Demand #5

Year summary: This team had strong youth representation on it this year. Much of the year was spent investigating the contents of the  Washington State Ethnic Studies Framework  and considering its applicability to the district. Youth on the team also took part in  several "ghost visit" activities, where they visited classrooms in the middle and high school and took note of evidence of diverse and inclusive classroom materials (books, wall hangings, etc.). The youth plan to present the findings of their “ghost visits'' to school leadership at the start of the next school year. The team feels like there is not much more they can do beyond making recommendations to the School Board, and that all circles back to the demand as originally written by the students, which requires funding be used towards hiring an ethnic studies coordinator and providing quality professional development for teachers around ethnic studies so that they can start implementing. Their plan is to end the year with that recommendation, as well as one that incorporates the voices of community members, students, and key takeaways from our learning last year and this year. They will also recommend a framework that Michael Eppolito researched from Washington State to  be utilized moving forward. The ARSC will  present this letter/recommendation to the school board and leadership team. This team is in search of a new adult team lead. 

Youth members of the team completed a “Ghost Walk” activity, assessing classrooms in the middle and high school for inclusion of diverse and inclusive teaching materials. They presented their findings to the rest of the team at their last meeting. The team plans to end the year by giving a presentation to the school board to recommend that funding be used towards hiring an ethnic studies coordinator and providing quality professional development for teachers around ethnic studies. Their recommendation will incorporate the voices of community members, students and key takeaways from their learning last year and this year. They will also recommend an ethnic studies framework from Washington State to be utilized moving forward. 

Over the coming weeks, youth on this action team will be conducting “Ghost Walks” through the school, where they will observe and record evidence of equitable and inclusive teaching practices and school climate. They are also continuing to look at the Washington State Ethnic Studies framework as they plan their recommendations to the school leadership. 

The team has not yet held their March meeting, but they are planning on providing structured opportunities for community members to assess elements of the school's curriculum, and whether or not they meet the standards provided by the Washington State Ethnic Studies framework. 

The team is looking at the Washington State Ethnic Studies Framework as a model for Winooski School. In the coming weeks, the team will provide structured opportunities for community members to  assess if elements of the school's curricula and meet the standards provided by the framework.  Many youth have been coming to the meetings, and their input has been invaluable! 

Cynthia Reyes from the University of Vermont attended their last meeting to help give the group some direction and talk about what’s been happening at the state level with ethnic studies.

They met and looked at a draft of the demand language and key research which was translated into Nepali. Some youth joined the meeting and shared their perspective of what they’d like to see in their education and what has and hasn’t worked for them. 

They decided not to meet in January due to a high rate of Covid transmission. The group is committed to meeting in person to accommodate for equal participation with interpretation.

They discussed creating a questionnaire to receive input on what ethnic studies means to our community, what's already happening, and how to prioritize aspects of ethnic studies. They are going to continue digesting research before involving content experts. 

They are working on recruiting youth and community members of color. They plan to create a budget and timeline for hiring an Ethnic Studies Coordinator. In meetings, the group has had discussions about how an Ethnic Studies program will best serve the needs and concerns of the Winooski community. A concern held by many parents is that students should be able to learn their home language in school. The group also learned that their will not be funding to hire an Ethnic Studies Coordinator for the 2022-2023 school year.

This Action Demand Group attended an orientation by the Antiracism Steering Committee on Oct. 4, 2021.