx History Month, and then often for one day. It’s a missed opportunity to have more focus on Latin America.”

See CULTURAL on page 3

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Wednesday Journal, January 2, 2019

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‘We need to expand the narrative of success’

To keep able-bodied students with IEPs from falling through the cracks, celebrate all kids, say advocates

By MICHAEL ROMAIN Contributing Reporter

Throughout the Starz documentary series America to Me, Telicia Moore was a ubiquitous, determined presence in the halls, classrooms and offices of Oak Park and River Forest High School. She had to be.

Her son, Terrance Moore, was a senior during the taping of the series. Terrance isn’t physically handicapped or obviously disabled. It’s only when the viewer more deeply evaluates the young man’s mannerisms that it’s possible to spot his challenges.

Terrance went through OPRF on an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which is a plan of assistance for students in special education. During a recent interview, Moore gave some advice to parents of OPRF students whose children may be in Terrance’s shoes — that is, young people whose cognitive

challenges may get obscured because they’re able-bodied.

“One of the main challenges I faced when Terrance first started high school was my ability to connect with the services and to know who to go to when I had a problem, and how to get immediate assistance when I had questions,” Moore said.

Moore is currently the vice president of African-American Parents for Purposeful Leadership and Education (APPLE) — an organization founded by OPRF parents 30 years ago.

“Through APPLE, I connected with some special education directors who attended APPLE meetings,” Moore said.

“I also got resources through APPLE that let me know how the school functions and allowed me to access additional services.”

Moore said that it isn’t enough to simply know your student’s IEP team and case manager.

“Not everyone is reliable,” she said,

ALEXA ROGALS/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

ADVOCATE/ACTIVIST: Anthony Clark

FINDING A PATH: Terrence Moore in class at OPRF. (AMERICA TO ME/ COURTESY OF STARZ) adding that if parents are not constantly path to independent living, and Opporvigilant, some case managers at OPRF tunity Knocks, which provides structured activities for TEAM students, didn’t exist “treat you like paperwork.”

Something else that’s vital, she said, is when he was at OPRF. In addition, these programs provide understanding your child’s ability. That’s especially true when it comes to raising increased opportunities for participants a young person who appears capable of to develop friendships and mentoring relationships - all important components mainstream instruction, she said. for developing a sense of “Unfortunately, some of belonging. this comes down to parent Still, Clark said, there’s pride,” she said. “Everya lot of room for improveone wants their kid to be ment both within the high brilliant and perfect. Evschool and in the larger eryone wants their child to Oak Park community succeed. That being said, when it comes to embracit’s also OK to have your ing individuals who are kids try and if they fail, let able-bodied but cogniit go. Don’t always blame tively disadvantaged. teachers for problems.”

“I have former students Anthony Clark is a speTelicia Moore with cognitive delays who cial ed teacher at OPRF are 6-feet, 5-inches — and a community activist. He has taught many students like men of color who are already perceived Terrance and said special education by society as dangerous,” Clark said, at OPRF has improved since he was a adding that oftentimes, law enforcestudent there in the late 1990s and early ment officials aren’t trained or equipped 2000s. to recognize the social cues of the cogClark said that when he attended nitively disadvantaged.

OPRF, the school’s TEAM program When combined with structural rac[Transitional Education with Access to ism and overly aggressive policing, that the Mainstream] — which is designed miscommunication can sometimes be to “maximize student independence fatal — one of Clark’s greatest fears for by developing [their] unique potential” some of his former students. according to OPRF’s website —wasn’t To mitigate the local hazards that may “fully articulated and didn’t have built-in accompany the cognitively delayed, supports like it does now.” particularly young black men, Clark In addition, Clark said, programs like emphasized the forging of partnerships CITE (Community Integrated Transition between agencies like the Oak Park PoEducation), which provides students lice Department, local businesses and with IEP’s with a real world skills-based OPRF, particularly its TEAM program, so curriculum designed to put them on the that police officers and business own-

ers “understand what an IEP is, what a disability is and how it presents itself beyond the physical component.”

