Every Family, Every Day | Feb. 2024
Celebrating our diverse students, staff, and families
February 2024
Update from the Department of Systemic Equity & Inclusion
Dr. Michael Morgan
Briana Kurlinkus
Robyn Rake
Admin. Associate for Systemic Equity & Inclusion
Race & Equity Teams
Race and Equity Team members are anti-racist educational leaders who design and deliver professional learning for all staff and guide the transformation process in order to shift the culture of the school/district toward embracing equity and excellence for ALL students to ensure anti-racist teaching and learning. These members are essential for pushing all staff towards the achievement of educational equity across the school district. E- Team members serve on their school sites' leadership teams, including their schools' SP100 planning team, and work to ensure successful systemic equity transformation in their schools. Typically, E- Teams consist of 8-10 equity/anti-racist leaders (principal, teachers, and other school staff), who participate in significant professional learning focused on deepening their understanding of race and equity, and how to develop and then guide the implementation of the school’s Equity Transformation Plan. E-Teams examine their school’s policies, practices, programs, structures, climate, and culture to identify barriers to equity and excellence and lead systemic change efforts that result in high levels of achievement for all students. E-teams are responsible for aligning their school’s Equity Transformation Plan with existing school and district strategic priorities, ensuring all efforts are streamlined for optimal and equitable student achievement results.
Multicultural Student Achievement Network (MSAN) Student Conference
In November of 2023, the SPASD hosted the first in-person MSAN Student Conference since 2019. The inspiration for this year’s conference theme, “You Belong Here,” was born through the expressions of a student-created mural at Sheehan Park in Sun Prairie. Students who helped create the mural wanted everyone to feel a deep sense of belonging, and that was the same purpose for this year's MSAN Conference. Students who do not identify as white expressed that attending traditional educational institutions exposes them to diverse challenges every day. These challenges come in a variety of forms, including academic prejudice, low expectations, and behavioral colorism. We recognize that many other students, schools, districts, and communities face these same issues.
The MSAN Conference provided students with needed space and opportunities to come together to voice their concerns, be heard, and participate in bringing forward change in their school communities for the better. About 150 students from more than 10 school districts from across the nation participated in this year's conference. The planning committee included student voices from our diverse students at all three high schools.
Affinity Groups
As our racially diverse student population continues to grow, it is important that we make every effort to ensure that our staff demographic matches our student demographic. To do this, we have increased our efforts to recruit and retain staff of color. One important and necessary step in retaining and recruiting staff of color is creating safe and welcoming spaces where staff can feel connected to other staff with whom they have common cultural norms, traditions, heritages, and experiences. We offer these opportunities through supporting Staff Affinity Groups that are meant to be a safe and welcoming space for colleagues who share an identity, such as a common race or heritage, to discuss mutual concerns and help each other navigate a K-12 education system where they are in the minority. Further, Affinity groups are meant to provide validation and support for the kinds of challenges minorities face and provide space intended to provide support for minority groups who might experience microaggressions and challenges and not have anyone outside of the affinity space to confide in. Race is a powerful social category forged historically through oppression, slavery, and conquest. As a result, race is usually a major consideration of how affinity groups are developed; HOWEVER, race is not the ONLY minority or marginalized group within our system or in our society.
With this understanding, the Department of Systemic Equity and Inclusion and Human Resources spent time rethinking about how we support affinity spaces for all minority and marginalized staff groups that make requests. Here is how we support Affinity Groups:
Here are the services we offer……
Advertising the group in district newsletters
Arrangements for space
Share communication from the group leader with group participants.
Small budget for snacks, books, etc.
Access to the Director of SEI to touch base (you decide how often and the format of the meeting).
Heritage Months
It is important that every student sees themselves positively represented in their school experiences. In addition to teachers providing relevant curriculum and learning experiences that are inclusive of all students, we also expect teachers to highlight the many cultures and heritages that are represented in our schools. As a district, we invest in lifting up the heritage and awareness months and celebrations that represent the racially marginalized students, parents/ caregivers, and community that we serve. During the 2023-2024 school year, the Department of Systemic Equity and Inclusion partners with school sites to ensure that the following heritage and awareness months are acknowledged, celebrated, and recognized, showcasing the positive attributes of the respected heritages and cultures.
