WSD Antiracism Steering Committee

Mary Carleton - WSD Adult

Tori Cleiland - WSD School Board Representative

Daisy Berbeco - Community Member

Eve Gurung - WSD Youth

Lindsay Halman - UP for Learning, Adult Co-facilitator

Christie Beveridge  - UP for Learning, Adult Co-facilitator

Mea Ree Jan - WSD Youth

Maybeline Lopez - WSD Adult

Safia Haji - WSD Adult

Maybeline Lopez - WSD Leadership

Evelyn Monje - WSD alum, UP for Learning Adult Co-facilitator

Auishma Pradhan - former WSD youth

Shrijan Pradhan - WSD Youth

Shristy Pradhan  - WSD Youth

Albina Rai - WSD Youth

Moo Thay Lay Htoo - WSD Youth

Amelie Thurston - Community Member

Eliza Willis - WSD Youth

Bruce Wilson - Community Member

Francine Bahati - WSD Adult

Dahlia Michoma - WSD Youth

Siyat Ahmed - WSD Youth

Natalie Dzessou - WSD Youth

Jesse Moukoueke - WSD Youth 

Gabby Dzessou - WSD Youth

Barakit Gyi - WSD Youth 

Moo July Lay Htoo - WSD Youth

Leyla Hussein - WSD Youth

Neuvaine Mampaya - WSD Youth

Olivia Byamungu - WSD Youth 

Kahmiley Kasongo - WSD Youth

Taraji Bradley - WSD Youth 

Mohamed Mayange - WSD Youth 

The WSD Antiracism Steering Committee will meet on the first Monday of the month from 5:00-7:00pm in Room 136 at Winooski School.

The Steering Committee held the 6th meeting of 2023 on June 5th. This was their agenda. The committee first celebrated their successful tabling at the Winooski Farmers Market on June 4th, sharing how they engaged with and received ideas and feedback from the larger city community. They are planning on tabling at the Juneteenth Celebration on June 18th. They participated in a protocol facilitated by Equity Audit Action Team Leader Emily Gilmore to get feedback on the team's idea for students to earn credit and compensation for examining the city equity audit, and heard updates from the other Action Teams. They then took time to reflect on the year, discussing what they've learned, the best part of being on the ARSC, challenges they have encountered, and what they wish people knew about the work. They ended the meeting with appreciations for each other. The ARSC and some of the Action Team members will be presenting their accomplishments, recommendations, and budget requests to the Winooski School Board at their meeting on June 14th. 

The Steering Committee held the fifth meeting of 2023 on May 1st. This was their agenda. The meeting was facilitated by representatives from The New Teacher Project (TNTP), who walked us through an identity wheel activity, and then explored with the team a potential scope and sequence for affinity groups at Winooski. They also solicited feedback from the youth members about what qualities they would most like to see in their educators and classrooms. It was a fun and informative meeting, and included a delicious dinner from Kismayo Kitchen provided by TNTP! The team is planning to come back to Winooski in June to continue these important discussions.    

The steering Committee held the fourth meeting of 2023 on April 3rd. This was their agenda . The committee heard updates from the six Action Teams, and then broke into two subcommittees, communications and events planning. The communications team created a slideshow presentation about the ARSC and Action Teams and delivered it to the high school on April 7th. They plan to present the slideshow to the middle school on April 19th. The events planning committee worked on advertising and outreach for their tabling at the Winooski Farmers Market on June 4th and at a Winooski Wednesday event on June 7th. They also made plans to host an information table at the WSD Superintendent Search Community Event on April 12th!

The Steering Committee held the third meeting of 2023 on March 13th. This was the agenda. They celebrated that Action Team Two, Hiring and Retaining Faculty of Color, has two new team leads, WSD Director of Human Resources Sarah Haven, and 9th grade student Natalie Dzessou! They heard updates from the six Action Teams, and then broke into two subcommittees to work on communications and planning for their celebratory event at the Winooski Farmers Market in early June. 

The Steering Committee held the second meeting of 2023 on February 6th. This was the agenda. The group began by building connections with each other. They then heard about youth committee members meeting and speaking with US Representative Becca Balint about the work of the ARSC, and learned about the opening of the new Winooski Youth Center, and how it will host a welcoming event on February 18th. They then heard updates from the six Demand Action groups and discussed how to support them. They then worked on planning their Community Event, which will be held on a Wednesday in the spring, and will feature food, music, art, and information/updates about the committee's work. 

Updates From 2021-2022

The first Steering Committee meeting happened on April 5, 2021. This was the agenda. The group began by building connections with one another, reviewing their work as a Steering Committee, and thinking about why working in partnership (youth and adults) is essential to the work of the Steering Committee.

The Committee participated in a training by the Winooski Students for Antiracism on April 19, 2021.

The second Steering Committee meeting was on May 5, 2021. This was the agenda. They had time to connect while reviewing their WHY for being on the Steering Committee. They split into temporary sub-groups: Communications Group and an Action Group. The Communications Group will create the language/communications plan for recruiting the Demand Action Groups. The Action Group will look at the goals for the specific action groups. The Steering Committee got into a discussion about the two demands that weren't approved, 2 and 3, but did not come to a conclusion about what the committee's role will be with these demands. 

