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Describe your capstone challenges and how did you identified it:

I personally think my school district needs to revisit our policies and procedures. Over the last five years that I have definitely feel like our current systems aren't consistent. Since COVID. I definitely feel like our student and teachers have been feeling frustrated and unsupported by admin. I personally feel if we were supported by admin we would be a stronger team. I hope to see our team come together to build and repair relationships and working on adapting to all situations. Our numbers have dropped over the last couple of years.

Why is it important for your diverse stakeholder that this challenge be addressed?

I feel like at our building we don't have a lot of support from administration. We are always feeling like we aren't being heard when we come up with ideas because we are just support staff. We may not have the same licensing as the teachers but we should all be treated equally and fair. From a para eyes, I personally see that the admins will only look at the big problems. We as para hardly are recognized for all the hard work and dedication we do for the students.

In what ways will be addressing the challenge promote or support diversity, equity, cultural competence?

I want to be a leader in my school and show admin that I mean business. I am tired of feeling walked all over by admin. I have been a part of several other leadership opportunities like Special Olympics Montana. I was also selected to attend the MFPE 2021 Educator Conference in Great Falls as one of the Jim McGarvey Scholarship where I got some insight on how supported they are in public education. I was also selected to attend the NEA ESP conference in New Orleans where they provided professional development opportunities for education support professionals across the nation. I feel very good about the information i got from the training even tho i wasn't able to attend in person but virtually for COVID reasons. So with all the professional development training that i have done, i want to bring more support for paras.

Is it your intention to change an existing policy or implement a new policy? Explain.

I want to help rewrite some of the policies that haven't been updated in years when it come to support staff for special needs kiddos. I also feel like our handbook is written as some punishments instead of helping us grow. I literately just told my principle the other day that i feel like every conversation i have with him over the last couple of years has been negative.

Which competency in the Policy pathway will you focus on in addressing this challenge? Why is it relevant for this particular challenge?

Explore and Challenge Inequity and Collaborate purposefully because we all come from different backgrounds. We also all bring a special talent to the table that we should be allowed to shine instead of feeling scared. I also feel like the more people that take the assessment because it will help with engagement on different people views. i feel like we don't always advocate for our selves in the education setting because we are scared of being told no.

This would be a good book to read for coaching and mentoring for people to read for my policy pathway.

This a sample of ord forms that schools can use.

Which resources (people, money, programs, time and space, etc.) do you have to address the challenge? What resources will you need?

I need to feel support by my principle at school but im not sure how to go about this issue because every time I bring up my concerns he tells me he too busy. He will read my text about meeting up with him but did not respond. I would also need support from my local union. Our staff would need to feel supported which this year for sure we haven't. I have all the time to get this up and going because I'm dedicated to helping our para feel more successful and supported. I have seen several paras leave positions because they ding feel like they are being heard when their voice opinions. Our District has several open para positions for the upcoming year but with the pandemic its been hard to fill positions.

This is a picture of my email asking for help on finding information. My principle said he would look into it and get back to me and never did.