April 2, 2018
EDCAL 7
CSU Ethnic Studies Exchange inspires students
Lynwood High School ethnic studies
students toured California State University,
Long Beach, sat in on a history class,
received student support advice and talk-
ed with CSULB students about African-
American and Latino student life as part
of the inaugural College Bridge: An Ethnic
Studies Exchange, a collaboration between
Lynwood High teacher Ana Orozco and her
former CSULB professor, Emily Berquist,
designed to introduce Orozco’s students to
college life.
“As a senior and first-generation student,
my experience was motivational,” Lynwood
High senior Andrea Lopez said. “As a
Latina I feel proud of myself for stepping
outside my comfort zone and challenging
myself for a better future. Everything is pos-
sible if you have the will to change.”
Orozco’s students prepared for Berquist’s
history class by reading a passage that
focused on the 18th century Tupac Amaru
Indian resistance movement against Spanish
rule in Peru. Berquist led a classroom dis-
cussion, followed by breakout sessions led
by CSULB history students.
After a campus tour, Orozco, a 2014
CSULB graduate, led a student life presen-
tation by describing the thrill of discovering
her life’s calling inside a college classroom.
“My life changed when I took my first
cultural studies class at Long Beach,”
Orozco said. “There are so many voices that
go unheard, and so often we hear only one
side of the conversation. I realized then I
wanted to teach an ethnic studies class and
stress how important it is for people of color
to speak up and be part of the conversation.”
CSULB Educational Opportunity
Program (EOP) Student Organization
President Justin Hatchett made a tremen-
dous impression on the Lynwood students
by rejecting the socioeconomic barriers that
conspire to hold back students of color.
“It doesn’t matter where I come from,”
Hatchett said. “It only matters where I am
going.”
This sentiment resonated with Lynwood
High senior Shayla Ritchie.
“The things that inspired me at CSULB
were the students – students like me who
share the same struggle, who can succeed
no matter what their background, Ritchie
said. “Hearing their stories motivate me to
pursue my future. Those students opened
my eyes.”
The visit concluded with a college-bound
workshop where the students met with rep-
resentatives from EOP, student support
services and the Dreamers Success Center,
learning about the admissions and appli-
cation process, financial aid, scholarships
and the resources and support available to
undocumented students in the Deferred
Lynwood High School ethnic studies students toured Cal State University Long Beach, as part of an exchange
that helped them learn about college life.
Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Orozco and Berquist plan to make
College Bridge an annual spring event,
where ethnic studies students will review
the same passage on Tupac Amaru and par-
ticipate in a series of workshops.
“For Lynwood Unified students, college
is more than a dream, it is their birth-
right as Americans,” Superintendent Gudiel
Crosthwaite said. “The College Bridge
Exchange at CSULB gives our students the
opportunity to see the inclusiveness that is
reshaping higher education, and demon-
strates how their presence and participation
is vital to their future success as well as
the democratic process. Thank you to Ms.
Orozco and Dr. Berquist for providing this
service on behalf of our community.”
CDE appoints five to state Computer Science Education panel
Superintendent
Tom
Torlakson
has announced his appointments
to the Computer Science Strategic
Implementation Plan Panel, which aims to
expand and improve computer science edu-
cation statewide in grades K-12. “I’m excit-
ed that this panel is beginning the work of
strengthening computer science education
in California,” he said. ‘We are preparing
students for today’s and tomo rrow’s career
and college opportunities – and for the jobs of the future that haven’t yet been invented.
Jobs and skills, we must have, in a fiercely
competitive global economy.”
The panel will submit recommendations
for a computer science strategic implemen-
tation plan to the superintendent, the State
Board of Education, and the Legislature.
The plan will include, but not be limited
to, recommendations to broaden the pool of
teachers to teach computer science and to
ensure that all pupils have access to quality
SAFETY solutions, built on the Let’s Talk! platform
from K12 Insight, makes it possible for
students and parents to immediately report
instances of bullying, threats of suicide or
other safety concerns directly to administra-
tors from a computer, smartphone, or tablet
24 hours a day.
Process means training members of the
school community – especially dedicated
safety and crisis response team members –
and rehearsing what they are supposed to
do in different situations.
One way to ensure your policies and
plans stay top of mind is to proactively
seek feedback. An interactive dashboard is
a useful tool for tracking what happens if
an incident is reported, who is responsible
downstream, what steps are being taken to
remedy the incident and the outcome.
“It’s a never-ending process,” says
Strobach. “You never put something in place
and you’re done. It’s a forever thing.”
Find the full report at www.k12insight.
com.
Continued from page 3
cal and emotional needs. Appropriate and
reasonable physical safety features might
include locked doors, adequate lighting, and
sufficient adult supervision, to name a few.
Emotional safety features might include
a discipline policy that teaches and recog-
nizes positive behaviors. “The end goal is
not to punish the student; the goal is to help
them,” Strobach said.
Cohen agrees, adding that it’s important
to cultivate a culture of “upstanders,” mean-
ing people who help when they witness
someone hurting or being hurt. Part of that
requires teaching students about the impor-
tance of empathy.
Finally, school leaders need to ensure
that their policies are aligned with the latest
school safety knowledge and research. For
example, both Cohen and Strobach caution
against instituting zero-tolerance policies
and relying on suspension and expulsion,
both of which have been linked to feeding
the school-to-prison pipeline.
The Plan is how you communicate your
policy with your community. A good starting
point might be to establish a school safety
and crisis response team, Strobach suggests.
The team should include a top-level admin-
istrator, teachers, a school resource officer,
and at least one person responsible for each
of the following areas: mental health, the
school building, transportation, and com-
munications. The team might also include
members from community law enforce-
ment, fire, and community mental health.
These team members can provide leader-
ship in communicating the policies, garner-
ing feedback, and getting buy-in from oth-
ers in the school community. Strobach also
recommends developing a robust reporting
system, where students can share concerns
or fears about themselves or fellow students
without fear of reprisal.
In California’s Temecula Valley Unified
School District, students and parents use
an online tool called Report Bullying. The
computer science courses.
The following five individuals were
appointed by Torlakson to the panel:
• Shauna Hawes, teacher, Valley View
Middle School.
•
Deanna
Heimbigner,
teacher,
Richmond Elementary School.
• Shirley Miranda, teacher, San Diego
USD.
•
Debra Richardson, professor of
Informatics, UC Irvine.
• Bryan Twarek, computer science pro-
gram administrator, San Francisco USD.
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