January 11, 2021

Statement on the Insurrection at the Capitol, 1/6/2021

The TK-12 Equity Partnership echoes the sentiments and intentions of many members of the Northern Humboldt Administrator’s Collaborative (NHAC) as stated in their recent letter to the community regarding the assault on our democratic processes, our US Senate and Congressional representatives, their staff, and the Capitol Police at our nation’s Capitol last week.

It is impossible to overlook the glaring double standard with which law enforcement responded to rioters urged on by the President compared to the response to Black Lives Matter protestors in cities and towns across the country during much of 2020.

Despite the tragedy and uncertainty of these times, we are determined and hopeful that a growing number of school and district leaders are speaking out against the threat to our democracy, issues of white privilege, systemic racism, white supremacy, and encouraging teachers to talk openly and honestly with students in an age-appropriate way about what is happening.

Beginning this afternoon, the Equity Partnership will offer space to support educators to dialogue about these events and consider how to best lead conversations and lessons with students at all levels. Today’s session from 3-4 will be in collaboration with Tess Yinger, Instructional Coach from Peninsula Union District. The first half of the session will be time to reflect, process, and brainstorm in grade-level groups. During the second half, Tess will share a sample lesson plan that the Peninsula team used successfully to talk with K-8 students about the attack on the Capitol and the disparate treatment of rioters in Washington and protestors for Black lives.

Here’s the zoom link to attend. In addition to today’s session, there will be sessions on Wednesday, 1/13, from 3-4p, and Friday, 1/15, from 2-3p. The zoom link will be the same.

Here’s a resource list to support your teaching and learning that will be referenced in the sessions this week.

Please forward this correspondence to anyone who might be interested to attend.

If you have questions or would like to get more involved in how these sessions are coordinated, please contact mlo224@humboldt.edu.