SEPTEMBER
September 23, 2010
Committee Members Present: Debby Pancake, Erynn Acree, Andrea Drake, David Heagle, Erlinda Suarez, Linda Carter, Karen Sanford, Janet Tran, Despina Kipelidis, Arturo Gonzalez
Introductions: Who we are and why we are motivated to be part of this committee.
Finalize Committee meeting schedule: The committee will meet on the following dates this year: 10/21, 11/18, 12/9, 1/13, 2/10, 3/10, 4/21, 5/12, 6/9. The meeting will begin at 3:00 pm but will not have an 'official' end time. Members understand that they are encouraged to leave when they need to leave.
Past Roles: Discussion about what the committee has done in the past.
Current Commitments: Diversity Day, ODA requirements, REACH/SEED Curriculum, Honoring Cultures Campaign.
Current Commitments: Diversity Day, ODA requirements, REACH/SEED Curriculum, Honoring Cultures Campaign.
Members identified the following for this year: Consider a year long and ongoing focus on Diversity rather than a one time thing/Expand the topic into an ongoing experience rather than an event.
Tie in Pacific Island culture into CNN so students are feeling like they are already experts when Diversity Day comes around.
Reference to "Who Am I" program. Encourage ourselves to share with our students who we are and our background. Consider staff sharing their story on CNN with the intent of building community
Art Docent Program: have ongoing Art Docent activities throughout the year in incorporating Pacific Island projects.
It may help if each grade level team has a lead person that is in charge of reminding their team members to access their REACH books each trimester.
Incorporating exposure to other languages.
This year's Role: What do we hope to accomplish, be involved with, etc.
Informing the staff so that they are more uniform in the REACH curriculum delivery per grade level. Discovering more about Pacific Island Cultures.
Consider incorporating our diverse population's 'voice' of background and experiences into our classrooms.
Tie in Pacific Island culture into CNN so students are feeling like they are already experts when Diversity Day comes around.
Reference to "Who Am I" program. Encourage ourselves to share with our students who we are and our background. Consider staff sharing their story on CNN with the intent of building community
Art Docent Program: have ongoing Art Docent activities throughout the year in incorporating Pacific Island projects.
It may help if each grade level team has a lead person that is in charge of reminding their team members to access their REACH books each trimester.
Incorporating exposure to other languages.
This year's Role: What do we hope to accomplish, be involved with, etc.
Informing the staff so that they are more uniform in the REACH curriculum delivery per grade level. Discovering more about Pacific Island Cultures.
Consider incorporating our diverse population's 'voice' of background and experiences into our classrooms.
Find different opportunities to highlight different cultures. Despina gave example of Stanley being in Greece with different age students.
Decision Making Process and Operating Norms: Recognizing that this committee has generated some of the most talked about topics, it is understood that a clear decision making process and established operating norms can only help to establish a positive, supportive and proactive response by our Carson staff.
We should share our information with the PACK team and give people the opportunity to offer feedback before decisions are set in stone.
Diversity committee should have 5 minutes at each staff meeting to share the most important updates and details that people need to know.
Benchmarks along the way to culminating event (Diversity Day). Break down for staff by timeline.
Work to support teachers in incorporating diversity activities into their school day so that it is meaningful and a priority. Model for other teachers how an activity/lesson has been incorporated into the instructional day (model what the teachable moment looks like). Is there a school in the area that has done a great job of integrating diversity into their curriculum? Arturo will look into it.
Despina will bring some food for next meeting. Followed by Arturo