Here are the Heritage and Awareness Months that the DSEI is lifting up across the system.
Hispanic/ Latinx Heritage Month (September 15th – October 15th)
Black History Month (February)
Women's History Month (March)
Hmong Heritage Month (April)
Asian American / Pacific Islander Month (May)
LGBTQIA+ Pride Month (June)
Disability Pride Month (July)
We are excited that beginning with the 2024–2025 school year, we will be adding Indigenous People (Native American) month (November). We will continue to pay close attention to our changing enrollment and work towards adding even more heritage and awareness months to be supported across the district with the support of the Department of Systemic Equity and Inclusion. We always encourage and support all school sites’ efforts to lift up all heritage and awareness months so that our diverse student population feels a sense of belonging at school
Equity in Action: Community Conversations with Dr. Michael Morgan
Equity in Action: Community Conversations with Our Director of Systemic Equity & Inclusion
The community is invited to join the Sun Prairie Area School District Director of Systemic Equity & Inclusion, Dr. Michael Morgan, for a conversation about our District's Equity work. Learn more about what's happening in our schools as well as share your perspectives.
Monday, Mar 11, 2024, 04:30 PM
Central Heights Middle School, Kroncke Drive, Sun Prairie, WI, USA
Black History Month
Our theme for Black History Month 2024 is celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop. The month will be filled with activities and events. Check the District's Facebook page to see event photos. Events open to the community include the Soul Food Dinner on February 23rd and the 50 Years of Hip-Hop Decade Gallery Walk on February 27th. More information about these events is available on our District website. These are in addition to in-school events such as Read Your Heart Out and guest speakers.
Community BHM Events
Students, families, staff — all are welcome.
Soul Food Dinner
Friday, February 23rd
5:30–7:00 PM
Sun Prairie East High School
Free meal catered by McGee's Chicken with desserts made by SP East's ProStart students. Entertainment by Fabulove Enterprises
Donations will be accepted and appreciated. Proceeds benefit high school Black Student Unions (BSUs).
50 Years of Hip-Hop Gallery Walk
6:00–7:30 PM
Prairie View Middle School
Enjoy various presentations as the students walk you through the decades of Hip-Hop culture in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop.
Presented by the Department of Systemic Equity & Inclusion and led by middle school BSU students from Central Heights, Patrick Marsh, and Prairie View.
School-Based BHM Events
These are just some of the school-based events happening in February.
All students are welcome.
Guest Speaker: Chris “Godxilla” Taylor
Monday, February 5th
SP East PAC & SP West PAC
All high school students are welcome.
Chris “Godxilla” Taylor is the owner of “The Mountaintop Audiovisual LLC” based in Glendale,WI. With over 30 years of music production experience he has worked with some of the biggest names in music and entertainment. Godxilla holds degrees in music technology, entertainment media and entertainment business. Recording, mixing and mastering come second nature to this career music producer.
From 2015 to 2018 Godxilla lived in Los Angeles and served not only as a recording engineer but also as a sound recordist for film and commercials. Commercial campaigns for brands like TJ Maxx, Maybelline and DJI are all great experiences that helped shape his view of today’s entertainment and media industries.
His notable credits include KRS-One, Mad Lion, Afroman, Too $hort, Kobe Bryant, Jack Black, Todd Gurly, Isaiah Thomas Jr., Blair Underwood, Joe Torry, Rich Da Kid, Lil Boosie, Bizzy Bone, Tori Hart, Nipsey Hussle, Treach from Naughty By Nature, Jayo Felony, Bishop Lamont, The World Class Wreckin’ Crew, Coolio, Bushwick Bill, Kurupt Young Gotti, Crooked I, Organized Noise, X-Clan, O.G. Big Mike, Latoya Williams, Baby Drew and Coo Coo Cal.
