Transition Plus
Creating a Safe Space for our Students!
All are Welcome!
For the past eighteen months there has been a lot that has happened to make some students feel joyful while others may feel fearful or disenfranchised. Martin Luther King said, "If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward." We all need to move forward, and many of our students may need our help to do just that. Transition Plus has a diverse student and teaching body with supporters on each side.
As a gay, white male and parent of two biracial children, one of them a young woman, I wonder what the future holds for me as an individual and us as a family. Each of us has our own story, it is through the sharing of our stories and our students' stories that we can feel connected.
Our students want to know that they are in a safe place and that we will support them no matter what. To this means, I will have a container of safety pins on Claire's desk. Please take one and wear it each day to let our students know that we are safe people. My #safetypin means I will stand up for anyone being treated unfairly. I am a safe place.
The safety pin is a person's way of showing he/she is a safe person within a safe space for those who are afraid, many of whom are minorities.
There will NOT be a licensed staff meeting on Tuesday. On Wednesday 11/16/16 we will will have two sessions to address how we move forward as a group and how we are helping our students move forward. There will be one session in the Jewell's Room (sharing stories) and the second in Jag room(sharing resources). They will take place from 8-8:50 am .
I do not have all the answers. I'm not sure I even understand all of the questions at this point. There is a lot of uncertainty- this can cause anxiety in us and our students. However, the answer is all within each of us. We can help each other and our students figure it out together!
CBI Fridays!!!!
Students and staff should be assigned to their CBI activity by Thursday so there isn’t such chaos on Friday morning?
Advisors and Trip Leaders are responsible for assigning students and support staff.
Each CBI sign up is available starting on the afternoon of the previous CBI day so there are no excuses about not getting people signed up on time. (that makes 2-3 weeks to sign students up)
Staffing Changes
Autumn Joyce has accepted a teaching position in the district and will no longer be a job coach at Head Start. She too will be missed.
Students/ Families in Need
We will be distributing food during the week before Winter Break and at the family resource night on December 15th.
All donations can be brought to Colleen’s room C101 at any time on or before the 9th.
Cash donations are also accepted. (if we get enough donations before Thanksgiving, we will give some out then too.)
Please see social workers if you hear of a student/family having needs as they are aware of the available resources and we want to make sure we are being equitable for all students in need.
Expand your Language!
From Ed Camp it was heard that there is a need and interest in learning some common phrases in other languages.
MPS has a great simple site that shows the word/common phrase and pronounces it for you in 7 different languages.
You can use this handy site to make your students feel welcome and probably make them giggle a little bit (but really they will be proud of you and happy for the effort you are making to learn a little something about them and their language).
Counselor's Corner
Here is an excellent resource for our students to find shelter and services:
Reminder that the Accuplacer testing will be taking place on Tuesday November 15th from 9 AM to 12 PM in the PC Lab. If you have a class during this time in the PC Lab, please let students know to make other arrangements. Thanks for your cooperation!
Supermoon
The word syzygy, in addition to being useful in word games, is the scientific name for when the Earth, sun, and moon line up as the moon orbits Earth.
When perigee-syzygy of the Earth-moon-sun system occurs and the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun, we get a perigee moon or more commonly, a Supermoon!