Equity and Diversity Newsletter
Elementary Edition October 2020
Hispanic & LatinxHeritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month is an annual celebration of the history and culture of the U.S. Latinx and Hispanic communities. The celebration begins from September 15 to October 15 and commemorates how these communities have influenced and contributed to American society.
The term Hispanic or Latino (or the more recent term Latinx) refers to a person’s culture or origin—regardless of race. On the 2020 census form, people were counted as Hispanic or Latino or Spanish if they could identify as having Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or “another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.”
Hispanic Heritage Month actually began as a commemorative week in June of 1968 by California Congressman George E. Brown. The push to recognize the contributions of the Latinx community was fueled by the 1960s when the civil rights movement was at its peak and there was a growing awareness of the United States' multicultural identities.
The timing of Hispanic Heritage Month coincides with the Independence Day celebrations of several Latin American nations. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. These five nations declared their independence from Spain on September 15, 1821. So, let’s celebrate the role played by these communities throughout American history.
“Latinx Heritage Month.” Equity and Inclusion, 27 Sept. 2020, inclusion.uoregon.edu/latinx-heritage-month.
Library Corner
One of the best ways to teach your students how to celebrate diversity is through books. National Hispanic Heritage Month, provides an excellent opportunity to focus on the Latinx literary experience not just in September and October but year-round.
These books will help young people explore identity, names, culture, immigration, discrimination, and important people in Latinx history.
Link to:
What's In Your Tool Box?
Please take a look at this valuable information on
This curated collection features Teaching Tolerance's best resources for civics education with a focus on elections and voting. It includes posters for students of all ages, along with videos, lessons, texts, and student tasks for middle school and elementary classrooms. I would like to draw your attention as elementary teachers to the section for grades K-5.
"Voting and Voices Classroom Resources.” Teaching Tolerance, www.tolerance.org/projects/voting-and-voices/classroom-resources.
Did You Know?
Link for Read Aloud:
Superheroes Are Everywhere Kamala Harris author of Superheroes Are Everywhere serves as a U.S. senator from California. Before becoming a senator, she worked in the Alameda County district attorney’s office and was later elected district attorney of San Francisco and then-Attorney General of California.
Kamala was the second African American woman and the first person of Indian descent ever elected to the U.S. Senate, and the third woman, first African American, and first person of Indian descent ever to run for president, and the first woman to be named as a vice-presidential candidate. Kamala Harris works hard to make sure all people have equal rights, especially kids.
In this empowering and joyful picture book that speaks directly to kids, Kamala Harris takes readers through her life and shows them the power to make the world a better place lives inside all of us.
Superheroes Are Everywhere has fun and engaging art by Mechal Renee Roe, as well as a guide to being a superhero at the end, this book is sure to motivate your students to take up the superhero mantle and go out and conquer the world.