Dear Meerkats,Like the month of February, I will try to keep my newsletter short and sweet. As always, thank you for an amazing school year. Can you believe we are halfway through the 2019-2020 school year? I can hardly believe it! We are on the home stretch. After being spoiled by all the breaks in November, December, and January, February is going to come as a bit of a shock for students (and staff). I hope I will see you all on Friday, January 31st from 5:30-7:30 PM for our Celebrating Diversity Night! Even though this is the shortest month of the year, it will be very busy. In February we celebrate:
The DPS character trait for the month is fairness. We define that as considering all points of view without self-interest or prejudice. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you, Jeannine Harrell In school:During the month of February, I will be leading a classroom guidance lesson in each classroom, beginning a group for boys in Upper El, and providing announcements with quotes from prominent African American figures, many of them related to fairness. In the home:While we will have many in-school conversations and activities throughout the month related to Black History and fairness, the fact is that much of students' learning takes place outside of school. You might wish to continue this learning at home by having conversations with your student and/or reading books on these topics. Some conversation starters include:
February Book RecommendationsAs I provide book recommendations related to fairness and Black History Month, it feels important to share this figure. The vast majority of children's books are not written by People of Color, and do not feature main characters that are minorities. It is important to be conscious of the books we read with our students, making sure they showcase a diverse cast of characters and are written by diverse peoples, because our schools and our society is increasingly diverse, and we want our bookshelves to reflect that. In the past few years, we have made lots of progress in terms of diverse books being published, unfortunately, many of our schools are filled with older books that are not as diverse. Personally, when I arrived here I came to the abrupt realization that while I have a bookshelf filled with books, the vast majority of them are written by White authors and have White main characters. Many of these books are great books, and I will continue to read them with students, but I also want to make sure that all of my students see themselves reflected in the books I read with their class.
While many of our students are familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his contributions, they are unfamiliar with other African American figures who have made tremendous contributions to our society. In giving this consideration, I have included some contemporary children's books containing African American main characters, as well as other historical social rights activists. The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks by Cynthia Levinson Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh Malala's Magic Pencil or I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai It’s Mine by Leo Lionni The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone It's Not Fair! A Book About Having Enough by Caryn Rivadenelra Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o
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AuthorMs. Jeannine Harrell, School Counselor at Morehead Montessori in Durham, NC Archives
August 2020
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