2020-21
Welcome back keynote
August 25th
Ms. Joana Chacon, founder of Educators for Antiracism as well as English teacher and co-director of the Human Rights Council at Newton South High School, MA addressed the entire district staff.
Building level racial equity teams
September through June
Vashon Island High School
Team members: Andrew Guss, Jason Butler, Nicky Wilks, Christine Fostering, Moana Trammell, Kristen Adams, Karah Weber, Jenn Coe
McMurray Middle School
Team members: Greg Allison, Becky Blankenship, Larry Dubois, Carrie Power, Gay Roselle, Carrie Hatfield, Jenny Granum, Lance Morgan, Yvette Butler, Kailey Pearce, Anneliese Stueben-Maiye
Chautauqua Elementary School
Team members: Sarah Hamill, Kristina Miller, Dr. Jen Lindsay, Jon Hodgson, Rebecca Goertzel, Holly Boyajian, Layla Tanner
Alternative Learning: FamilyLink and StudentLink
The alternative learning team is engaged in a year-long antiracism study together. To learn more about the works they are reading, please click here.
Team members: Dr. Thomas Elliott, Jim Gilmour, Richenda Hawkins, Tara McBennett, Kent Chappelka, Heather Erickson, & Nan Hammett
school board updates
September 10th, November 12th
September: Racial Equity Update, board minutes
November: Superintendent's report, board minutes
district-wide & community racial equity leaders team
October 2nd, December 4th, January 22nd, March 26th, May 28th
Participants: Greg Allison, Zabette Macomber, Amy Sassara, Kathryn Coleman, Thomas Elliot, Janie Starr, Spring Hecht, Stephanie Spencer, Vince Hardy, Slade McSheehy, Shelley Means, Andrew Guss, Jon Hodgson, Sally Adam, Leslie Serebryakova, Chelsie Irish, Cynthia Ramos, Ty Cunningham, Sarah Sullivan, Sarah Hamill, Jeni Johnson, Renee Henderson, Rebecca Goertzel, Alejandra Tres
Vashon-Maury Beachcomber
October 2nd
outreach to the Puget sound Educational Service District
October through January
October 8th: Dr. McSheehy & Dr. Spencer met with Felisciana (Felis) Peralta, executive director for equity in education, from PSESD to talk about partnering on the next organizational steps in moving racial equity work forward.
November 3rd: Dr. McSheehy, Dr. Spencer & Spring Hecht met with Felis to develop next steps including stakeholder meetings with building equity teams and families.
December: PSESD failed to submit the proposal for review.
January: After one last request went unanswered by Felis, the school district ended this outreach effort to pursue other options.
teaching & Learning report to the board
October 8th
Teaching & Learning presentation: instructional materials, bilingual program
October 9th
All district staff participated in What it Means to Center Racial Equity as an Instructional Leader by Dr. Tanisha Brandon-Felder
To truly center racial equity in our work as educational leaders, we must be willing to examine how our own racial identity plays a role in our work, our decisions, and our systems.
In this interactive workshop we will explore our identity markers, our space of comfort and the impact we have on our systems Components:
● Introducing the Agreements for Conversations about Race
● 4 Corners Talking About Race
● Grounding ourselves in our Racial Identity: Identity Markers Essential
Question: Thinking about your role as a leader, how does your race play a role in your thinking, actions, decisions?
Instructional Practices Alignment: Marzano 1.4, 3.2 & AWSP 1.5, 7.2
instructional materials bias training updated
November 6th
Instructional materials bias review form along with the corresponding training updated.
November 10-13, 2020
Revisiting Dr. Pon's prompt 4 years later.
