RJ at Reid
Bringing you up to speed
What's Happening with RJ?
Welcome back from Spring Break. It has been a while since I've sent out an update, admittedly because my conversations throughout the day with students are frequent & my personal life is hectic. I am only on campus 20-30 hours a week so I try to do all I can for the students in that time.
Almost daily, I have worked with a group of students who have been making significant progress since starting on campus. By progress, I mean in their capacity to build meaningful relationships, contribution to culture as well as commitment to being their best selves daily. Outside of that group of students, circles, one to one conversations, and a lot of preventative work takes place in the classroom. I have asked students who struggle with fighting, or speaking in an unfavorable way to teachers or classmates to come speak to me when they feel themselves getting angry or frustrated so we can work together on finding a better way. The great news is, it's been working!
Topics that come up:
-Homelessness/displacement
-Disagreements in community/fighiting
-Gang/Community dynamics and challenges
-Bullying
-Gender Equity
-Relationships
-Family Dynamics
-College, Jobs, Career
-Friendships
-Goals on how to improve and do better
-Music, the arts, popular culture (wins!)
More often that not, these conversations lead to partnerships with Blast, Dean Webb, Dr. Cornejo, some of you, and my leadership/community of CCEJ and organizers beyond CCEJ to support the student as best as possible. I wanted to inform you that I am working on being more diligent about communication, but that our students are facing very real, difficult material conditions in their lives DAILY.
Again, as I have reiterated. My door is open and if you need support or have questions about specific students, I am more than happy to discuss. While I wish I could best serve everyone on campus, my primary role is to serve the students in building community which in turn then allows them to be more productive community members at Reid and beyond.
I look forward to the last couple of months with you all. I will send more updates more often and will be interviewing our next candidate soon to take over my role next year. Thank you for your continued commitment to this work and our students.
Weekly Circles & Music Class
Wednesday Lunch Circles
Once a week we are holding "affinity" circles in class. The first one started today and it was particularly about school culture! Students choose the topics and students have the opportunity to facilitate. Today's circle was co-facilitated by Sadiq, Musheer and a couple of others students. Similar to the photo I sent via email before spring break, but the topics of circle will be connected to how to support students beyond the gates, beyond graduation and in building healthier, positive relationships. The door is open for you all as teachers to join us! Thank you Mrs. Showley for your feedback!
Music Class
Music class is held after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays. As shared previously, this class is worth, by the end of the semester, 7 elective credits. It will reflect on the students' transcripts at the end of the course. We have been examining the history of protest music in the United States.
Engagement outside of Campus
Black Lives Matter in the Classroom- CSULB
Voices and Visions Townhall
New Legislation- Cell Phones in Schools
School Police and School Administrators in California Must Now Get a Warrant to Search Student Cell Phones
**Cross-posted to ABMOC Education Workgroup, Fix School Discipline Coalition, LA County Probation Reform and Dignity in Schools LA. Apologies in advance for duplicates.**
A new California law (CalECPA, SB 178) requires that, if they do not have consent from the student (an important exception), school administrators and school police must get a warrant before searching a student’s personal electronic device, like a cell phone.
The law applies to public agencies across California – including all school districts. You can read more about the law at https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/legislation/calecpa.
The short summary is that “CalECPA is the most comprehensive digital privacy law in the nation – it makes sure police go to a judge and get a warrant before they can get access to electronic information about who we are, where we go, who we know, and what we do. It requires a probable cause warrant for all digital content, location information, metadata, and access to devices like cell phones.”
More about Me
I am a credentialed educator and four weeks from graduating with my masters in the social and cultural analysis of education. I completed by undergraduate degree at Princeton University in Sociology and African American studies. After Princeton, I served as an educator, Preschool director, College Admissions officer as well as Student Services/Financial Aid officer in higher education. In my time in Long Beach, I was a teacher for a year at a charter school in Los Angeles, while a graduate student and a volunteer for CCEJ. Eventually, CCEJ began to contract me to train teachers across the district in Restorative Practices, then eventually hired me to be the RJ coordinator here at Reid. I am currently completing my last two classes and my thesis on how Black mothers resist racism in how they raise their children. While I wish to continue in this work here at Reid (I love the students and the community), I am moving on to complete my PhD in Education- Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development at the University of Pennsylvania in the Fall! Come by and chat with me anytime. Literally, my door is always open unless I am speaking privately with a student.
Email: wattsjanay@gmail.com
Website: janaywatts.com
Phone: 2099861808