HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-12-03 School Council - Birch Meadow Elementary Minutes � Orq
Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
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Board - committee - Commission - Council:
School Council -Birch Meadow Elementary Mill DEC 17 AM)(: 54
Date: 2018-12-3 Time: 3:00 PM
Building: School - Birch Meadow Location: Conference Room
Address: 27 Arthur B Lord Drive Session: Open Session
Purpose: Version:
Attendees: Members - Present:
Jenn Zani
Julia Hendrix
Ashley Quinn
]an Rhein
Alissa Gallegos
Valerie Gould-Heithaus
Members - Not Present:
Gioia Butler
Others Present:
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Julia Hendrix, Principal
Topics of Discussion:
The Site Council read the article: Your 8 year old is already racially biased. Here's what you can do about it
We analyzed the article using the 4 A's Protocol. Here are the notes from that discussion.
Assumptions
• That you can enroll your child in a sports league or group that is diverse in your community-
that it's accessible.(3 people) Also,what about invisible vs.visible diversity?
• That parents are able to identify their own biases and are able to talk about them.(2 people)
• That parents are willing participants in this process.
• All children aware of biases before their teen years.
Agree with....
• It's a marathon and not a sprint-there's no immediate solution.
• More diversity within racial groups than across them.
• Developing racial cultural literacy.
• It's okay to notice skin color and talk about it.
• We believe that children are racial innocents and don't notice skin color.
• What can we do to shape our children's racial attitudes as they emerge?
Argue with....
• That families/parents are willing participants.
• Children are aware of biases before their teen years-(they see differences but do they
internalize them?)(2 people)
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Act on....
• Create intentional and honest lessons that allow students to face diversity.
• Gain better understanding of climate of hate and acceptance in community.
• Bring more visible diversity into our lives.—books,toys, movies,museums,exhibits
• Tell stories of resistance and resilience—read aloud more books in read aloud
Discussion Notes
• Parents believe it should be addressed,but not at school,at home.
• Should we make our enrichment programs more diverse?
• Is there diversity in our EtA curriculum/books?
• We've gotten further away from some events like civil rights movement,WW2
• We need a diverse group of people planning this,whatever we're going to do.
• Use of Teaching Tolerance -
• Being mindful that we're coming from a place of good intentions, not bad
• Having a transparent message about our goals and what and why we're doing it
• Can we get parents in to talk to the class about their family culture -would parents be worried
about the agenda of the visitors and what they would say
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