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Youth Development

The Accountability Plan

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BY: KATHY MCDONALD

The time has come. Inclusion for our Black students especially our male Black students is on the forefront of many Boards across Ontario. There was a myriad of initiatives that were discussed at the 29th Annual General Meeting of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association that was held in Blue Mountain, Ontario from June 8th to 11th. School Board Trustees from across the province shared best practices, learned new and innovate strategies and receive outstanding professional development. One thing that was crystal clear during the weekend is that equity and inclusion are coming to the forefront of the majority of school boards. All marginalized kids including kids with mental health concerns, Indigenous students, Black students, LGBTQ students, students from low socio-economic families and students with special educational needs were discussed with reference to equity and inclusion. Our Black and Caribbean children were center stage in just about all large and medium Boards as well as some small Boards. I will make any skeptic a believer and also continue to ask you to hold your school boards accountable for this important work in equity and inclusion, equity and inclusion for all including Black and Caribbean students.

I would encourage all readers to visit your children’s, grandchildren’s, niece’s, nephew’s, brother’s and sister’s school board’s website and research the various initiatives that are outlined to help Black and Caribbean students succeed. I will outline the Peel District School Board’s (PDSB) Accountability Plan that was presented to the public on June 19th, 2017, at our final Board meeting for the school year. On October 27th, 2016 my third born child revived a gift even though she did not realize it. On her eighth birthday, the PDSB approved the We Rise Together Action Plan: The PDSB Action Plan to Support Black Males Students. This great milestone not only means that she will have greater odds of finding a suitable mate one day it means that there will be a significantly higher percentage of young Black students that are living up to their true potential.

The Accountability Plan outlines the different actions that will be implemented in the upcoming academic year 2017/18 as the PDSB works earnestly to follow through on the commitments outlined in the We Rise document. An advisory council will be created by September 2017 consisting of Trustees (Trustee Green and myself were elected to represent the board on this committee), staff representatives from all groups, union representatives, community groups, students, and parents. In fact, the application for community representation has already been sent out. On or around September 23rd  PAACE ( Peel Association of African Canadian Educators), will host the first annual parent engagement sessions for Black Families in collaboration with the advisory council.

All PDSB staff will receive mandatory and ongoing Anti-Black Racism and Bias Awareness professional development training. However, given the fact that the PDSB has over 19,000 full time and part time staff the training will begin with trustees, senior administration, school administration, managers, supervisors, curriculum coordinators, instructional coordinators, special education resource teachers, social workers, and psychology staff. These individuals will share their newfound knowledge with the grassroots of the organization and eventually each employee of the PDSB would have been trained.

The experiences of Black Canadians will be integrated into the curriculum. Writing teams will be hired this summer to begin creating resources and lesson plans for the system. The experiences of Black Canadians will be embedded into the mandatory grade 10 history course. There will be an open course on Black History that will be introduced in the 2018/19 school year. All central curriculum coordinators will now seek to have Black history embedded into all areas of the curriculum. The resources and text used during Black History month will be created and shared within the system beginning in September 2017. The library services are developing a collection of appropriate everyday books which have Black characters and the Black experience as central themes.

The Board will also work diligently to inspire Black student engagement and leadership. The annual We Rise Together Leadership Conference for Black Male students will be held in Winter 2018. There are also plans in October 2017 to develop a symposium for all educators that are interested in developing Black mentorship programs within their school.

There are accountability measures that will be in place to track and ensure that the action plan’s impact is in fact positively impactful. A student census is being developed and should be conducted by December 2018. Race-based data will be included in the census. However, since it will take months to contextualize and interpret the rich data that will be collected the PDSB will “work with Dr. Carl James to measure Black male student achievement through ongoing, in-depth qualitative and quantitative research with students and their school.”

I hope I have highlighted the fact that change, though it may be slower than we would like, is coming. The culture is shifting and more and more all staff and administration are buying into the fact that every child when treated in an equitable, respectful and inclusive manner will achieve to his or her full potential. The PDSB will not be a friendly place to anyone that subscribes to anti-Black racism or any other forms of discrimination. We will weed them out one by one. So, journey with us at the PDSB. Walk Good. Belle Marché.

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Youth Development

Understanding the multiple layers involved in navigating education spaces Parents of Black Children launch Navigating the Education System

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BY PAUL JUNOR

The work of the advocacy group Parents of Black Children (PoBC) has made a significant and revolutionary difference by bringing issues to the forefront that help Black families at all levels.

For over two years now, it has organized events, workshops and initiatives that have provided important information to the Black community to bring empowerment, knowledge and deep understanding of the multiple layers of the complex dynamics involved in navigating education spaces.

There are five core principles that underlie PoBC understanding of racism:

  1. Racialization
  2. Racism is about power
  3. Critical racial theory
  4. Our stories matter
  5. Racism is founded on White supremacy

On Tuesday, November 23rd, 2021, they launched the document Navigating the Education System,” which was a very empowering, enriching and inspiring tool for diverse Black families. Kearie Daniels, one of the cofounders of PoBC and author of the document, moderated the launch. Furthermore, Claudette Rutherford, one of the cofounders of PoBC and author gave an extensive presentation of the details of the document, sharing useful insights, practical knowledge and interesting information.

