Sunday Night Memo, 9/3/17

Friday PD

Being a part of courageous conversations like the one we began Friday morning can be messy.  The work requires us to speak from our hearts, take risks with each other and allow ourselves to be vulnerable.  I appreciate the space that we created Friday morning and I hope we can continue meeting in the space to work as a family to begin removing the artificial barriers in our system that hold kids back.  As an Asian woman, I've been able to straddle the fence and experience the benefits of being considered a model minority while also experiencing being put back into my place.  The complexity of each of our stories and experiences is what will allow us to collectively work to dismantle the barriers that don't allow everyone a seat at the table.  While the repetition of the work can be frustrating, I hold great hope that we can work together so the current system will "die".   I also know how messy this work can be and hope you know that this is a safe place.  I'll certainly have my messy moments because there isn't always a clear cut solution or answer and trust that our space will be safe so we can really enact change.  Please know that I'm always here to share the conversations with you and hope that you will share them with me.

We had just really gotten started in our conversations when the fire alarm rang.  Really, 40 minutes was not enough time to process Reverand Starskey's words or the questions after.  The district equity leaders shared out the powerpoint with the videos we didn't have time to see along with the questions they created.  If you have time, I would encourage you to watch the TED talk about the danger of the single story.  I showed my students that when I was an ELA teacher and it was a great platform to talk about how we show up in books and why there were some of us missing.

Here are some of the other questions we didn't get a chance to and would not have gotten to:

• How do our biases show up in our classroom spaces?  How do they impact our kids of color?
• Before I became a teacher, I never questioned the absence of Asians in the books I read. During my first year in the classroom, a consultant from Teacher's College introduced me to a world of texts that included characters that looked like me that were outside of the typical Asian stereotypes.  It was in that moment that I realized how important it was for kids to see themselves in books and my own bias that kept me from questioning why the majority of the books promoted in our classrooms were void of kids of color.  It was my awakening to really look at myself and explore my identity because ignoring it was hurting my kids.

• What artificial barriers exist in Webster that hold kids back that we can dismantle?

• Let's make a list of things we know hold kids back but are kept in place because it's "the way we've always done things".

• How do we prepare kids of color to shoulder the rejection and bias they will face in High School in regards to honors and AP classes?
• For this, I share with you Naomi Blair's essay because unfortunately, her experience is not just Kirkwood's problem:

Black Girl, White Space

by Naomi Blair

Kirkwood High School

Winning Essay

Yes! Contest in the Powerful Voices category

              I am black. I know it, and people around me know it. I know they do because when I walked into my AP Psychology class for the very first time, everyone looked at me as if I was a cat in the midst of a field full of lions. The girl in the pink, oversized  sweatshirt was talking to her friend, but she stole a glance my way. She gave me a quick look over and ruffled her nose. Before she looked away, her eyes told me that I didn’t belong in an advanced placement course. The guy two seats behind her pointed his eyes at me, but only for a second. Another guy, a row away from him glanced at me and then started talking to the guy next to me. I could practically hear their words, “What is she doing in this class?”. I didn’t belong there. Of course not. I am black. I was the triangle block trying to fit in a square space.

              Unfortunately, stereotyping isn't an isolated incident. This isn’t the only time I have been stereotyped. And, I am not the only one who has fallen victim to this behavior. Most, if not all, of my black friends complain of the racism we experience in our school. One day, Abi, a black friend of mine, in a fit of rage, told me she wasn’t “black enough for her black friends, but not white enough for her white friends,” as we talked about our groups of friends. I agreed and decided to something about it. To quote Gerald Mitchell, author of I Can’t Breathe Until Everyone Can Breathe, “[we can realize] that there is always an actual human being on the other side of our actions.” I wondered how I could get the people of my school and community to be aware of the consequences of racism whether their actions be conscious or unconscious.  In November of this year, I announced to my fellow staffers on my school newspaper, The Kirkwood Call, that I wanted to do a social experiment. This experiment, I hope, will shed light to the conscious and unconscious racism happening, not only in my school, but in my community as a whole.  I plan on videotaping the different scenarios, similar to the ones I go through, to show my community the discrimination taking place.