Guest Speaker: Marcus Porter
Thursday, February 8th
SP East PAC & SP West PAC
All high school students are welcome.
Madison, Wisconsin is home to Hip-hop and R&B Artist & Producer Marcus Porter. Having always been from Wisconsin, Marcus Porter brings music which he deems as essential, uplifting and also inspirational. Using hues of Indie, Backpack Rap and hints of R&B, he began to create music for his own ears until he realized that his music began to resonate with other people. Having been lauded by fans as a true artist, Marcus Porter has performed at the Lifest Stage, Cap Times Live, Festival Foods Lights the Isthmus and has hosted many other intimate performances which are engaging and lively.
Read Your Heart Out
Friday, February 9: Creekside & Westside Elementary Schools
Friday, February 23: Northside & Royal Oaks Elementary Schools
In recognition of National African American Parent Involvement Day, schools celebrate Black and African American students' culture through the love of reading while bringing the community together. Community members and volunteers come into the schools to read a book to our students and connect with them through storytelling.
Latoya Holiday is One of Madison 365's 51 Most Influential Black Leaders of 2023
Congratulations to Latoya Holiday, School Board Vice President and Governance Office, for being selected by Madison 365 as one of Wisconsin’s Most Influential Black Leaders for 2023! Here is Madison 365’s article about her:
“Latoya Holiday currently serves as the executive director of the Multicultural Student Achievement Network (MSAN) at UW Madison’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research. MSAN is a national network of school districts working and learning together to eliminate racial disparities in schools. Latoya has spent her entire career in education working and advocating for equity and change to ensure success for all students, especially for students of color. Latoya spent many years of her career working at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in various roles including school administration consultant and federal grant project director. Latoya has had the pleasure of serving as an executive cabinet member and Special Assistant for two Wisconsin State Superintendents including Wisconsin’s first black state superintendent–Ms. Carolyn Standford Taylor. Latoya has also served as associate director of the Office of Educational Opportunity at UW System and Chief of Staff for One City Schools. Latoya provides service to the Sun Prairie community as an elected member and Vice President of the Sun Prairie Board of Education. Latoya attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Wisconsin-Madison earning degrees in English and Educational Policy.”
Community Voices for Our Future
The School Board is looking for collaborative and future-focused community members who will engage in constructive conversations with our school board members and work toward solutions and partnerships in supporting our students and families.
Meetings will occur approximately 3-4 times a year for no more than two hours at a time. The focus will be on high-level board policy work and the future direction of the district. For example, we will ask questions such as, "Five years from now, what results would show that SPASD has made satisfactory progress?"
Did You Know?
Our District will begin offering the Advanced Placement (AP) African American History course at the high school level beginning in the 2024–2025 school year. Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies is an interdisciplinary course that examines the diversity of African American experiences through direct encounters with authentic and varied sources. Students explore key topics that extend from early African kingdoms to the ongoing challenges and achievements of the contemporary moment. Given the interdisciplinary character of African American studies, students in the course will develop skills across multiple fields, with an emphasis on developing historical, literary, visual, and data analysis skills. This course foregrounds a study of the diversity of Black communities in the United States within the broader context of Africa and the African diaspora.
Dual Language Immersion (DLI)
The future is bilingual with SPASD’s Spanish/English Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program! Students enrolled in DLI spend half of the day learning in Spanish and half of the day learning in English. Kindergarten DLI enrollment for 2024–2025 will be open to any family at Northside and Westside and to any Spanish-speaking family at Creekside, Eastside, and Royal Oaks. Applications will be open from February 26–April 26. Learn more by watching the video below and visiting our website at sunprairieschools.org/academics/dli.
Staff Spotlight: Alicia Rosas
Meet Ms. Alicia Rosas, a Kindergarten Dual Language Immersion (DLI) teacher at Northside!
Please talk a little about your career before coming to Sun Prairie and what made you excited to come here.
