EDC Digest February 2021
Monthly Newsletter of the Equity and Diversity Council
About the Equity and Diversity Council (EDC)
Email: roszena_haskins@whps.org
Website: www.whps.org/edc
Location: 50 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT, USA
Phone: 860-561-6906
Honoring Black History Month in Our Schools
WHPS Honors Black History Month as a time when the achievements of African Americans are celebrated and the role of the black identities in U.S. history is acknowledged. The 2021 Black History Month Theme is The Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity
Sedgwick Middle School: Black History Month Virtual Exhibit
Sedgwick's annual Black History Month Exhibit is brought to you virtually this year. Courtesy of Maxine Smith, Shannon McNeice and Christine Zeiser.
Read what colleagues are saying, "Maxine's display is great and I loved going through the questions and answers on the CALENDAR! Awesome! Thank you for sharing!" GN
120 second study of the origin of Black History Month
Watch:
- Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman recite The Hill We Climb
Read:
- Honoring Black Agency and Black Joy, Facing History and Ourselves:
Lunar New Year February 12th-February 26th
Watch:
7 Things to Know About the Lunar New Year
"It's called the Lunar New Year because it marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendars traditional to many east Asian countries including China, South Korea, and Vietnam, which are regulated by the cycles of the moon and sun."
Lunar New Year Activities and Teaching Resources
Lunar New Year Culture and Tradition
- What is Lunar New Year? Kid Reporters' Notebook
FULL Wednesday, February 10th, 6:30-8:00 PM West Hartford Community Conversation: Where Do We Go From Here? The Transformation of Unity Green
Please join us for our next West Hartford Community Conversation on the newly renamed green space in the center of West Hartford. The conversation is inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1967 speech “Where Do We Go From Here?,” which will be a free virtual and interactive event moderated by Adrienne Billings-Smith, Founder of Concerned Parents of Color West Hartford (CPCWH). The Community Conversation will provide a chance to talk about the newly renamed Unity Green in small breakout groups as well as to ask questions of specialists. WHPS students, educators, parents and community partners as trained facilitators in UConn's University of Connecticut’s Dodd Center’s program Encounters: Democracy and Dialogues model. To register, click here.
Thursday, February 25th, 6:30 PM The 1619 Project: How the 1619 Project Informs Health Inequity. The annual Black History Month event is produced virtually through a collaboration between the West Hartford African American Social & Cultural Organization (WHAASCO), the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society, and West Hartford Community Interactive (WHCI). The program will review content from the 1619 Project that provides history and insight regarding healthcare and race. A facilitated discussion will follow about the legacy of racism and its link to the current disparities in healthcare faced by communities of color, the well-founded skepticism toward our healthcare systems, various efforts to address the disparities and skepticism, the ways history is reflected in the effects of the current pandemic, and how we should navigate our healthcare through this pandemic. To register, click here.
Friday, 3/5 @12-1:30pm & Monday, 3/8, 6:30-8:00pm State and Local School Finance Workshop. This workshop led by School and State Finance Project will help participants understand how the State contributes to education across school districts, as well as prepare participants for the local school budget season. We will take a look at some of the local budget documents so that participants can become comfortable participating in the budget discussion as community members. To register for Friday, 3/5 @12-1:30pm, click here To register for Monday, 3/8 @6:30-8:00pm, click here. Contact:
yukiyoiida@gmail.com- EDI
Saturday, March 6th, CTSA Equity in Action Summit. The CSTA Equity Fellows 2020-2021 Cohort is pleased to present this one-day virtual event which brings together K-12 CS teachers to call out inequities of access and achievement in marginalized groups and to share strategies and resources to empower and equip teachers in addressing the digital divide. (Jackie Corricelli, CHS Math Teacher & CS Curriculum Specialist will be presenting at 2:50pm) More info and registration: https://web.cvent.com/event/1b27a5d3-86a5-493f-90ec-fb3bfd012361/summary
Promoting Inclusion in Our Schools and Honoring Heritage Months
February Black History Month
February 12th -26th Lunar New Year 2021
March Irish American Heritage Month
March National Women's History Month
March 21 World Down Syndrome Day
April Autism Awareness Month
May Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May Jewish American Heritage Month
May National Mental Health Awareness Month
June Caribbean-American Heritage Month
June LGBT+ Pride Month
Sept 15th - Oct 15th National Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month
October Italian American Heritage Month
November National American Heritage Month