Issues Now! Conversations About Equity

On today's episode I speak with Jovan Denaut, our equity leader here in Cumberland County about the plans that CCS has for the upcoming school years to begin addressing equity and working toward our vision in the CCS Strategic Plan. "Every student will have equitable access to engaging learning that prepares them to be competitive, collaborative, and successful in our global world."

On today’s episode we will be wrapping up our series entitled From History to Healing with a conversation with several educators in Cumberland County on how to address issues of social justice and diversity in the classroom.  We will hear from various perspectives including a beginning elementary school teacher to a district curriculum specialist and everything in between. 

To hear more on my perspective of this issue, join me and several equity leaders from around the state for a panel through NCSU School of Education on May 5 at noon.  Registration Link

On today’s episode we continue our series entitled From History to Healing with a conversation about the emotion behind race related issues from a psychological and practical perspective.  Today, I am joined again  cohosts Maureen Stover (NC TOY), Nicole Rivers (CCCS TOY), and Chris Lucas (CCS Runner-Up TOY) and also two more guests, Dr. Myra Robinson and Mr. Brandon Price.  Both Dr. Robinson and Mr. Price bring unique perspectives to this conversation about how our emotions and feelings play a huge role in moving toward a place of unity.

On today’s episode we will be continuing with our series entitled From History to Healing.  I am again joined by our teacher of the year partners, Maureen Stover, Nicole Rivers, and Chris Lucas. But we will also be joined by two of our colleagues who have a deep understanding of the problematic history surrounding race in our country, Daniel Scott from Onslow County and Demetrius Haddock, from Cumberland County.  I hope you will enjoy this conversation about the history of race in America.

Today we begin a new series entitled From History to Healing.  I am partnering with Maureen Stover, NC Teacher of the Year and finalists for the National Teacher of the Year; Nicole Rivers, current Cumberland County Schools and Sandhills Regional Teacher of the Year; and Christopher Lucas, Cumberland County Schools runner up for Teacher of the Year.  We will be discussing some of the problematic history in our country and the effect is has had on our education system.  We will also discuss why it is so difficult to have these conversations both inside and outside of the classroom.  Today, we will get to know the co-hosts of this series as well as hear the why behind the series.

On today’s episode we will be learning about a new initiative that is starting in Cumberland County Schools to address the issue of access to highly effective teachers for historically underrepresented students.  Opportunity Culture is a program that addresses this issue while keeping equity at the center of its core beliefs.  I am so excited about this initiative and look forward to how it will help students at my school and across Cumberland County.

For this episode, I will be talking with several faculty members from Ashley Elementary School in Fayetteville, NC.  We disucss a professional development they participated in last fall that took a deep dive into the historical aspect of systemic racism and how it is still affecting the schools today.  We discuss the need for all educators to participate in these types of conversations and their "takeaways and ahas."

On today's episode I welcome back my good friend Tianna O’Brien and members of the new developed Equity Team from Bill Hefner Elementary School. As you will hear- Tianna started this team after the same Professional Development that led to the creation of this podcast. We talk about how they started their team and what they are doing to address inequities in their school. 

On this episode, I continue my conversation with the school counselors from Cumberland County about the professional development they embarked on in the fall.  Today they share with us some of their next steps.  I am so grateful for them and the work they are doing in our schools.  I am blessed to have had this conversation with them and as I stated before I will truly never forget where I was and who I was with (even though it may have been virtual) when the tragic events on the afternoon of January 6, 2021 took place.  Issues Now exists to highlight issues of inequity and injustice and we denounce the acts of violence and hatred that occurred that day. We look forward to the day when our country lives out the truth that all people were created equally.

Our first mini series of Season Two will focus on some of the equity work that is being done in Cumberland County Schools.  I want to highlight those that are addressing the inequities of the educational system by hearing from them.  Our first discussion will be with Kristy Newitt, who is the Counselor Coordinators here in CCS along with three school counselors from our district, Shacarra Taylor, Rangel McLaurin, and Deborah Martin. Kristy led a PD last fall with all of the counselors in our district based on the book Interrupting Racism: Equity and Social Justice in School Counseling by Alicia Oglesby and Rebecca Atkins.