Equity, Diversity, and Belonging Committee
WE VALUE & APPRECIATE ALL PERSPECTIVES & EXPERIENCES.
EVERY VOICE IS WELCOME!
Equity, Diversity, and Belonging Committee
EDB strives to be collection of the parent community, faculty and staff that meet to discuss and work on creating a more diverse and equitable school environment for our community. All community members are welcome! If you are interested in learning more, please email hk8@gmail.com.
EDB focuses on the following:
Aiding staff with identifying culturally relevant resources and encouraging training to build culturally inclusive classrooms and curriculum.
Working to create an environment where all students and families feel they belong.
Supporting Horizons K8 in creating an environment for student and family inclusion by providing an educational space that values diverse perspectives, backgrounds and learning styles, as well as racial and religious diversity, meets physical and neurodiverse needs, and provides opportunities through a variety of clubs, classroom activities, and discussions to focus on equity and cultural practices, while seeking to increase student and family diversity through open enrollment and outreach.
Engaging the Horizons community in social justice education.
Inviting community participation in EDB, sharing resources, and holding space for an environment for further exploration and discussion of equity within school policies, curriculum, and educational opportunities.
EDB has proven to be an important resource for our community. Please feel free to send us any feedback, questions, and suggestions for topics to be discussed at future meetings. EDB Feedback Form
WHERE CAN EDB’S IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY BE SEEN?
Supporting Staff
In 2020, EDB supported the faculty’s work by initiating a partnership with WEEAC (Western Educational Equity Assistance Center). The first steps included a course on Implicit Bias and facilitated conversations about next steps for our school. As the partnership continues in the 21-22 school year, faculty will focus on three areas: policies and procedures, trauma-informed practices, and culturally responsive teaching. For more information about WEEAC visit https://temp.msudenver.edu/weeac/
Creating a Sense of Belonging
Student requests to change the school mascot to a more inclusive symbol were met with enthusiasm by EDB, which organized a campaign inviting the entire student body to contribute ideas and original art. As with many organizations, EDB saw the Black Lives Matter movement and other current events in 2020 as a catalyst for change and a chance to create more engagement with the students and staff. EDB provided teachers and parents with access to age appropriate resources to help start, expand and further the discussion of equity.
As a means of increasing the socio-economic diversity of the school, EDB also proposed to Horizons Council and Board a revision to the open enrollment preferences that would provide priority to families who qualify as low-income according to the Family Economic Data Survey. This preference was approved by the Horizons Council in May of 2021 and by the Board in August, 2021.
EDB will continue focusing on expanding Open Enrollment outreach, launching the new Horizons Hawk mascot, and engaging the community in discussions surrounding what diversity and belonging looks like for them.
Engaging Community
EDB provided families with the opportunity to participate in an online course and facilitated conversations around implicit bias. Additionally, EDB hosted book groups, discussion forums, and workshops throughout the year. Please check out all of our reads here and here. Learn about all of our resources shared with our community here and events we have hosted here.
THE FUTURE OF EDB
Horizons has committed, through the strategic planning process, to establish and gather tangible metrics as a way of ensuring EDB’s actions are working for the school.
EDB’S Guiding Questions
How well does Horizons serve all students, families, and our community?
How do we ensure that Horizons is a truly welcoming and inclusive place, where all feel a sense of belonging?
How do we increase diversity and belonging of students, families, and staff at Horizons?
How do we strengthen the partnership between the EDB Committee and Horizons faculty?
In efforts to best serve all of our school, please let us know your thoughts:
Do you have a topic you would like to discuss or be discussed with the committee?
How could we do better to serve all of the student/parent/teacher/staff community in our school?
Is there a topic you would like to know more about?
Is there a workshop/book/film you think would benefit our community? Which area(s) of interest are most important to you?
Feedback Form for the EDB Group: Please feel free to send us any feedback, questions, and suggestions for topics to be discussed at future meetings.
