Small Group Sessions

Equity

A Case for Equity Work in a Majority White School

9:30 AM–10:25 AM Oct 21, 2019 (US - Central)

Room 404, PCC

Description

Downers Grove North High School is a majority white school in a fairly affluent suburb of Chicago. With only 5% African-American students and 12% LatinX students, some might think that the school doesn’t need to focus on equity. However, the exact opposite is true. With such little diversity, it is challenging for our students of color to find others with whom to identify, and it is challenging for our white students and staff to understand the difficulties these students face. Therefore, the school has engaged in many different activities in order to become more culturally responsive and to support our minority students. In this presentation, the principal and the PE/Health/Driver’s Ed department chair will share some of these efforts and what they learned from them. In particular, they will highlight school-wide professional development, student groups, and specific activities that resulted in students and staff talking about equity. Additionally, the presenters will provide opportunities for participants to talk with one another about the challenges they face when working toward more inclusive school environments and how they have addressed those challenges in their own schools. Attendees will walk away with specific ideas that they can implement in their schools at little to no cost, ideas for more wide-scale activities, and important questions they can explore with their leadership teams.

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