Describe your hope and vision for Vashon Island School District students’ K-12 schooling environment/experience in one word
student voice: Rep mural
November
“ASB first approached Kristen [Adams] on this idea at the beginning of the year. We began the design process in October with REP members Tam Dang and Mele Folau. They came up with the final version and we started painting last week. . . . We owe a huge thanks to ASB for communicating with us and the administration to get this project off the ground:). . . . there were so many wonderful minds involved . . . ”--Karah Weber, REP adviser & science teacher
Photo on the right: REP students working on the mural at VHS
“Tam and I had a very deep thought process for trying to create something unique for the school. We really wanted to create something that would stand out but also be very simplistic. Most of the design credit goes to Tam because of his skill of transforming our conversation of how to actually convey this into a rough design that then became our final product. We went with the design of side profiles because we honestly think something about a side profile standing out by itself is so powerful and how even though the skin colors are all different, they all stand together facing the right direction for future equality.
This mural is a very important project to the both of us because of how we really wanted to bring a different perspective to our peers at the school. Both of us growing up, outside of the Vashon culture and lifestyle wanted to shine some light on all the minorities everywhere.” --M.F., Class of 2022 (11th grade)
Note that REP originally stood for Racial Equity Pact, but has since evolved into the Racial Equity Pack (student initiated).
Photo by adviser, Karah Weber, November 2020
6-12 Latino community liaison
November
Based on Latino family feedback through reopening planning, advocacy from Comunidad Latina de Vashon and Vashon Youth & Family Services, our district worked to create a secondary liaison. Comunidad Latina de Vashon and Vashon Youth & Family Services were invited to help craft the position description and participate in the selection process. Ultimately the leadership of Comunidad Latina de Vashon chose not to participate in the process, stating that the effort to hire a part time advocate did not adequately address the needs of the Latino community. The district noted the feedback and then moved forward in collaboration with VYFS.
Delany Pelz was selected for a personal service contract effective November 6, 2020 - June 31, 2021
Her role is to serve grades 6-12 as the Latino Community Liaison. She is working closely with VISD staff and the 6-12 Latino/Hispanic families within our community. This is a partner position to the elementary family advocate, Sally Adam.
talking with kids about race
Dr. Tanisha Brandon-Felder
December 11th
Dr. Brandon-Felder returned to work with our staff in two sessions, one for secondary and one for elementary. The focus of the professional development was how to address race in the classroom with students.
equity consultant search
January through March
January and February: Spring Hecht, Slade McSheehy and Stephanie Spencer began reviewing potential racial equity consultants using past experience, word of mouth referrals and the Facilitator & Consultant Directory developed by Cultures Connecting, LLC. We connected with 5: Institute for Inclusive Leadership, Racial Equity Consultants, Cultures Connecting, LLC, Educate to Liberate Consulting, and Alma Villegas Consulting. We set up 1 hour follow-up sessions with the 4 who had capacity to work with a new client.
March: We narrowed our search to the top 2 candidates, Dr. Nikum Pon from Educate to Liberate Consulting and Kisha Palmer from Institute for Inclusive Leadership. They then met with our district-wide and community racial equity team. Afterwards, it was determined to move forward in our work utilizing both finalists.
April and May: We had follow up planning sessions with the 2 consulting agencies to develop a scope of work to begin in June of 2021 and to conclude in June of 2022.
racial equity pack in action
February
Students from REP working with their adviser, Karah Weber, and the VHS Racial Equity team planned the MLK /Black Lives Assembly on Monday, 2/1/21 and the follow up staff training on Friday, 2/5/21. For the schoolwide assembly, Erin Jones prepared a recorded talk for students. Students then broke into discussion groups by grade level with their SMART teachers.
School Board Racial Equity Workshop
Mary Fertakis, Leadership Development Consultant, Washington State School Directors Association
February 23rd and March 9th
March 5th
All certificated and classified staff participated in Knowing Our Students and Making Connections by Dr. Tanisha Brandon-Felder
What is the impact on students if we...
Broaden our body of explanations and interpretation of the actions of youth? and
Examine their own cultural reference points to be effective?
