4J Office of Equity
November 25th 2019
THURSDAY, December 5th @ 5:30 PM - Community Equity Events - MOVIE SHOWING OF: 14: Dred Scott, Wong Kim Ark & Vanessa Lopez
14: Dred Scott, Wong Kim Ark & Vanessa Lopez explores the recurring question about who has the right to be an American citizen. 14 examines the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment and present-day attacks upon it through compelling personal stories and expertly-told history. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
This right to citizenship, extended to all regardless of parentage, was originally passed to confer citizenship to freed slaves. It is a Constitutional right that has endured attacks since its passage and continues to be at risk today. 14 illuminates the struggles and victories of people who fought against slavery, Chinese Exclusion, and anti-immigrant laws in this country. The story is told through the lives of three ordinary and extraordinary American families who changed history by their courageous challenges to the powerful status quo: Dred and Harriet Scott, Wong Kim Ark, and Rosario and Vanessa Lopez. Descendants of Dred and Harriet Scott and those of Wong Kim Ark tell the stories of how their ancestors fought all the way to the Supreme Court and changed American history.
JOIN ME & Producer Anne Galisky for a conversation after the movie.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
LOCATION: 4J District Auditorium -200 North Monroe Street Eugene, OR
Doors open at 5:30PM and film will start at 5:45 PM
FREE EVENT - OPEN TO ALL
Childcare will be available.
Film will have Spanish subtitles
* Our Stories: Immigrants of America Photographic Essays*
by Eugene photographer, Melissa "Mimi" Nolledo, will also be on display
Graham Street Productions
* Our Stories: Immigrants of America Photographic Essays*
Graham Street Productions
Winter Resources & Winter Bias Check
I challenge each one of us to think about this winter season from the point of view of our students who are unaccompanied minors, our students and families who are experiencing housing insecurities, who do not have a "family" to spend the winter break with and/or who may or may not have money to pay for heat and/or food during the long break.
Attached is the 2019 Winter Break Resource List for you, students and families. This resource is in English and Spanish. It was put together by several of our Lane County agencies. Please do "warm hand-offs" to the families as they let you know of their needs for this winter. Please download and distribute the list of places where people can get meals during the Fall Break & Winter Break.
When planning your lessons for the next few months, please check you assumptions about the inclusive and exclusive practices happening in your classrooms and in your school. School holidays are one way we exclude students and families, but there are many others. This is a good time to take an internal look at the practices you can control in your classroom and in your school staff room, office, halls and entry ways.
With much respect and in thanks for the work you are all doing to help our students, staff & families belong.
Karen
Culturally Responsive Instruction
When it comes to deciding to implement more culturally responsive instruction, where to do we start? The first step is recognizing how our own cultural conditioning is reflected in our teaching: how we set up our classroom, establish relationships with students, and how we design and deliver our lessons. When we acknowledge that our classrooms are natural extensions of our own culture, we can begin to make room for the cultures of others. This can be done in a few simple ways:
- Look for ways to integrate cultural traditions of your ELL families throughout your school. Becoming familiar with and including the cultural traditions of your ELL families within the larger school community not only creates a welcoming and respectful school environment — it has practical considerations for scheduling, opportunities in the classroom, and improved communication and engagement with families. (See more tips on how to integrate ELLs' cultures effectively in this excerpt from our ELL Family Engagement guide.)
- Add classroom visuals reflecting the racial and ethnic diversity of the classroom. Look for images that come from various sources and steer clear of long-held harmful stereotypes (e.g., Latino people wearing large Mexican hats, Asian people working in rice fields, etc.). If you can not find any adequate images, hold an event inviting the various families to school and take photos of the children interacting together and with each other's families.
- Incorporate books with multicultural themes and different perspectives into classroom readings. For recommended titles, consult our booklists on Colorín Colorado and Reading Rockets, LGBTQ Books. Also, do not automatically discard books that reflect the mainstream culture. Discuss all these books (multicultural and mainstream) with students and ask them what they learned that they did not know before about the characters, situations, geographies, etc.
- Explore themes that are common to all cultures. Discuss universal concepts like the importance of families, the search of a better life through migration, friendships, uses of music to express emotions and celebrate, and different kinds of work, etc.
- Take interest in students' lives outside of school and asking questions about community events and traditions. When possible, call students at home to follow up on an assignment and introduce yourself to their parents (ask your school about an interpreter if needed). After this type of initial contact, try and visit students at home, visit their neighborhood and the places they shop, and participate in community events. Keep an open-door policy in your classroom for their families. Sometimes, families may be hesitant to interact with you due to language or perceived cultural barriers.
- Ensure major assignments or exams do not fall on religious or cultural holidays. Plan this calendar far in advance. Students from a particular country may have more religious holidays than other groups and you also want to inform others in the school about this so that no misperceptions or misunderstandings arise.
- Integrate ethnic art, music, and games into classroom activities. For information about ethnic art and games, consult Teaching Tolerance, and for international music selections and fun classroom activities, consult Putumayo. You can also visit special museum exhibits, conduct a field trip to a special performance, or invite artists and performers to your school.
- Support English language learners and their families with materials in their first language. If your school does not have ESL or bilingual education teachers or specialists, see if the district can help. Do not make the children in your class who are becoming proficient in English be your primary mode of communication with other children of the same language background or with families. If an adult interpreter is not available, look into recruiting a volunteer from the community who is familiar with school issues. For more information on supporting ELLs and their families, visit Colorín Colorado's Educator Section.
