Minutes to Jan 14th, 2002 Diversity Committee Meeting

Dear All,

Here are the notes I took of the meeting on Jan. 14th, 2002Present: Jeff Clark, Mia Parker, Irene Haddow, Julia Berg, Maria Brazil

 

 Next meeting: Feb. 11th Mon. @ 7PM

                                                                                                                           

suggested agenda:

·         plan for parent education event on Mar. 21st                           

·         update on district's disproportionality comm.                           

·         update from other book group reading Beverly  Daniel Tatum's book "Why Are All the  Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria"

·         Feedback about Book club book purchases

·         Feedback about Un-Doing Racism Workshop & grant

                                                                                                                      

We talked about the fact that it is difficult for everyone to make evening meetings and agreed that since there was interest expressed by Candace Conte to meet in the mornings that she should go ahead with plans to purchase books that staff members would like to have as part of an in house collection for use in the classrooms. We suggested that Candace go to each classroom and inform staff of our ability to purchase resources and to make a survey of buying requests. Julia Berg has copies of last year's teacher survey that include specific books listed there. Ursula has already created a list of books she uses. Ginny Allemann, our librarian, is also a very good resource. We hope Candace and Ginny can work together closely. We would also like Candace to keep us updated on her efforts and to let us know if other help is needed. We appreciate Candace's efforts. 

 

Julia Berg reported on her research into resources available to us as a committee in the larger Seattle area. She spoke with Mike Graham-Squire of Seattle's Young People's Project who said they were interested in putting together 3 schools who would each send  a group of people to the training in Un-Doing Racism Workshop that is provided by the People's Institute. There was grant money available for this training. It is a 2-3 day commitment. Jeff encouraged Julia to find out more and to suggest an early summer date. Julia will find out more specifics. There was excitement about this prospect. 

 

Mia Parker shared that she and some other recent UW graduates were soon to begin studying the book  "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?"  She said she felt it was a good choice for our first all school reading club and looks forward to the discussion group. She said she would report back on what was discussed and how we might use this book here at our school. 

 

We decided to ask Mona Mendoza to conduct a game and discussion to follow for the activity of the  Parent Education night on March 21st @ 7PM.  Mona said she could do it that evening and will charge $115 for the event. We will play The Neighbor Game, the objective is "To demonstrate our tendencies to make erroneous decisions based on perceptions, assumptions, prejudgments and stereotypes. Facilitator should be prepared to discuss the meanings of the words PREJUDICE and STEREOTYPE. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of making decisions based on fact (getting to know the real person) rather than generalizations. It is imperative this exercise remains a positive and fun experience. This is suitable for ALL ages." it takes 30-45 mins. to play.

 

  We would also like to have available by then copies of  "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?"  for people to take home and read. Asking that we gather again in May to discuss what we'd read. Julia Berg said she would look into buying them at a good price. Jeff Clark said he had been putting aside money for this purchase. 

 

 Jeff said he would write an article for the NOMS newsletter about the Mar. parent night and also include one in the COHO Fishwrapper. 

 

 Maria brought up the new school website and agreed to work on adding a diversity page. She will work with Ginny Allemann who is organizing the website. Some suggestions to include are: meeting dates, book club info., past Fishwrapper articles, committee mission statement, Irene's contact info.& e-mail. Any other suggestions? 

 

Jeff also reminded us that he welcomed any suggestions our committee might have for the new name for our school. Suggestions are being sought until April. 

 

Colors NW is a local magazine. It's website is: http://www.colorsnw.com Should our committee subscribe for the parent room? It costs $25. Check out it's calendar:http://www.colorsnw.com/inside/calendar.htm 

 

I think that's it for now.... Maria