PoBC shared a pdf document subsequent to the launch, which provided additional details in a fifty-three-page package. It contained relevant, contextual and vital resources. PoBC’s Advocacy Team supported the document, which includes Charline Grant and Xavier McLaughin.

In the introduction to the document the mission of PoBC is to “Provide support to parents of Black children across Canada and the United States. We advocate and work towards change and concrete action in our education system and adjacent systems such child welfare and the justice system.”

The launch of this vital document is a culmination of all the advocacy and activist work that PoBC has been extensively involved in. It serves to remind members of the Black community that there are resources, tools and supports available to ensure that Black children are able to thrive academically, excel mentally and flourish intellectually in spaces that may not be welcoming to their presence.

The document states that the navigate guide is “Geared towards families in Ontario, but the information can be applied to any jurisdiction where there are Black children and families.”

The document “Table of Contents” is useful and helpful. There is vital information on:

  • School board terms you need to know
  • Education organization you need to know in Ontario
  • Black families and the Child Welfare System
  • Black families and the education system
  • Black students and Individual Education Plans (IEPs)
  • Black students in High School.
  • Developmental delays in learning exceptionalities
  • Supporting students with learning exceptionalities
  • Selecting a school system
  • System abuse

PoBC presented a webinar on “System Abuse”. The document states,

“The system is not neutral. These systems were designed as part of a colonial framework that must be dismantled.” Furthermore, the document “Serves as a means to demystify the pitfalls within the education system and light a path towards a decolonized education system.”

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Youth Development

Toronto prepares families for COVID-19 vaccination of children

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Photo by Charles Deluvio Library on Unsplash

BY PAUL JUNOR

There have been concerns, fears and anxieties as parents, caregivers and guardians anticipate the possibility of having their children under twelve vaccinated.

The Boston Globe reported on Friday, October 29th, 2021, that the FDA approved the administration of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to children between the ages of five to eleven. These children will receive one-third of the dose administered to teens and adults.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention met on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021, in order to finalize details with respect to which children should be vaccinated first. In anticipation of these developments, Team Toronto has initiated a series of outreach and education sessions, as well as town halls in order to inform the Toronto community.

Parents of children between the ages of five to eleven who attend public schools will be receiving an email and an invitation to respond to a survey to “Support vaccine planning.”  This invitation will also be extended to parents whose children attend private independent schools as well. The survey will be administered by Toronto Public Health (TPH) and the City of Toronto VaxTO in order to “Better understand parents’ intent to vaccinate their children, how they would prefer to have their children receive their COVID-19 vaccine, and to obtain critical information on socio-demographic factors such as race and income.”

John Tory, Mayor of Toronto, is optimistic and positive about this development. He states in the press release, “While our work to get 90% of eligible residents vaccinated is continuing, we are also readying for when the vaccine will be available to protect kids five to eleven. We want to hear from parents, so we made sure we designed a vaccination program that works for kids and their families. This is just one more example of the outreach we are doing to prepare for this effort. This work is so important and will help us get kids vaccinated so they have the best protection against COVID-19 and so our schools can be as safe and as open as possible.”

Councillor Joe Cressy, Chair of Toronto’s Board of Health who has been at the forefront of advocating for the vaccination of margnizalied and at-risk communities is supportive of this campaign. He states, “At every stage of our immunization campaign, connecting with people on the ground has been critical to our success. Now, as we prepare for the rollout of vaccines to children aged five to eleven, we’re committed to engaging directly with parents, families, and community leaders to have active conversations about vaccinations for kids.”

In addition, Dr Eileen De Villa, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health is a strong proponent of this campaign. She states,” When vaccines are approved for use and when we have supply we will ensure that we bring every resource to bear on this critical component of the vaccination campaign.”

The survey will be available as of Sunday, November 7th, 2021. It consists of fifteen questions that will be available online at s.tphsurvey.chkmkt.com in multiple languages. Parents and guardians will receive them from their children’s public school boards. In addition, there will be town halls for specified multilingual communities as well as neighbourhood-based telephone halls to ensure that the public has access to timely, necessary and relevant information for informed decision-making.

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Youth Development

Act as if what you do makes a difference. IT DOES

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BY SABRINA S. – 12 YEARS OLD

The school year is coming to an end, I’m sure that this year was hectic for everyone. Last year, we had a pandemic strike in the middle of the year and the world was sent into lockdown.

We didn’t get to go to school for the rest of the year.

Many students got to choose if they wanted to do school in-person or online, I chose online since I didn’t feel safe.

First day of school was very weird, most people don’t turn their cameras on, don’t even get me started on the wifi issues. I would lag out of the google meet many times and miss most of the instructions on the assignment. That is when friends come in handy, though I don’t get to see my friends that often, we still connect with some online games and phone calls through snap chat.

I don’t know where the time went, it just flew by. Last month was September and suddenly, I feel like we skipped eight months. I only have a week of school left! Because it is the last week of school, I have a lot of homework and final assignments to do but I know I’ll get through them and finish the school year.

I haven’t had time to go outside as well, I’ve been too busy with my assignments.

If my school year was this hectic, imagine the teacher’s year. I’m very grateful for everything my teachers have done for me and my classmates this year, they definitely deserve the three-month summer break. I’m sure my teachers doubted teaching online, but everything went okay and I learned lots.

“No matter how hard it is, or how hard it gets. I’m going to make it!”

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