According to a letter to the school community from PCHS principal Roger Arbabi, there have been “multiple incidents” of hate speech in recent weeks at Park City High School.

“Hate speech appeared in the form of swastikas and racial slurs in several places,” the letter said.

Josh Goldberg, a social studies teacher, said one of his students discovered a swastika and the N-word on the bottom of a desk in his classroom.

“Was it targeted? I mean, I’m a Jewish teacher. I run a Jewish student club in this classroom. It created major, major waves now,” he said.

Since word spread about expressions of hate at Park City High School, Goldberg said he has received at least 50 emails from students, parents and community members sharing numerous incidents of hate, racism or other unwelcoming behavior that occurred in high school and other district schools. .

“It’s not just an attack on me personally or on Jews, obviously, because the N-word was included, but it’s an attack on all of us. It’s an attack on decency. It’s an attack on good people who believe in empathy and caring and kindness and my response is to fight that with everything I have. And I get a lot of support,” Goldberg said.

When he got his first glimpse of the graffiti under the desk, it was “incredibly painful”, he said.

He immediately reported it to the school administration, who promptly removed him from the desk.

Then Goldberg used the incident as a learning opportunity for his students “where we talked about an intolerance to hate speech, the pain and the story behind the symbol”, which in the United States is widely seen as a symbol of hate.

According to Anti-Defamation League, the swastika is an ancient symbol that has emerged independently among many cultures on several continents. Prior to the 20th century, its use was almost always benign.

“The murderous legacy of the Nazi regime, particularly the Holocaust, permanently transformed the swastika into a symbol of hatred, anti-Semitism and infamy. Since 1945, the swastika has been the most prominent and notorious symbol of hatred, anti-Semitism and white supremacy for most of the world outside of Asia,” the league’s website reads.

When Goldberg addressed his students, “it was dead silence. People were devastated. Children come to me crying, I mean children who are not even my students. They don’t know where to turn. They have no one to turn to. I mean, people are scared, people are scared and people are hurt,” he said.

Arbabi’s letter further stated, “As a community, we have zero tolerance for language or imagery that expresses hatred toward any person or group on the basis of religion, race, disability, gender or sexual orientation”.

The letter urges stakeholders to report any hate speech observed at school to an administrator, a trusted adult or through the SafeUT app.

School administrators, together with counselors and teachers, will work to provide “learning opportunities for our students to identify and stop hate speech,” Arbabi wrote.

Goldberg said some of his fellow teachers spoke to their students about the incidents, for which he was grateful.

Effectively responding to hate will require many partners, he said.

“I very much appreciate Mr. Arbabi’s response. I think the only way to get through this is to partner up, whatever organizations we’re talking about, representing Latinos, LGBTQ-plus, Jewish communities, everyone, LDS communities. We really need to come together to fight hate. We have to start somewhere. I look forward to working to do everything I can to educate and bring about major change here,” he said.

Goldberg said the experience in her class was deeply personal because “most of my family members were murdered in the Holocaust.”

In his more than 20 years of teaching, “I took those lessons with me and taught all of my students over the years. … Students know what kind of culture I’m creating in my classroom, and they know there’s no tolerance for it. In fact, I teach the opposite. It was a very painful attack that hit me to the core of what I consider sacred work. It took me days to process and deal with this. I am very grateful for the support of my fellow teachers and many students,” Goldberg said.

The Park City School District serves about 5,000 students, of whom 20% identify as Latino, 8% are English learners, 7% have disabilities and 22% are eligible for a free or reduced price lunch, according to the district’s website. .

A statement from Park City School District Superintendent Jill Gildea said in part, “When an incident of racist language, hate speech or negative messaging occurs, that action goes against everything what our schools stand for; it is completely contrary to our core values, our vision and our goals as a learning organization. It’s hurtful for everyone. »

He notes that the school district is working to support students and staff who have been impacted by the incidents, and “we want to assure every student and employee that we are committed to safety and well-being.

“Any incident such as racist messages is further evidence of the pressing need in our schools, our community and our nation to find ways to speak constructively and respectfully about diversity, religion and race,” said Gildea.

She said she was encouraged by staff and student efforts “to lean into difficult conversations about race by creating a task force to further research, review and generate action plans that stop the rhetoric. or intolerant behavior in its tracks; share how they are personally affected by racism; and contribute to our work to provide schools that are safe, supportive, engaged, stimulating and healthy – and where every student feels a sense of belonging.

Goldberg said the graffiti under the desk was symbolic for him. If there is hatred or intolerance that has been unleashed for whatever reason, “the longer we let it fester, the longer we ignore it, the more powerful and the worse the evil will grow.” So we have to face evil, you know, where it’s at, and to me, that’s a hill worth dying on.

He has deep convictions about his faith, his history and his culture. Goldberg served in the IDF “not to oppress anyone but to stand up for what I believe to be right.”

As a father and educator, Goldberg said he was bound to seek change.

“I can’t leave the broken world without knowing that I did my best to fix it,” he said.

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) – The Lincoln Regional Center has submitted one of 71 proposals seeking millions of dollars in emergency relief funds for elementary and secondary schools in the Charleston County School District. It is one of eight ESSER III proposals requesting more than $1 million but less than $30 million.

