faculty workshops

PFLAG NYC's professional workshop for educators is for anyone who works with parents, families, and caregivers. We will discuss PFLAG NYC's resources, go over common reactions and worries from families, hear from a PFLAG parent, and review relevant policy pertaining to working with families. You will have the opportunity to speak openly with a parent of an LGBTQ+ child, and we will discuss how support, acceptance, and understanding are all different goals.

This workshop creates awareness that transgender New Yorkers face discrimination in all areas covered by the City Human Rights Law and that they must be treated with dignity and respect. The workshop covers protections under the City Human Rights Law, reviews in detail correct terminologies when addressing the LBGTQI community, and provides best practices for respectful engagement.

Get your GSA club re-energized with opportunities to empower and train your club members, attract new members, and plan and organize various “days of action” to stop bullying. GSA club members will have the opportunity to share their best practices from their own GSA club. Participants will also learn about how they can incorporate anti-bullying peer programs, HIV/sexual health education, and more!

*Session 2 only

Discord is a chat platform popular with our youth demographic. This interactive workshop will feature the presenter making a Discord server on screen in front of you, asking questions as she goes. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptop computers to follow along. Those wishing to follow along should create a Discord account ahead of time by going to www.discord.com, clicking "Login" at the top-right of the window, then clicking "Register" at the bottom of the login screen.

*Session 1 only

Have you ever wondered what you can do to help make your school community safer for LGBTQ+ students? Then this is the workshop for you. Join us as we discuss the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth, learn and understand terminology that will help support LGBTQ+ youth in our communities, learn strategies to create more inclusive classrooms & communities, and receive take away activity ideas you can bring back to your school community to try out yourself. Let's work together to make our communities a safer place for our LGBTQ+ youth!

*Session 1 only

In this comprehensive workshop, participants will learn to identify behaviors that constitute discrimination or unlawful harassment against LGBTQ+ communities and how to address them under DOE Regulations and Guidelines. Participants will receive an education on the complaint investigation process, their reporting responsibilities, and the circumstances under which off-school and on premises behavior may be covered by the Chancellor’s Regulations. The workshop will also cover best practices and ways to support our LGBTQ+ communities and empower all participants with the understanding that it is everyone's collective responsibility to ensure that each member of our vibrant LGBTQ+ and ally family feels a sense of belonging and acceptance.

*Session 2 only

The counseling & case management team at the Hetrick-Martin Institute will present on the various ways they incorporate verbal and embodied Liberation-Focused Healing principles and techniques into their milieu-based work supporting LGBTQIA+ youth ages 13-24. The team will then lead a discussion on how these principles can be incorporated as part of mental health support in school settings by both clinicians and non-clinicians alike. Case studies will be presented with opportunities for experiential work and discussion.

This workshop will offer methods for teachers, school staff, counselors, and families to better communicate about sexual health with young people.

In service of the young folks at our schools, we are tasked with creating safe and inclusive school environments. Dignity and respect are basic human rights afforded to us all. Yet, we know homophobia, transphobia, and cisheteronormative "norms" persist on our campuses. The privilege we hold in deciding which "battles" to engage can perpetuate harm for LGBTQIA+ and Non-binary/Gender Expansive youth. Join the Relationship Abuse Prevention Program (RAPP) to discuss how we pick these battles.

*Session 2 only

Led by teens in InterseXtions, Brooklyn Museum’s paid LGBTQ+ teen internship in queer art history and community programming, this workshop will provide best practices for being a supportive adult in school for LGBTQ+ students. Based on their own experiences, LGBTQ+ youth will share ways adults can be a resource for students, as well as provide inclusive education, create safer spaces, and incorporate consistent LGBTQ+ advocacy in schools. The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedic art museum where great art and courageous conversations are catalysts for a more connected, civic, and empathetic world, and participants will also learn about ways the Brooklyn Museum can be a resource for learning about gender and sexuality through art.

OUT for Safe Schools® is a national initiative that helps educators, administrators, and other school district employees come out as visible allies for LGBTQ+ students. As part of the program, participating staff wear badges identifying themselves as allies in order to make school a safer, more welcoming place. Participants will learn how to implement the OUT for Safe Schools® program in their schools, discuss the importance of the OUT for Safe Schools® program, and identify additional strategies for building safer, more affirming schools for LGBTQ+ students.

The work of refining curriculum is never done. Finding the time to make meaningful space in your social studies curriculum for LGBTQ+ stories and voices can be a challenge, especially during the school year. Join the NYCDOE Social Studies and Civics as we work with Passport to Social Studies and our Hidden Voices: LGBTQ+ Stories in United States History to find community with likeminded humanities educators, identify, and build those spaces.

*Session 1 only

This interactive, multimedia workshop introduces some LGBTQ-inclusive history included in History UnErased's Intersections & Connections digital K-12 curriculum for mainstream history and social studies courses, provides you with your school's account credentials to access the curriculum platform, and you can earn CTLEs at the same time! History UnErased's curriculum includes 150+ primary source-based teaching materials—and it is NYC DOE-approved! The interactive curriculum includes thematic units, case studies, videos, interactive games, and much more.