I started working as a preschool teacher in my home country, Ecuador. I worked at Colegio Britanico Internacional for 3 years with kids from 3–5 years old. Then I worked at the American School of Quito for 2 years with 3-year-old students. I always wanted new challenges in my life, so I applied for a job in North Carolina as a Spanish Immersion teacher. I worked at First Flight Elementary for 4 years in kindergarten. When I saw the opportunity to build a brand new DLI program, I applied to work at SPASD. As I said before, I like challenges, and bringing my experience to SPASD has been one of the best decisions for me and my family. The community and the staff are great and have been very welcoming.
What do you enjoy about working with young learners?
I really enjoy spending time with my students, and I also like to challenge them to prove to them that they can do things that they didn't imagine. I really love to see their growth, or when they have those "aha" moments, or when they realize that they can read small sentences and understand them. I also enjoy it when they start speaking in Spanish or saying small phrases. I really enjoy working with the little ones!
How do you support every child, every day in your classroom?
I support my students based on their needs and interests. I like to get to know my students so I can help them the best way that I can. If my student is struggling, I stop and help. If my student finds a work "too easy," I give them a challenge that can help that student move to the next level. I also like to incorporate sensory integration in my classes. I really believe that at early stages, students learn through their senses, so why don't we make it fun? I also believe that kids learn with games, so why don't we play some games to learn the syllables, or new vocabulary in the target language, etc? This is why I chose to be a teacher, and I chose to come to SPADS to help, support, and learn from others and from my little students as well. Every day is a new opportunity to learn. (Not just students learn, we as adults also learn from them).
SPASD Focuses on Early Experience of Support Staff Employee Group
New employees take part in team building at an SP Kickstart orientation
We know onboarding is crucial for creating a positive and effective entry point for new employees, setting the stage for their success, engagement, and long-term commitment to SPASD and our goals. As we aim to serve every child, every day, we know the most impactful way to do this is to support every staff person, every day.
Our support staff roles impact our students in countless ways providing them with individual learning and care support, safe and clean environments, nutritious meals, and providing guidance on student health. Taking steps to ensure our new support staff feel planned for, clear in their roles, connected to their partners and confident in the tools and equipment their jobs require is paramount to our success.
This year SPASD has taken a review and action steps to improve our onboarding systems and programs for support staff. While the work is not done below are some measures that have been implemented since July of 2023.
SP Kickstart
First Day Orientation
New Employee Newsletters
1 page, weekly, themed newsletters to reinforce topics briefly covered in SP Kickstart
Themes include:
True Time
Professional Development
Employee Wellness
Cheers for Peers
Google Tips + Tricks
New SPASD Team Members Google Space
Virtual space for new employees to ask “new employee type questions” and get answers from HR manager
SP Rise & Shine
New employee event, purpose rooted in:
Continue to reinforce the employee’s decision to work here
Recognize and send a message of appreciation
Provide an opportunity for new employees to expand their internal network
Provide an opportunity for new hire to meet leadership
HR to get feedback for improvements
Onboarding Buddy Pilot Program
Seasoned employees get paired with a new employee to meet with once per week for their first 10-12 weeks
Buddy is available to ask any question, any time, as many time
Buddy helps make introductions
Student-Athlete Spotlights
Isaac Assaba
My name is Isaac Assaba. I am a senior at Sun Prairie West, and I am looking to attend the University Of Minnesota Twin Cities to study kinesiology to then become an Athletic Trainer. As far as sports, I've been a part of Basketball, Football, and Track since middle school and am completely in love with the sports and friends I've made along the way. Away from sports I love hanging out with friends, working (Mad City Windows), and watching movies (crime/action).
Being an athlete has taught me countless lessons that I could take away from the field/court. One of the most important things that I think is underlooked is summed up in a quote "You don't have to be successful to be consistent, but you have to be consistent to be successful." One thing that has helped me immensely in the college search is maintaining a 3.5+ GPA throughout all my years of high school, and I could only do that by consistently showing up and consistently doing what had to be done, whether I wanted to or not.