Lewis Porche’r of the Lincoln Regional Center Project said he submitted his proposal in October for $5 million over three years. He says the money would go towards launching their community support initiative designed to bridge the educational gap between black and white students.

“Our goal is to stimulate the desire to learn,” Porche’r said. “These students have significant disabilities that need additional help to address them and help them reach their full potential.”

Listed in the district’s presentation on Monday as a proposal for community education and rural socio-economic development, Porche’r says they already have an established relationship with the district because of their work together on the closed Lincoln High School. .

“We have a wonderful relationship with the school district,” Porche’r said. “They’re handing over the facility to us in November of next year. We have a facility, so part of that budget will go to operational process, but the majority of the budget will go to paying our professionals.

Porche’r pitch’s goal is to provide lessons and opportunities for students in minority and rural areas to reinforce what they have learned in school in a way that matters to them on a personal level. The latest CCSD test data shows that minority students perform significantly worse than their white counterparts. Porche’r argues that some of these issues can be resolved by understanding cultural differences and language barriers.

“There have been some challenges for students, particularly in terms of how they communicate at home and how they communicate in the classroom,” Porche’r said, speaking specifically of students who come from communities where the Gullah Geechee language is still used. at home.

The idea of ​​improving English and reading skills aligns with the district’s goal of having students be able to read at the grade level by fifth grade. Porche’r says recognizing the impact of culture on learning will improve test schools.

“We will read a culture-based story with an important moral. We would use the Gullah Geechee dialect to read, then turn around and translate that same story into standard English and have the students repeat the exercise,” Porche’r said. “And so, it leads them to process information better, with more clarity and more skill.”

Classes and programs would typically be held at the old Lincoln High School, but Porche’r says they would tailor their offerings to each school’s needs.

“We were meeting with the principal or principals and their faculty to show them what we have to offer,” Porche’r said. “And then they tell us what they think is the best way to implement our initiatives in their individual classrooms because they know the size of their students, they know their community and the kinds of things they have a good grasp of their students’ backgrounds.”

In addition to additional classes, the proposal would also include summer camps and vocational training, such as carpentry.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – When families new to the United States travel to Nebraska, Lincoln Public Schools offers a special program to help ease that transition.

The need has grown over the years, and Wednesday’s LPS “Learning Breakfast” highlighted the people who are there for immigrant and refugee families every step of the way.

LPS said their bilingual liaisons help families from more than 150 countries who speak 130 languages.

Coordinator Oscar Rios Pohirieth said the program has played an important role in comforting families as they settle in Nebraska.

“We are the link,” Pohirieth said. “We are the cultural link not only culturally, but also linguistically. Between schools and families, whether they are immigrant or refugee students, and families in the community as a whole.

Over the past 35 years, LPS has had to reorganize how it serves families as new waves of immigrants and refugees enter the district.

In 1989, the district served less than 200 families. As of 2021, the district served approximately 2,400 immigrant or refugee families.

LPS said an important role of Liaisons is to serve as an interpreter and give students and families the tools they need to learn English.

“Students in these families are learning to speak English or gaining language skills, so we work with them directly,” Pohirieth said. “They have many needs, but the language is a big obstacle.”

The most common among English learning students are Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish and Karen.

In addition to language skills, Liaisons help connect families to resources regarding special education, student services, and trauma-informed counseling.

Bilingual Liaison Hager Mohamed said she is familiar with the challenges that adapting to a new environment can bring.

“They are here and they are still suffering from trauma; from this shock of suddenly moving, leaving, fleeing the country,” Hager said.

Since LPS serves families who speak 130 languages, there are instances where a liaison does not speak the language of the family. When this is the case, the school district relies on community centers and relocation programs to help families.

“What they want is the best for their children, so any support from the school or the staff – whether it’s in school, whether it’s after school – they really appreciate it,” said Tosh Jock, another bilingual liaison.

Copyright 2022 KOLN. All rights reserved.

JOPLIN, Mo. – You may remember “See Spot Run” as a crucial step in learning to read.
But the Joplin School District is taking a new approach, focusing on science and how young brains make the connection to literacy.

It’s called “LETRS”, which stands for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling.

“Kids, how they learn, how their brains work,” said Melissa Kendall, McKinley Elementary.

Then use it to help them read the connection. This is the objective of the LETRS program.

“They have it, it’s not memorization. It’s not – oh, it has to be like that – it’s the real property of their abilities, ”Kendall said.

The scientific approach means that teachers start with the sounds of words and how they go together. Students listen to syllables and compound words.

“They’ll light up when they have a concept – you can just see it. “

The Joplin School District trains leaders in every elementary school. Once this is in place, these facilitators will pass on what they know to others on campus.

“Teachers are the most essential factor inside our classrooms. This is why our teachers who provide direct and explicit instruction to our students in the world of reading are critically important to our academic progress, ”said Sarah Mwangi, Deputy Superintendent of Joplin Schools.

The end goal is to improve student reading… and what comes next.

“This applies to all other subjects, the ability to read and write effectively is of critical importance to our students and their future. And so, the more knowledge we can acquire, and we can implement the way we fully anticipate that our scores will continue to increase and our students will be very successful, ”Mwangi added.

THE “LETRS” program is mainly aimed at children from kindergarten to grade 3. This can also apply to struggling readers in Grades 4 and 5, and potentially even students with special needs in high school.