December 20, 2019—Read the District's
Update on Educational Equity, which includes information on several upcoming Educational Equity events as well as an essay on Black Student Excellence by Shaker Heights Schools Superindentent David Glasner.
Upcoming events include:
Let's Get REAL About Race
Sunday, January 12, 2-4 p.m. | Shaker Heights Public Library, Room B
Thursday, February 13, 6-8 p.m. | Shaker Heights Public Library, Room B
Exploring race is still something that many of us avoid and some have been socialized that it's impolite---yet the race-based issues that we continue to wrestle with in this country and right here in our city are not going away. This workshop will support participants to recognize some of their own biases along with race-based institutional and systemic barriers that still plague us. Participants will engage in candid conversations and be introduced to a few simple tools that increase the likelihood that conversations about race will be productive. The session is structured for a high level of interaction between participants---this is not a sit and get experience. Each session can accommodate 40 participants. Please click on the session date you would like to attend and complete the Google Form to RSVP:
Facebook Live Equity Chat
Tuesday, January 21, 7-8 p.m.
The focus of this one-hour Facebook Live chat will be on the District's Educational Equity Policy. Please complete this Google Form by Sunday, January 19 to submit your questions in advance.
Interrupting Racism
Sunday, January 26, 2-4 p.m. | Shaker Heights Public Library, Room B
Wednesday, February 19, 6-8 p.m. | Shaker Heights Public Library, Room B
This workshop will provide participants with an interactive experience where they will learn the principles of civil courage and grow their capacity to interrupt racism in the moment while working in small groups. We will use real life scenarios that explore race at the intersection of various dimensions of diversity including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion. Please click on the session date you would like to attend and complete the Google Form to RSVP.
Moving Toward Equity World Cafe **THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED**
Sunday, February 9, 2-5 p.m. | Shaker Heights High School Upper Cafeteria
The World Café methodology is a simple, effective and flexible format for hosting large-group dialogue. In this format, the larger group will break up into smaller groups at tables so that participants can have open conversation and answer a series of questions related to educational equity. The answers are captured by a table captain on large sheets of paper. At the end of the World Cafe, the papers are hung around the room so that all participants have the opportunity to engage in a community gallery walk. The World Cafe can accommodate 100 participants.
How to be an Anti-Racist: A Book Dialogue Series
Thursday, January 16, 6-8 p.m. & Thursday, January 30, 6-8 p.m.
Shaker Heights High School Senior Lounge
Shaker Heights Schools and the Shaker Heights Teachers' Association are partnering on a book dialogue which is open to all community members. The dialogue will center around Ibram X. Kendi's 2019 book, "How to be an Anti-Racist," a follow-up to his National Book Award-winning book "Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America." This book dialogue will be facilitated by John Morris, President of the SHTA and Erica Merritt of the Equius Group. The first ten people to RSVP will receive a free copy of the book!
Kendi's concept of anti-racism re-energizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America---but even more fundamentally, he points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. Kendi asks us to think about what an anti-racist society may look like and how we can play an active role in building it.
The dialogue series can accommodate 50 participants. Please complete this Google Form to RSVP.