One of the biggest things that has come to me that isn't talked about enough and that we should continue to instill in young kids/teens is to never stop being ambitious. Everybody had those dreams when they were in elementary school about being an astronaut, a pro athlete, heck, even president of the US. People go through middle school and high school and are told to "be realistic," "that will never work out," "take a different route," and just have their huge dreams shot down. Be true to yourself and dream big, not enough people realize that this is the one and only life that we have to live, so if you ever dreamt about living large or being on top of the world, go out and DO IT.
Danielle Codlyn
I am a sophomore at Sun Prairie East High School and in my free time I enjoy playing sports/weightlifting and hanging out with my friends. I am a member of the varsity volleyball team and varsity track and field team. I am also the historian on student council. Being an athlete has taught me so much outside of school. The biggest and most important one I would say is growing my emotional intelligence or being more aware of people’s feelings. In tight games everyone’s emotions are all over the place and knowing how to be compassionate and understanding in those situations is very important. Never once have I regretted playing a sport, they have made me into the person I am today, taught me life lessons I will carry for the rest of my life, and through them I have met some of my best friends.
Coach Spotlight: Ronda McLin
Meet Coach Ronda McLin, the head coach for Sun Prairie West’s Varsity Girls’ Basketball team!
Tell us a little about yourself. What do you do outside of coaching?
I am a Support Specialist for Afterschool Programs in the Madison Metropolitan School District. When I am not coaching, I enjoy spending time with my boys, Jashawn and Jordan. I also enjoy reading, cooking, and coaching my youth basketball team - Wisconsin Rising Stars.
What's your "why?" Why do you coach? How do you support your athletes?
My "why" is THEM- the student-athletes that I coach. I am a very competitive coach, and I love to win! BUT...I enjoy building relationships with the players that I coach, I enjoy teaching them how to approach and play the game in ways that they may not be used to. Helping them to build and sustain confidence, developing their skill sets and strength of character, helping them to become great teammates, and being a support system for them on and off of the court is what I strive to do best.
Hmong Community Dinner
We hosted a district-wide Hmong Family Night. It was an evening filled with food, fun, families, and friendship, and also allowed families to share their communication needs and issues.
Hmong Language for Heritage Speakers
DID YOU KNOW? At the high school level, we offer the Hmong Language for Heritage Speakers course for students interested in learning more about the Hmong Language and Culture. Instructor Phau Thao shares some more info about the course.
Who is the Hmong Language for Heritage Speakers course for?
The Hmong Language for Heritage Speakers course is not limited to only Hmong students. This course is for all students interested in learning more about the Hmong Language and Culture.
What do students learn in the course?
In the course, students learn to advance their native language skills through conversation and further listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in the Hmong language. Students extend and deepen their knowledge about Hmong literacy by reading texts and discussing and writing about Hmong issues.
There are four units that we spend time focusing on throughout the year.
Unit 1: Self and Others. In this unit, students learn about:
How do cultural values impact the sense of self and others?
How does kinship impact your communication and relationships within the Hmong clans?
How language is used to communicate with the living and spiritual world?
How can language define and differentiate you from another race?
Unit 2: Daily Life in the Hmong Community. In this unit, students learn about:
How does culture impact your daily life in your community?
How do celebrations and holidays connect you to your culture?
How can fluency in another language help create greater community connections?
How is culture reflected in a community?
Unit 3: Home and Family Life. In this unit, students learn about:
How does culture impact home and family life?
How does family composition impact home and family structure?
How do cultural beliefs enrich your home and family life?
How can you bring representation of your culture in the larger community?
Unit 4: Local and Global Community. In this unit, students learn about:
How do jobs and mobility impact lifestyle?
How does my city/ town compare to other places?
How does culture impact a community?
How do the impacts of war stigmatize your family and your lifestyle?
How do relocation and acculturation shape your identity?
What happens during a typical class?