“We have to eliminate biases that exist like ableism by recognizing them first,” Clark said. “We also have to be more holistic in our approach to instruction.”

Clark and Moore also said that people in the high school and community need to change how they perceive people who don’t fall within the mainstream perception of success.

“Sometimes in high school, teachers can be dismissive of kids who are struggling,” Moore said.

“We need to really invest in expanding the narratives of what success looks like. TEAM kids ought to be celebrated in the same way that general track kids are.”

Often times, students who matriculate through the TEAM program end up working in jobs that may not be dazzling, but are nonetheless useful, Clark said.

“If you have a job at Jewel, you are a hard-working citizen, you’re paying taxes,” Clark said. “That needs to be celebrated as well. Let’s celebrate a multitude of successful narratives outside of four-year university.”

Distribution of information by a community group in accordance with District 97 policy does not imply, directly or indirectly, that the group’s program(s), event(s) and/or service(s) is sanctioned, sponsored or endorsed by the district, the Board of Education or the superintendent.

Wednesday Journal, January 2, 2019

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Yes. Sexual harassment is an issue in our middle schools

By LACEY SIKORA

give voice to the fact that this firmation hearings for nowhappens in our community.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, “I heard stories She set out to find out just she joined Pam Hessing and created the Facebook he school board and administration at how prevalent harassment is, about repeated, ungroup which has grown Oak Park’s District 97 elementary school with a focus on behavior in elwanted touching; onto over 320 members in district are working to craft a sexual ha- ementary and middle school.

“I spent my summer ina few short weeks. Raja is rassment policy, an effort that community line harassment that terviewing Oak Park teens, hopeful that the group can members and parents say is sorely needed. included disseminatwork with the district to Dr. Sheela Raja, Oak Park resident and a clini- many of them now in high school, about craft a sexual harassment cal psychologist, associate professor ing sexual pictures.” their experipolicy to improve the cliand behavioral scientist at the Uni— Dr. Sheela Raja ences in junior mate at the schools. versity of Illinois Chicago, has written high. I noticed a She points out that several books on sexual harassment Clinical psychologist theme of climate Oak Park fits right in with and teens. This fall, she became one that seemed national statistics in which of the founders of a local Facebook to be, in my one in four children report group called Protect Our Kids: Creopinion, problematic. I heard stories some kind of sexual harassment in middle school ating Harassment-Free Schools in about repeated, unwanted touch- and notes that interest in the issue has gained tracOak Park and River Forest. ing; online harassment that included tion due to national events, such as the #MeToo For her, the connection between disseminating sexual pictures; and a movement. her work, her community and her Dr. Sheela Raja hallway and locker room culture that “We’ve gotten a core group of parents energized role as a mother to two daughters sometimes included repeated name and activated. We’ll need courage and leadership was clear. “This topic is very near calling and harassment based on at school and will need this to carry over into homes and dear to my heart.” as well. We all need to be talking about this.”

About 18 months ago, she was approached by gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”

Holly Spurlock, president of the District 97 school another Oak Park mother who shared her daughOverall, Raja says the kids she spoke with had a ter’s chilling story of harassment. The behavior be- very unclear sense of who they were supposed to board serves on the board’s policy committee. gan in elementary school as bullying, escalated to report these issues to. “Kids and the administra- Since August, she says, the committee has been stalking and on-line harassment and culminated tion need to be trained. I started a dialogue with tasked with creating the sexual harassment policy. in sexual assault when the child was in middle District 97 right away because I knew there would The board is looking to OPRF’s policy and proceschool. be people within the administration who would dures as framework, but she notes that District 97 For Raja, hearing the story was an entry into life want to champion the issue if they knew the seri- has unique considerations.

“We’re different because we have such a differas a community activist. While recognizing that ousness of the problem.” the story was extreme, she says it is important to This fall, in the wake of the Supreme Court con- ent age group. The kids are much younger. We Contributing Reporter

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CULTURAL continued from page 1 Daughter Marlene has spoken to the school board about cultural issues and continues to push for change. In her language arts class, she would like to see more diversity in choice in the writers covered. In her Spanish class, she questions the practice of having all students choose a Spanish name.