- Use current world events to teach students to read, think, and discuss from multiple perspectives. The internet and television broadcasts from other countries can provide international versions of world events. Responding to events from a variety of perspectives not only reinforces critical literacy skills, but establishes a forum for voicing disparate perspectives.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY -- Connect immigrants in your community to free legal representation
We are finding a growing need to have volunteers accompany our 4J unaccompanied minors, students and families to immigration check-ins.
Catholic Charities & Centro Latino are working with Pueblo Unido to train community members to be Equity Corps Navigators.
Most accompanying happens during 4J work days & these trainings are being held on 4J work days so we are looking for retired and/or community members who are free during the day to be trained and to accompany Lane County community members as the needs arise.
PLEASE HELP US GET THE WORD OUT!
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Are you passionate about protecting immigrant rights and fighting unjust deportation? Do you want to be able to connect immigrants in your community to free legal representation through the Equity Corps program?
We invite you to join us for two FREE Equity Corps Navigator Training opportunities led by Pueblo Unido PDX and hosted by Centro Latino Americano and Catholic Community Services on
Monday, December 9 at Centro Latino Americano
(944 W. 5th Ave. Eugene, OR 97401).
The first training will serve as an Orientation for Community Navigators who are new to the Equity Corps program, and is scheduled between 9am-10:30am.
The second training will focus on Interview Skills for Navigators, and is scheduled between 10:35am-1:05pm.
More information about the Equity Corps program and the navigator role is available at http://equitycorps.org/. Completion of both trainings is required to become a certified Community Navigator.
If you plan to attend, please CLICK HERE TO RSVP as soon as possible. In preparation for the training, consider watching the Core Asylum Law Videos (1-12) found at this link, and reading up on the Defensive Asylum process in the U.S.
Finally, please bring a laptop with you to the training if you are able to do so. You are welcome to share this invitation with anyone in your networks who might be interested.
If anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Cameron Coval, Executive Director of Pueblo Unido, at cdcoval@pueblounidopdx.org, or Karla Schmidt Murillo at karlasm@centrolatinoamericano.org.
Thank you!
Karla Schmidt Murillo
karlasm@centrolatinoamericano.org
Immigration Advocate
Centro Latino Americano
Office: (541) 687-2667
Superintendent Letter -- RE: Religious Holidays
FROM: Superintendent Gustavo Balderas
DATE: November 6, 2019
Dear administrators: We are lucky to work in a community where diverse viewpoints and religions thrive and are valued. As we enter the holiday season, I am writing to ensure a common understanding about our responsibilities as public educators on the one hand to accommodate student’s religious beliefs and expression, and on the other, to refrain from promoting or endorsing religious beliefs and messages.
One section of the letter includes:
Observance of Religious Holidays –
Schools may not observe religious holidays or promote religious practices. Schools must maintain religious neutrality. However, schools may teach about religions, religious freedom, and religious holidays with the purpose of meeting non-religious educational objectives.
Traditional religious music is permitted only as a minor part of school-sponsored activity or program during the holidays.
Displaying religious symbols such as a cross, nativity scene or Star of David, is prohibited. Gift exchanges should be avoided as there will be students who cannot participate, causing feelings of isolation and distress.
The display of Christmas trees on school and district properties is prohibited.
SEE COMPLETE LETTER ATTACHED BELOW:
Saturdays - FREE TUTORING, SMART READING & COLLEGE PREP
ORGANIZED BY: NAACP
TIME: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
LOCATION: LCC downtown Location - 2nd FLOOR - 101 W. 10th AVE (@ Olive St.)
***The NAACP will provide free daycare from 10:00-2:00 in which parents are able to drop off students.***
DATES:
November - 30th
December- 7th, 14th
January- 11th, (18th MLK prep), 25th
February- 8th, 15th, 29th
March- 7th, 14th
April- 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th
May - 2nd, 9th (16th Last Day of 2020 program)
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What: Back to School/Stay in School program- NAACP/SMART – ASPIRE Career and College mentorship program!
When: Saturdays 10-2:00 PM
Where: Lane Community College Downtown Campus
2nd Floor . -- 101 W. 10th Ave. (@ Olive St.)
Eugene, OR
Who: K-12 Students
Parking: Free (At Overpark garage )
Contact: (541) 484-1119
4J Office of Equity & Instruction
Office of Equity, Instruction & Partnerships Support Staff
Contact: Katie McRae
541-790-7737
4J Translation & Interpretation Services
Request an interpreter or a translation at:
4J Translation & Interpretation
Contact: Vanessa Vasquez
541-790-7717
English Language Learner Supports
Contact: Lily Gold
541-790-6872
Migrant Education Supports - Lane ESD
Contact: Ana Arias
541-461-8382/541-844-8558Dual Language Immersion Supports
Contact: Lynette Williams
541-521-1874 (Cell) | 541-790-7561 (Desk)
Student Affinity Group Supports
Contact: Dr. Bob Bolden
541-790-7544
Middle School Mentoring Supports
Link to Information about this program
Contact: Kate Becker
Email: equityevents@4.lane.edu
Location: 200 North Monroe Street, Eugene, OR, USA