In a typical class, I will introduce students to our Essential Question of the day, revisited at the end of class. Then, I always have students engage in a community circle, or I check in with the class and ask them about their weekends/plans.
After checking in with students, we go over our tonal mark chart, which is crucial for students to know and be able to pronounce. Understanding tonal marks and how to pronounce them will make it easier for students to pronounce and understand Hmong words.
After practicing our tonal mark pronunciations, students will be introduced to single, double, triple, or quadruple consonant vocabularies. We will play an engaging activity to help students make sense of those terms, or we will practice translating sentences from English into Hmong, or vice versa, so students can understand how those terms are applied to sentences.
If we have enough time, we take a closer look into the theme for the unit that we are on. For example, suppose the theme is Unit 2: Self and Others. In that case, we will talk about celebrations students celebrate during the new upcoming year and how celebrations impact our family and the community.
I recommend this course to students because the Hmong population is growing in Sun Prairie, let alone in Wisconsin. Hmong can be an easy or complex language to learn, depending on how dedicated you are to learning the Hmong language and heritage. Learning about the Hmong culture is very interesting because there are so many things to know, and students are always in “ah” when they learn new things about the culture that they did not know before. Knowing that many Hmong students are attending SPASD will benefit many to learn the language so we can communicate with Hmong students and genuinely show interest in the Hmong language and Heritage.
Community Schools
BSU Mentorship Program
Prairie Phoenix Academy Tutors
Prairie Phoenix Academy (PPA) students support the academic achievement of elementary students by serving as tutors every Thursday afternoon. This program matches elementary scholars from Creekside Elementary with PPA students. Staff provide games and activities that support the skills the students are working on during the day. This service is a part of a workshop developed by PPA advisors to help students earn credit toward graduation while also supporting the academic growth of younger students.
100 Scholars Program
One of the key practices of Community Schools is to provide expanded and enriched learning opportunities for students and families. 100 Scholars is a K–5 Saturday school program hosted at Creekside Elementary in partnership with 100 Black Men of Madison, Inc. This four-hour program starts with a community breakfast (families, students, and staff), followed by large-group and small-group instruction focused on strengthening math and reading skills as well as developing students as lifelong learners. Every program closes with a guest speaker who also reads a story to the students.
CEOs of Tomorrow
The CEOs of Tomorrow program started in 2016. Its goal is to inspire young people to discover their entrepreneurial talents and to use them to make the world a better place. Engaging, hands-on activities help kids learn important life skills and make a positive impact while also earning money. It is a part of Westside Elementary's afterschool program. In December, 4th and 5th-grade CEOs of Tomorrow Wildcats gave their final presentations to a cafeteria full of friends, family, and community members.
AVID Students Recognized by Sun Prairie Optimist Club
The following AVID 12 scholars were recognized by the Sun Prairie Optimist Club this past November for their outstanding efforts and contributions to the AVID Program and greater school community.
Anberlie Toto-Moto, SP East
Anberlie works extraordinarily hard to help her family, is a model AVID student, and will be pursuing a career in nursing. She also serves as a Cardinal Connector, a model upperclassman that supports freshmen throughout their transition to high school.
Alexia Vergara Ramos, SP West
Alexia is an incredible role model for our younger AVID students and currently serves as a teacher’s assistant for one of the AVID teachers. She is in the Business Academy and plans to major in Business next year.
Marquel Marshall, SP West
In addition to being an AVID scholar, Marquel is an active member of the Black Student Union (BSU). He plans to attend Madison College next year to study Automotive or Mechanical Engineering.
Abdou Jobe, SP East
It is exciting to recognize Abdou, because he is new to our AVID family. He maintains a positive attitude each day, and has been a proactive leader. Despite recently joining AVID, Abdou is interested in reviving a club called "AVID Gives Back" to create another space for AVID students to impact the school and greater community.
We Are Hiring!
We are seeking to diversify our workforce.
Human Resources Contacts
Chris Sadler
Human Resources Director
Isabel Simonetti
Employee Relations Manager