The third Steering Committee meeting was on June 7, 2021. This was the agenda. There was an update for the committee's role with Demands 2 and 3. WSA will be reworking demand #2 for another review by the School Board. The School Board hired an outside facilitator to oversee the multi-stakeholder group that will be creating recommendations regarding safety and the role of the SRO. The Committee then spent time in their sub-groups: Communications and Demand Action groups. The Communications group came up with a plan for recruiting community members for the demands groups. They will be making flyer, going to community events, utilizing the ELL Director, this website, and other forms of outreach. The Demand Action group decided when to form the action groups. The committee will start with #7, then move to #6 and #1, then to #4 and #5, and then finish with #8. The Steering Committee will be recruiting for all demand groups at the same time even though the groups will have different start dates. 

The fourth Steering Committee meeting was on July 12, 2021. This was the agenda. The committee spent some time processing the resignation of one of the only Black teachers in WSD. They thought about what their role is both recruiting AND retaining teachers of color in school district. The Equity Director for the City of Winooski, Yasamin Gordon also joined the meeting to talk about how the committee may be able to inform her role and support the goal of the Working Cities Challenge grant. Both the Action Demand Scaffolding group and Communications group continued planning.

The fifth Steering Committee meeting was on August 2, 2021. This was the agenda. The Action Demand Scaffolding group revised and finalized their timeline for the each of the action groups. They also revised Demand #2 (which wasn't approved by the School Board). The Communications group finalized their outreach to recruit for the Action Demand Teams. They plan to put fliers up in the community and attend the farmer's market and Winooski Wednesdays. They will also have three information sessions taking place within the next week. 

The sixth Steering Committee meeting was on September 13, 2021. This was the agenda. The Committee split into three groups to do the following: 1) Look through the list of people interested in the action groups to figure how the groups should be organized and where there are gaps.  They discovered that the Action Groups need more youth and Black Americans. 2) Plan the orientation for the Action Group members which will take place during the next Steering Committee meeting on Oct. 4th. 3) Communications planning for reaching out to Action Group members and updating the community on the Committee's progress. 

The seventh Steering Committee meeting was on October 4, 2021. This was the agenda. The Committee finished preparing for the Action Demand Groups orientation which took place during the second half of the meeting. There were about twenty-five people that attended the orientation including community members, students,  and WSD staff and administrators. At the end of the orientation, each Action Demand Group met to set up monthly meeting times, who will take on which roles, who else they need to recruit, and what kind of support they'd like from the Steering Committee. All of the Action Demand Groups should have their first meeting this month. 

The eighth Steering Committee meeting was on November 1, 2021. This was the agenda. Action Demand Group liaisons gave updates on the group they've been working with. There was an update on the first Afterschool Antiracism Club and brainstormed how the groups may be able to work together. We split up into the following work groups: 1) process for action group research 2) roles and responsibilities for action groups and 3) getting more youth on the action teams. The first group made an action plan for recruitment for the groups that don't reflect the makeup of the community. The second group wrote out clear responsibilities for action group facilitators and team members. The third group came up with a list of barriers and strategies to get more youth involved in the work. 

The ninth Steering Committee meeting was on December 6, 2021. This was the agenda. They spent time thinking about how to support the requests of the Action Demand Groups. We split up into three work groups. The first group focused on recruiting youth and alleviating barriers that make it difficult for youth to engage in the work. The second group focused on making the language of the demands more accessible. The third group focused on improving the communication structure for the Action Demand Groups. Members of the Steering Committee agreed to attend an Action Demand Group meeting in place of our regular steering committee meeting in January. 

The tenth Steering Committee meeting was on February 7th, 2022. This was the agenda. They reviewed the updates and questions from each of the Action Demand groups and discussed how to support them. Then, they split into three work groups. One group developed a process and protocols for the action demand groups. Many of the action demand groups don’t have youth involved. They decided that the groups without youth should continue working, but actively recruit and connect with youth. Another work group focused on getting more youth involved in the antiracism work with the steering committee as well as training for the school board. They are hoping to find a regular time for youth to meet during school hours. The last work group looked at the revised language for Demand #2 which has yet to be approved by the school board. The ARSC will attend Action Demand Group meetings in March instead of having a regular committee meeting. 

The eleventh Steering Committee meeting was on April 4, 2022. This was the agenda. For the first time, they had more youth than adults attend which is what they’ve been working toward! They celebrated seeing more youth involved in the work. They discussed some of the requests and questions that came up from action groups and how to best support them. Two representatives from the Multilingual Learner Mentorship action group joined to share an update. The committee then split into three working groups: 1) communications, 2) youth leaders, and 3) demand #2. The Communications group came up with a plan to make the pay difference between the steering committee members and action group members more equitable. The Youth Leaders group came up with a plan for the next antiracism student group meeting. The Demand #2 group revised the language of the second demand, so it could be presented at the next school board meeting for approval.

The twelfth Steering Committee meeting was on June 6, 2022. This was the agenda. Representatives from each of the action groups were invited to the meeting to provide an update on what their group has been up to since the action groups formed in October. You’ll find the updates below. The Finance Director, Nicole Mace also attended to discuss the budget for our work based on requests from the action groups and how we see this work moving forward. A few members of the Steering Committee are planning on finalizing a budget that’ll be presented to the school board for approval.