Holiday Guidance Resources
RNESU Holiday Teaching Guidance
RNESU public schools serve a diverse community and must, at all times, be welcoming to those who enter its halls. In addition, we prepare our students to be members of a global society, able to navigate a workforce that includes many different cultures beyond the boundaries of Vermont. To achieve this goal, it is important that our students be exposed to different cultures and traditions and not taught only one. The following guidance should be followed to ensure we are teaching, rather than celebrating holidays and that our environments remain welcoming to all who enter at all times.
Superintendent Jeanné Collins sent a "Holiday Teaching Guidance" memo to all staff on October 14, 2019 which outlined RNESU's expectations for holiday celebrations and teachings. Please click here to review the memo.
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Superintendent Jeanné Collins sent an email to all staff on December 19, 2019 which includes a letter from the district's attorney to help clarify expectations. Please click here to review the letter.
Additional Resources
- Teaching About the Holidays in Public Schools - This article from edutopia.org provides information from teacher Peter Siegel on how to thoughtfully approach holiday subjects.
- Culturally Responsive Instruction for Holiday and Religious Celebrations - This article from colorincolorado.org includes strategies for providing rich, cultural content that expands students' knowledge, interest, and respect for the group being featured.
- Teaching Tolerance - This site has a number of resources which include learning plans, teaching strategies and printable posters.
- Avoiding the Holiday 'Balance Traps' - An excerpt from "Celebrate!: An Anti-Bias Guide to Enjoying Holidays in Early Childhood Programs" on tolerance.org on avoiding common holiday teaching pitfalls.
- The December Dilemma - A Q&A PDF from the Anti-Defamation League that discusses differences between teaching about religious holidays and celebrating religious holidays.
- The December Dilemma Webinar - A webinar recording from Teaching Tolerance to help create deeper understandings of religious and secular holidays, facilitate classroom discussions, and evaluate existing classroom resources and strategies.
- Navigating the Holidays Inclusively - A quick PDF article from Beyond the News on how to be inclusive during the holiday season.
- Holiday Books for Kids - A list of fun holiday books for kids.