Brito applauds her efforts, saying of the push to choose a different name in class, “What does this tell our Latinx kids in the class? This curriculum is made for white kids.”

When Brito talks to other parents, she says they have experienced similar issues in the district. “There is no historical memory at the district, but there is power in organizing.”

Brito says that as the population changes, it makes sense for the District 97 to make changes now. “The local

Latinx community is doubling or tripling every year in the district. We need bilingual counselors. We need to build bridges with our neighbors in Berwyn and Cicero. Oak Park needs to wake up, build bridges and serve incoming families the best that we can.”

According to enrollment figures provided by District 97, the percentage of Latinx students in the district doubled from six to 12 percent between the 2015 and 2016 school years. In the two years since, Latinx enrollment has leveled off at 13 percent of student population.

At Holmes Elementary School, principal Dr. Christine Zelaya and ESL teacher Jennifer Jaros say they see increasing cultural diversity among the student body and are working hard to make changes to help the school be welcoming to those of all cultural backgrounds.

Jaros notes there are currently 15 different primary languages spoken by Holmes students. For those who come

from a non-English-speaking background, Arabic, Mandarin and Korean are the dominant languages spoken at home, with some Spanish, French and Hindi speaking students as well.

For schools such as Holmes that have fewer than 20 students of any non-English language group at the school, ESL services are primarily pull-out, with care taken to carry over learning to in-class instruction as well.

“For newcomers,” Jaros says, “especially for kids with different alphabets and phonetic backgrounds, we meet at least four times a week and go over things such as clothing and foods, and commonly used words. For those with more proficiency, we try to go over the content they are learning in class but ahead of time.”

Last year, the school instituted Hawk Nest, a program through which all children in kindergarten through fifth grade are known, nurtured and celebrated.

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need to be age-appropriate in terms of language.”

She also says that the education portion of the policy needs to fit the needs of this age group.

“There has to be real care to see that the perpetrators are sometimes victims too. Kids learn from what they see at home.”

Raja says the ages of the children at District 97 certainly need to be considered in crafting the policy and that a restorative justice policy is key.

“We want to meet the children where they are.

We need to do it in a way that’s not punitive, but that catches things early, before they escalate.”

Another challenge in creating the policy is the breadth of the district. “The high school has one building. We have 10 buildings,” says Spurlock.

“Our biggest challenge is not the desire to do something, but how do we come close to what the high school did in providing someone kids know to go to, who knows what they are doing?”

Currently, issues such as inappropriate touching and harassment are commonly covered in the district’s Second Step programming, and Spurlock says the educational piece of the policy will include a review of the current curriculum. “Can we say, ‘yes, this is sufficient.’ Or do we say, ‘No. We need more?’”

Spurlock says engaging with the community is the next step for the committee and that the goal is to get a draft policy to the board in early 2019.

“If you want people to have a sense of belonging, the bottom line is that you have to be intentional about this. It doesn’t just happen. You have to be proactive.”

Jaros says the program uses small groups as a way for children to get to know each other individually, work on team building and social-emotional learning.

Zelaya says Holmes has been making changes to embrace different cultures to meet the needs of the diverse student body. “In every classroom, we have five to 10 kids who are bilingual or multi-lingual. The staff is moving away from special holiday celebrations and moving towards celebrating all cultures in a respectful way.”

Cultural awareness can take place in special classes like art and music, keeping different cultures in the everyday curriculum, and Zelaya points out the staff also have to think beyond curriculum. “For example, we have so many Muslim students who are fasting during the day. We need to be thoughtful during Ramadan. We might need a different lunch room protocol. The Muslim

children might need to sit out during gym class during Ramadan.”

Jaros says that in furtherance of the goal of making all families feel welcome at Holmes, the recently-formed Family and Community Engagement (FACE) committee is focused on making it easier for all families to feel a part of the school.