Instructional Practices Alignment: Marzano 1.3, 1.4, 3.2, AWSP 1.5, 7.2, & FCS06
strategic planning: preliminary steps
Slade McSheehy, Zabette Macomber and Stephanie Spencer met with Mutiu Fagbayi from Performance Fact, Inc. to discuss strategic planning for next school year. The last strategic plan was developed in 2012-13. Performance Fact, Inc. came highly recommended by several area school district superintendents. A proposal to work with Mutiu's organization will go to the board in late May. Their mission is "To develop capable leaders, strengthen professional practices, and achieve extraordinary student results." Their core belief in strategic planning is "Moving forward as one.™" Here's a graphic representation of their approach to the work:
School libraries
Diversifying collections & supporting culturally inclusive learning
Chautauqua Elementary Library, Kathleen Lawrence, PIE Grants, Strong Latina Women! and Asian American Pacific Islander Collection
Chautauqua Elementary Library, Kathleen Lawrence, Southwest King County School Retirees Grant, E- an Audio Books Collection Celebrating Hispanic Culture
McMurray Library, Julie Jaffe, PIE Grant, "Now More Than Ever: YA Books Are Essential," $2000
Now more than ever, YA books really are leading the way in reflecting a world that is magnificently diverse and creating a space that is inclusive and affirming. Exceptional YA fiction and nonfiction books--crafted and researched by a more diverse group of talented and passionate writers than I’ve ever seen--continue to widen the lens on humanity and culture. These writers offer students opportunities to see themselves and others as agents, activists, and allies in this increasingly connected and complex world that we share. A contemporary and comprehensive book collection is central to creating a school culture that advocates equity and enriches lives.
Jason Reynolds, the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, expresses one aspect of the value of YA books in a video interview: “ Reading is an opportunity to know that you’re not alone … and if you’re reading a book outside of yourself, you also know that you don’t have to be afraid of who you’re not. The world is big and small, and the books sort of help us navigate this big and small space.”
McMurray Latinx Kidlit Book Festival
Becky Blankenship and Julie Jaffe advocated for and organized McMurray’s enthusiastic participation in the first (and amazing) Latinx Kidlit Book Festival, a virtual event held Dec. 4 and 5. See this planning document for more information and details.
They mentored Ms. Blankenship’s homeroom students who applied for a $500 Robin Appleford grant to fund books students learned about during the festival that they would like to see in the McMurray library. (Students recommended the books through a survey at the completion of the Latinx Kidlit Book Festival.)
All-School Read Aloud: Infinite Hope
Julie Jaffe, librarian, hoped to find an all-school homeroom read-aloud that would be a perfect fit for the national moment and our middle school audience. Julie Jaffe selected Infinite Hope by Ashley Bryan and Greg Allison, principal, approved it for the read aloud. Teachers presented the ebook, while students followed along with the reading and "read" the visual information. Julie worked closely with Greg, John Stanton, director of technology, and Gerry Muller, tech to address technology challenges in conducting a schoolwide distance learning read-aloud. She also provided guidance and support for all of the homeroom teachers so that they could successfully lead the read-aloud.
additional training with an equity focus
March 5, The Science Behind Student Thinking, Learning, and Behavior with Dr. David Lewis
instructional program
Instructional Practices
Marzano Instructional Framework focus for the year: 3.2 Planning and preparing for the needs of all learners
Instructional Materials
updated the bias review form along with the online course on recognizing bias in instructional materials
adopted new materials for the following programs/classes: K-8 mathematics, 9-12 mathematics support for qualified students, World History
purchased novel sets for 5th grade: Blood on the River (PIE grant)
Learning Support Programs
restructured the dedicated staffing in each building to support our English language learners
restructured the dedicated staffing for the highly capable program at the elementary and middle schools
Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty Curriculum "Ready to Go" Introductory Webinar with the Puyallup Tribe--we had a team from our district attend both this webinar with the Puyallup Tribe as well as attend a regional planning meeting to discuss efforts to embed Tribal Sovereignty lessons in our instruction. We've been slowly building these lessons into our scope and sequence since 2015; however, we have not had a district-wide plan. We launched a planning team (representation from elementary through high school) to map out a more intentional approach to this aspect of our instructional program. This team will meet more regularly during the 2021-22 school year.