Madison Middle School

By barsotti_p 　https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/madisonstaff/2021/11/24/november-24-2021/

Hi Madison Family,

You guys…we did it! We successfully made it to Thanksgiving! Way to go! You continue to amaze me everyday with your resilience, persistence, and vulnerability.

Here are this week’s updates:

MADISON INFORMATION         

• Staffing Update: Our COVID Courtney resigned last Friday.  We will miss her.  If you know of anyone that would want to be our COVID person, please let Gina know.

DISTRICT INFORMATION                               

• Repeat: Vaccination Clinics: Howard will host a vaccination clinic for kids under 12 on November 29 from 4-7pm. Our staff won’t be running the clinic, but instead just providing the space in the gym and cafeteria. Another clinic will be held at a different school on December 21.
      
• Health Adoption Team Members Wanted: If you’re interested in working on the health curriculum adoption team, please read this email from Jocelyn Mendelssohn, the health TOSA. Then let me know and I’ll submit your name. 
      
• Project CHAMP: The team from Lane African American/Black Student Success at Lane ESD joined an admin meeting last week to introduce themselves and talk a bit about what they do. If you’re interested, you can learn more about their work here. They have regional student success navigators who will work with regions around connecting with and supporting our African American and Black students. Their work is born out of House Bill 2016 (from 2015) that you can also learn more about here.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND OTHER INFORMATION       

• Random Acts of Kindness Foundation: The RAK Foundation has a slew of resources that cover a variety of topics related to kindness. They include playlists, pen pals, the power of thank you letters, kindness calendars, and coloring pages. Feel free to explore if you’d like to dig a bit deeper into our kindness month activities.
      
• Repeat: A Note About Thanksgiving: As Thanksgiving approaches, keep in mind that student conceptions about this holiday often come from classroom activities around the First Thanksgiving as this article from NPR highlights. These conceptions of Native Americans can be both inaccurate and potentially damaging if students are presented with misinformation or “white-washed” versions of history. Additionally, we have students who identify as Native American or Alaskan Native in our school. We owe it to all our students and families to be mindful, accurate, and inclusive when teaching about Thanksgiving. When planning activities, be aware that what most of us learning in school about the “Pilgrims” and “Squanto” and the First Thanksgiving is both history and myth. Thanksgiving activities should not reinforce historical myths and/or stereotypes. If you’re planning on teaching around the topic of Thanksgiving, please either shift the focus to age-appropriate and historically accurate information or to a more personal focus on what students can be thankful for. Some resources on what to avoid and what to teach can be found at the National Museum of the American Indian, Teaching Tolerance and Education World. This Google Doc links to a ton of read aloud stories, primary resources, sites, and other information about Native and Indigenous Peoples. Here is a good article with a Native American Perspective on Thanksgiving as well as one on The True Story of the First Thanksgiving. Also the 4J Natives Program is available for classroom presentations year-round and can offer an accurate picture of Native American culture. See the next item for more details on that. Note: When I share resources like this, please do not hesitate to let me know if they are outdated or do not meet our standards for equity and inclusion. I recognize that despite my best intentions, I may at times share things that need to be updated. Additionally, if you have resources to share, please let me know.

Next Week at a Glance:

It’s just 3 weeks until Winter Break!

Peter and Gina