“For parent-teacher conferences, we were able to provide translators for everyone who needed them. This year, we’ll have our first year of ESL summer school for newcomers and in the spring for the first time, we will have ESL tutoring in all 10 (District 97) buildings.”

For Zelaya, keeping the curriculum in sync with the community needs and planning events such as International Taste of Holmes, can help cover all of the bases. “It’s not just about the language; it’s about the culture too. Kids get it really fast, and we are always working to get the parents involved too.”

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Wednesday Journal, January 2, 2019

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Finding their Tribe. Percy Julian students create safe LGBTQI space

By LACEY SIKORA

Contributing Reporter

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iddle school can be a tough experience. From hormones to homework, from changing friend groups to changing bodies, the years can be challenging to navigate. Add in exploring gender identity, and walking the halls of middle school can feel like a minefield. A few years ago, a group of Percy Julian Middle School students decided that the school needed a safe place for LGBTQI students and set out to create a welcoming club for LGBTQI students and their allies. Now in its third year, Rainbow Tribe has become a home for many.

Ashley Kannan is the faculty moderator. He says two eighth graders created the group. “They wanted to create a safe space, and they wanted it to be for students, by students.”

The founders of the club wanted to make a space within the school where dialogue about LGBTQI issues encountered by young adults could take place, and three years in, Kannan says their efforts have paid off. “When the girls brought this up three years ago, we didn’t have a place in our building where being trans was normalized, where being bisexual was normalized.

As teachers, we would do our part to be allies, but that wasn’t enough.”

Kannan says the year the club began, he had a student in his class who was transsexual. “I tried to be an ally, but I couldn’t really tell him, ‘This is your school too.’ Either you lived in the

closet, or you lived in the shadows at school. These kids needed a place to go, and it needed to be engineered from the top down.”

Once the club began meeting on a regular basis and was given a room at the school, Kannan says the change was evident. “Rainbow Tribe fulfills a function by way of saying it’s completely OK. You can be bisexual, gay or straight, and this is your place.”

Rainbow Tribe meets every Wednesday, with student leaders getting together with moderators the day before to plan the week’s activities. Kannan says that each week is different, but the kids in the club might work on an arts and crafts project, talk about young adult literature or discuss issues as significant as how kids come out to their families and friends.

Each meeting begins with the question, “Why do you need a safe space today?” Kannan says safety is a key component of the club. “Research shows that students are often targeted for bullying based upon their sexual identity, and suicide rates among kids who are not hetero-normative sky rocket.”

While the club can’t solve all problems, Kannan says it gives kids a place where for one hour a week they don’t feel different. He recalls one student who attended his first meeting and said, “This is the first time I don’t feel like a freak.” For Kannan, those who attend take away that feeling. “It allows a certain segment of our population to feel for a time as if they are the norm in middle school.”

ARTIFACTS: A colorful poster for the Rainbow Tribe Club (top) is seen on Dec. 12, at Julian Middle School in Oak Park. (Above) A pride flyer. A hand painted pride flag (right) on a hallway wall on the first floor. (Bottom left) A painted bench for the Rainbow Tribe. (ALEXA ROGALS/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) Outside of its members, Rainbow Tribe also affects the wider population at Julian. Kannan says the group’s visibility is viability for kids at this age. If they see that there’s a meeting being held on a regular basis, or hear that a friend or classmate attends, it is a part of the process of acceptance and erasing the idea of LGBTQI students as the “other.”

He says it also teaches boundaries. “Kids might learn that they can’t say ‘that’s so gay,’ or ‘you’re a fag,’ as derogatory remarks. You take the victories where you get them.”

At the end of the day, Kannan says Rainbow Tribe is a great addition to the middle school landscape and likens it to other activities that children join during those years. “The high

school has a great Gay-Straight Alliance. Just like athletes look forward to making the team in high school, or actors look forward to doing the productions at OPRF, our kids look forward to the GSA. We’re like the minor leagues here with Rainbow Tribe. When the kids go to high school, they come back and tell us how great it is.”