              Many people at my school, though they are reluctant to admit it, stereotype, especially towards black people. I see Mrs. Fredrickson, a white teacher, when told of a student mishap, assuming a black student caused it. I see Marissa, a white student in the lunchroom, talking about black people as if they weren’t sitting at the table next to them. One of my white friends once told me I was white because of my academic standing. Another, who was black, agreed and told me that I was an Oreo: black on the outside, white on the inside. They thought that because I am smart, I couldn't possibly be black. So, they tried to rationalize it. My friend, Miranda said, “You’re not really black.” I narrowed my eyes, rammed my arm in front of their faces, and said, “Of course not. If you rub hard enough on my forearm, you can see my real white skin underneath.”

              What I want to do is get people to stop stereotyping, whether they are aware of their racism or not. I am already starting to do so with my social experiment.  I invited a group of both black and white students to participate in this experiment and talked to them about their experiences. When I talked to the group of participants about racism in my school, they pointed out injustices such as an administrator asking a study group of black students to leave the library while a study group of white students were allowed to stay. The white group said they wanted to change the way black people are treated by white students and teachers. When I asked them how they would carry out reforming this perception, no one had an answer. After a few pregnant pauses, I asked them what they thought injustice looks like. They timidly listed off generic answers: not treating someone fairly, discrimination based on skin color, gender, etc.. Then, I asked them what injustice looked like in our school, specifically. One girl’s face turned ruddy and pursed her lips as she frantically described a situation in which she saw a white teacher ignore a black student while having her full attention on a white student.  I portrayed to her my utter disbelief and asked even more students if they encountered instances like these. They all said yes.

              Treating people fairly and humanely by trying to not dwell on stereotypes and teaching others to do the same is an important step to eliminate racism.  Fairness looks like treating every person the same, not just in relation to  race, but also gender and sexuality. For instance, when I walked into the AP Psychology class, people  should have been looking at me  because my outfit was just that cute, or I had a milk moustache from that morning's breakfast, not because of the color of my skin. Justice looks like not assuming that, just because I am black, I am supposed to be loud, prone to fights, uneducated, vulgar, and live in poverty. A white girl once told me, “You’re not like how I imagined. You're not ghetto at all.”

              Stereotyping is racism. I plan to get my peers and teachers to stop judging people by their skin color. I plan on talking, teaching, and exhorting to my peers why discrimination is unacceptable and will inspire my friends to do the same. Through my social experiment, I hope to do exactly that. From the video, to be showcased on The Kirkwood Call’s website, I anticipate students will join me to change our society for the better. Though we will be a small group, at first, we will be mighty. One day, a student like me will be able to walk into an advanced course and feel in the right place.

Professional Development

As a district, we are on a specific course chartered to truly examine the system of education and dismantle the inequity.  As a building, we are on that journey and will continue starting with a Restorative Practices conversation.  My hope, vision, plan is to engage students in the work alongside teachers.  You all started the journey last year and I think it will be important to come together and share one conversation so we are on the same page and using the same language.  Please note the following dates, as there have been some revisions:

• Monday, September 11th - All School Intruder Drill refresher training
• Monday, September 18th - Restorative Practices:  Moving Forward
• Monday, September  25th - SLT Meeting

Book Study

Examining our biases and how they show up in our lives is an ongoing conversation and one we will continue through a book study for anyone interested.  We will read Blindspot and share continued conversations.  Please email Aimee Vogt and let her know if you are interested in this book study. We will order you a copy and email out the meeting dates.  Please email your interest to Aimee by Friday, September 8th.

Picture Day

You should have received an email from Todd Roberts last week outlining the picture day schedules.  Please remind your kids about picture day and the schedule.

Afterschool Activities

Afterschool activities begins on Tuesday.  We've had a great turnout with kids signing up.  Please expect more traffic in the halls afterschool as kids get to where they need to be.  Please be present in the hallways as well to help clear the halls and get kids where they need to be.

Discovery Classes

I should be done this with community building circles this week.  Thank you for letting me share your classroom space.  I appreciate it!

Selfie Wall

If possible, please begin sending the selfies to Jason Heisel this week.  I hope the questions kids were asking about it were answered last week.  Please let me know if there are any additional questions or concerns.  There may be kids who don't want to participate at all for one reason or another.  If they really just don't, please don't worry about making them.  I don't want to create another situation that creates any unnecessary conflict for you guys!  Thank you for rolling this out and once we start getting them and printing the pics, we will start displaying them.  Please don't forget to include your own selfie and quote.

Have a great Labor Day and see everyone Tuesday.

With Gratitude,

Grace