This activity is designed for participants to learn how to participate in large group meetings
Welcome to the Springdale School Board meeting!
During our first meeting, we must decide whether to open the schools in person in the Fall or in the Spring:
____________ Fall
____________ Spring
During our second meeting, we must decide whether to enforce masks and distancing policies when schools reopen:
____________ Masks + Distancing
____________ No Masks/Distance
During our third meeting, we must decide whether to require vaccination for all students and staff. The only exceptions to the mandate will be for people with a very narrowly defined medical exemption.
____________ Vaccine Mandate
____________ No Mandate
Roles
• Alma: Alma is an immunocompromised social studies teacher in the high-income elementary school district, which has a high level of parental involvement.
• Betty: Betty is a single parent who works part-time. She lives in the low-income part of the school district. Her child dislikes school and is thriving with the remote learning options available. She also appreciates the flexibility that remote learning provides.
• Clive: Clive is a school principal in a middle-income part of the district. He is currently searching for 2 full-time teachers, and he is worried that some of the teachers who are near retirement might not return.
• Doug- Doug is a local politician who represents the middle-income part of the district. He has two children, ages 7 and 16.
• Elise: Elise is a local retail business owner. She is very progressive. Her store primarily serves people in the low-income and middle-income parts of the district. She has a 10-year-old daughter.
• Frank: Frank is a facilities operator for the school district. He manages a large staff of mostly low-income workers who live in the low-income part of the district.
• Gretta: Gretta is the mayor and the leader of the school board commission. She gets 2 votes in every round. But in the fourth round, the rest of the participants will decide whether Gretta gets 3 points or zero.
• Hal Hal is a parent with one child in the high-income part of the school district. Hal’s 11-year-old is immunocompromised due to leukemia and is currently finishing up chemotherapy.
• Ingrid: Ingrid is a parent of 2 children, ages 14 and 17. She is also an influential conservative voice on social media and a member of the chamber of commerce.
• Joe: Joe is a popular yoga teacher and ‘natural healer’ who is deeply committed to social justice, and he is skeptical of “big Pharma” and capitalism. He has a 5-year-old son in a high-income elementary school in the school district.
• Kim: Kim is a pediatrician with one child, who attends a private school that never closed. She often works overtime during cold and flu season, which brings in more income but takes her away from her family. She cares about the health of her patients.
• Leon: Leon is a pastor at a large Christian church in town. The church does a lot of community outreach, runs a daycare, and has more than 3,000 congregants, mostly from the low-income part of the district.
• Maya: Maya is a local politician who represents a conservative, low-income area of the district. She is also the mother of a 6-year-old daughter who has Down syndrome.
• Noah: Noah and his partner both work. They have three children, ages 5, 11, and 15. The 11-year-old has ADHD, and the 15-year-old plays soccer for her high school team.
• Oliver: Oliver is a reading specialist at a low-income elementary school. He has a 3-year-old daughter who is in daycare, and a 14-year-old son who is a top volleyball player in the state. The 14-year-old attends a middle-income school.
• Peter: Peter is a father of 2 children, ages 8 and 15. His 15-year-old is academically gifted but struggles with mental health. Peter coaches Little League, and he owns a real estate company that also flips houses. He lives in the middle-income part of the district.
• Quinn: Quinn is a stay-at-home parent in a high-income school district. She enjoys playing tennis, ceramics, and spending time with her twin girls, age 7.
• Ray: Ray owns a restaurant and lives in a middle-income school district. Ray’s family recently moved to the area from Vietnam, so Ray’s 2 children (ages 12 and 14) are currently enrolled in ESL classes. They also help out at the restaurant.
• Sarah: Sarah is a single parent in a middle-income school district. She has one child.
• Tony: Tony is a nurse and a father of three small children. His oldest child is in first grade and his younger children are in daycare.
Reflection
Who talked the most?
Who was most effective?
If you didn't talk, why did you hold back?