EDB's plans for the 24/25 School Year
For the 24/25 school year EDB will bring meaningful and thought provoking educational workshops and engagements to our Horizons community. We also will bring back the banned book club, host Coffee Connections with workshops to celebrate diversity, host a book fair to elevate authors from various backgrounds, bring in new titles of library books to offer a large varity of perspecives for our students, and host a book reading event to honor all populations. If you have any ideas for workshops based in any relevant learnings you have had through books, podcasts, movies, or any other ways, we would love to hear them. Workshop Ideas for EDB
There is much more information on the schools website. Please feel free to check that out. https://ho8.bvsd.org/about/equity-diversity-belonging-committee
EDB's contact information
PARENT CORNER
Websites
Smithsonian National Museum of Native American Native Knowledge 360: Explore featured instructional and informational resources, below, or search all resources using the search tool.
Mobian: Mobian is a lifestyle site for lesbian moms and other LGBT parents.
Sociological Images: “Sociological Images is designed to encourage all kinds of people to exercise and develop their sociological imagination.” A wealth of observations about our dominant cultural constructs.
Learning For Justice: A place to find thought-provoking news, conversations and support for those who care about diversity, equal opportunity and respect for differences in schools.
Gender Spectrum: Gender Spectrum provides education, training, and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for all children.
Hispanic Heritage Month: The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society.
All in Spirit: A creative voice for bridging community dialogues and relationships, for social justice and healing. Norma Johnson
Understanding Prejudices: A web site for students, teachers, and others interested in the causes and consequences of prejudice.
Blogs
http://whiteantiracistparent.blogspot.com This site is dormant but has very interesting observations from a white mother working towards anti-racism
http://cocoamamas.com/about "Raising cocoa children in a bittersweet world."An on-going parenting blog for mothers of color.
http://socialjusticeparenting.blogspot.com Discussing Diversity- blog for parents written by Josie
http://culturesconnecting.blogspot.com Blog written by ilsa, WPC14 organizer and co-owner of Cultures Connecting.
Articles
PBS How to Talk Honestly with Children About Racism https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-to-talk-honestly-with-children-about-racism
Unicef Talking to Your Kids About Racism https://www.unicef.org/parenting/talking-to-your-kids-about-racism
Parent Your Age by Age Guide to Talking About Race https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/teaching-tolerance/talking-about-race-with-kids/
KIDS CORNER
Videos
Crash Course Black American History https://youtu.be/xPx5aRuWCtc?feature=shared
Podcasts
Episode: But Why “A Discussion About Race and Racism https://www.vpr.org/programs/2020-06-17/but-why-live-a-discussion-about-race-and-racism#stream/0
The EmbraceRace podcast brings you the best and latest advice on how to guide kids around race through informative conversations with researchers, practitioners and community members. In this inaugural season, we counter long-standing myths about race and kids and talk about How Kids ACTUALLY Learn About Race. The podcast is an extension of the work of EmbraceRace and is hosted by EmbraceRace cofounders, Melissa Giraud and Andrew Grant-Thomas. Thanks to the EmbraceRace staff and to our podcast production team (more on them below) for their contributions and magic making! https://www.embracerace.org/resources/embracerace-podcast
Articles
Teacher explains equity tells students why they can’t be treated equally and it’s an eye opener https://scoop.upworthy.com/teacher-explains-equity-students-cant-be-treated-equally-kids-classroom-learning
Books
http://coloringbetween.blogspot.com Coloring Between the Lines “looks at issues of race and culture in relation to creating and using children's literature, as seen by a white author-illustrator of multiracial, multicultural books.”
http://oyate.org “We review children’s literature and advocate for Native Americans/American Indians to be portrayed with historical accuracy, cultural appropriateness and without anti-Indian bias and stereotypes.”
http://www.culturesconnecting.com/docs/ResourceList.doc A book list from Cultures Connecting, a consulting group addressing race relations in the 21st century.
http://www.jamesmollison.com/wherechildrensleep.php Where Children Sleep is a beautiful art photography book with images of children from around the world in their homes.