DREAM TEAM MEMO
Uplift Hampton MS Memo 12
Table of Contents
- CA Testing Schedule
- A Message from the Director
- Video of the Week
- Action Items
- A Message from Coordinator Jones
- Birthdays
- Staff List
Thank you Ms. Brown and Ms. Thomas, the Testing Beauties! I appreciate all of the work that you have put in to make our CA schedule run smoothly!
Thank you to EVERYONE of you for your flexibility during CA testing! It has been because of you that we are trucking right along!
COMMON ASSESSMENTS CONTINUE!!
COLLABORATION DAY INFORMATION
A Message from the Director
Greetings Dream Team-
Today I had the privilege to attend the Momentous Institute's, Changing the Odds Conference, and I must say that each speaker inspired me to keep pushing! The first speaker, Father Gregory Boyle, spoke about bridging distance that exist between "us." In his context he was referring to those he served in California at Homeboy Industries (look it up, it is fascinating). For us, I interpreted that to mean, the barriers that we put between ourselves and our colleagues, ourselves and our scholars, ourselves and ourselves. It is the lack of transparency and vulnerability. It is what is hidden to make one feel like they are more than. When in actuality if we eliminated the distance, we could be so much further ahead, in EVERY sense of the phrase. He spoke about TRUTH and the ability to accept it, inhabit it, and to value it. He spoke about kinship, and how it is "exquisite mutuality," and the necessity to understand that nothing is one-sided. He said, "if a kid can't imagine their future, they don't care about anything else." I captured that statement because, it made me reflect on the percentage of our scholars who can imagine themselves on the other side of childhood, and what they would say it would be. It was a dynamic 60 minutes of inspiration.
The second speaker, Sarah Hemminger, posed the question, "what does equity mean in relationship?" I immediately had questions about the question. What is equity? Do people really know what it means to be equitable? Why does it matter that equity exists or if it is lacking? How can one build an equitable relationship if they are not living their truth? How does one know exactly what they need if the TRUTH is missing from the life they are living? You see, everything connected in the first 120 minutes of my day for me.
I was inspired, motivated, challenged to think about us, our team, and our truth. So this evening and this week, I pose the following questions to you:
1. What is your truth?
2. Can you state it?
3. Do you know it?
4. Would you be honest with yourself if you didn't?
5. Does your truth align to changing the lives of the youth for the better?
Ask yourself, and lets discuss next week. I'll share more of my Day 1 notes with you on Monday! I am excited about the idea of possibility. I'm elated that I get to embark on this challenge of figuring out how to...I am hopeful that with a new found appreciation for truth, that we can move mountains, and I am grateful to be able to share this experience with you! Have a great week ahead!
The Dream Team Will Fight!
All My Best,
-Director Parks
Compassion and Kinship
Data Dashboard
A brand-new network assessment dashboard is now available. This dashboard will refresh throughout the year to include data from our two network assessments (TWA and CA). An admin version of the dashboard can be found here A teacher version of the dashboard can be found here
Monday, October 1st – A DAY
Professional Dress Day
COMMON ASSESSMENTS
Tuesday, October 2nd – B DAY
Business Casual
COMMON ASSESSMENTS
Wednesday, October 3rd – A DAY
Jeans and Orange Top
COMMON ASSESSMENTS SCANNING DEADLINE BY 3PM
Vertical Team Meeting
Thursday, October 4th–B DAY
CA Data Dive Completed
Business Casual
Friday, October 5th– No School -- BLACKOUT DAY
Casual Attire- Collaboration Day
Monday, October 8th- No School
Tuesday, October 9th- A Day- Picture Day!
Professional Dress Day
Action Items
10/3/18-Common Assessment Scanning Deadline is 3pm
10/4/18-Common Assessment Data Analysis Due
THE HISPANIC HERITAGE CELEBRATION WAS A SUCCESS!!! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
DO YOU KNOW THE TOP REASONS WHY WE CELEBRATE HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH?
The Smithsonian Learning Lab Explains...
1) Why do we celebrate the Hispanic community in the United States?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 56.6 million Hispanics in the United States or 17.6 percent of the country’s population as of July 2015. Hispanics or Latinos have contributed to American life since the American Revolution, fighting in every war since then. Latinos today continue to advance communities across the country as small business owners, veterans, teachers, and public servants, among many other professions. Hispanic Heritage Month allows us to recognize their achievements and contributions to our national story.
2) What were the beginnings of Hispanic Heritage Month?
Originally, Hispanic Heritage Month was Hispanic Heritage Week, started in 1968 under President Johnson. In 1988, President Reagan enacted a public law to celebrate a 30-day Hispanic Heritage Month, starting on September 15, the independence day of five Central American countries. Within the month, other Latin American countries celebrate their independence as well.
3) Have you heard the common quote “We did not cross the border, the border crossed us”?
Because of the Mexican-American and Spanish-American wars, two treaties were put in place (The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Treaty of Paris, respectively) that gave the United States territories in the Southwest and Puerto Rico, incorporating the peoples of this area into the United States. Learn more here:
4) Did you know that in America today, one in four children is Hispanic?
Sandra Cisneros writes about a young girl, Esperanza, in her classic coming-of- age story, The House on Mango Street. Used in classrooms across America, the novel is about growing up Latina in Chicago and the importance of family and traditions.
5) Did you know that food is a common language and brings us together?
Ezequiel Moreno started a Mexican bakery and restaurant out of his home in 1918, moving to La Plaza in the heart of Los Angeles in 1920. He named his bakery La Esperanza, meaning hope. Until the 1970s, their bread, coffee, Mexican dishes, and “American-style” lunches brought all kinds of people together, from Mexican immigrants, to downtown employees, to even Hollywood movie stars.
Bakeries today continue this tradition of community with El Bolillo Bakery in Houston, baking an estimated 4,400 pounds of flour into Mexican bread to help those in need after Hurricane Harvey.
6) Did you know that baseball played a role in Latino community building?
Latino community baseball leagues across the United States provided a place for people to build relationships, organize, and engage with younger community members. At the Major League level, Roberto Clemente, player for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was a Hispanic civil rights activist and a close collaborator with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Learn more here:
7) Did you know that Latin Jazz is a combination of African-American and Latin rhythms first mixed together in the 1940s?
Jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie and Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo first collaborated to create Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz. New York’s Palladium Ballroom became the hub of Latin jazz with greats such as Tito Puente, Machito and his Afro-Cubans, and Tito Rodriguez, among others. Learn more here:
8) Did you know that contrary to popular belief, Day of the Dead is not Halloween?
Celebrated on November 1 and 2, Day of the Dead remembers family and community members that have passed. Originally from Meso-America but now celebrated in Latino communities across the United States, the commemoration combines indigenous and Catholic rituals.