Author: Deborah

Posted on

December Programming & STEM

From Becky Tapley, STEM Math Education Specialist (pronouns: she/her/hers) at the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance:

As we step into the month of December tomorrow, I wanted to send some resources your way to help you reflect on the activities you may engage your youth with this season. 

The first article has excellent thoughts about ways to build awareness, representation, and sensitivity into your December planning: 

https://www.helpteaching.com/blog/4-ways-to-make-your-classroom-holiday-inclusive.html

Some highlights are these 4 tips:

-Don’t Assume, Stereotype, or Tokenize
-Build Diversity into Your Lesson Plans
-Think Outside the Usual Holiday Cliches
-Consider Forms of Inclusion Outside of Religion and Culture

One topic that is brought up in that article is to include some STEM projects. “Holiday STEM projects offer more great ideas since they often focus on things like winter weather that can be examined outside of a cultural or religious context.”

Check out Howtosmile.org and search for topics your youth are interested in.

One example: How Animals Stay Warm: https://www.howtosmile.org/resource/smile-000-000-002-092

From snowflakes, to penguins, to winter data collection: http://mathwire.com/seasonal/winter05.html

Winter Math and Science Snow connections: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/lindsey-petlak/winter-math-and-science-can-be-snow-much-fun/

I hope these give you some ideas on how to make your December activities and celebrations inclusive and engaging!

Posted on

Our Country is at an Impasse

Our country is at an impasse. The divisions and polarization won’t go away simply because we had an election on November 3. We need to take intentional steps to overcome this impasse.

On this week’s Facebook live, Rich Harwood discussed:

  • Why we need to know where we are to find a new way forward
  • How communities reach the point of impasse, and how to avoid those pitfalls
  • The importance of local communities in effecting lasting change

Share this Facebook Live to help others think about where we are and how we can move forward. You can watch the recording, download the podcast episode and read the transcript here.

Tune in on Tuesday (Nov. 24) at 4 p.m. EST for the next episode in the Election 2020 Series: How We Move Forward from Here. Rich will be talking about where we’re going and how to shift your focus to create a more inclusive, equitable, just and hopeful society.

Follow The Harwood Institute’s Facebook page and you’ll automatically get a notification when we are broadcasting live. You can also add it to your calendar.

We hope you’ll join us for this important conversation!

Best,
The Harwood Team

New 11/30:

In order to get our communities and our country on a better path, we need to shift our focus. On this week’s Facebook Live, Rich Harwood discussed how one community in Winchester, KY is taking steps to build a new future – and how you can take these four steps, too:

  1. We – YOU – need to start locally. Start where we can turn outward towards one another, see and hear one another, and prove that we can get things done together.
  2. Talk is not enough. We need to take shared action. No single organization, leader, or community resident can go it alone on their own. We need each other.
  3. We must take action that invests in a new civic culture. New strategies and initiatives are not enough. We need to focus on building capacities for a stronger civic culture.
  4. You must use your civic energy judiciously. Your civic energy is finite. Start by taking action in your sphere of influence-and remember that no action is too small.

Share this Facebook Live to help others think about how we can shift our focus. You can also download the podcast episode and read the transcript here. Don’t forget to catch up on last week’s episode.

Tune in next Tuesday (Dec. 1) at 4 p.m. EST for the next episode in the Election 2020 Series: How We Move Forward from Here. Rich will be talking about four mantras you can use to take action.

Follow The Harwood Institute’s Facebook page and you’ll automatically get a notification when we are broadcasting live. You can also add it to your calendar. We hope you’ll join us for this important conversation!

New 12/4

On this week’s episode, Rich shared 4 key mantras that you can use to take action. He said, “they’re the personal trainer that’s building your civic muscles.” The 4 Key Mantras are

  • Turn Outward
  • Get in Motion
  • Start Small to Go Big
  • Create a New Trajectory for Hope

Click here to download the Key Mantras PDF and watch the Facebook Live to learn more about how you can use these mantras today. You can also download the podcast episode and read the transcript here. Tune in next Tuesday (Dec 8) at 4 pm EST for the final episode of the series, Why We’re Here: Civic Faith. Rich will talk about The Harwood Institute’s philosophy of civic faith and how it underpins our work in communities.

New 12/11

On this week’s episode, Rich discussed Civic Faith – a philosophy at the root of the Institute’s work and holds that placing people, community and shared responsibility at the center of our shared lives will create a more hopeful society. He covered topics including:

  • The five core elements of Civic Faith
  • Civic Faith as a touchstone for your work in your community

The fundamental task before us is to reimagine and recreate our communities and our lives.

Click here to watch the Facebook Live video, download the podcast episode, and read the transcript.

Posted on

CSLP-Child & Community Well-Being Committee – Summer Food

The Child & Community Well-Being committee just released its latest resource (with Luke’s help). The one-page CSLP Summer Meals Talking Points flyer includes brief talking points and a quick to-do checklist. It’s an easy-to-digest introduction for summer meals advocates to share with coworkers, library administration, Board, community officials, and prospective partners. It’s now available for download on the CSLP website. Find it on the Libraries and Summer Food resource list here:

Libraries and Summer Food

Or direct download here: file:///C:/Users/deborah.l.dutcher/Downloads/cslp-summer-meals-talking-points-flyer%20(1).pdf

Whatever summer 2021 is going to look like, meal sites will be needed, and state administering agencies for the Summer Food Service Program are going to start recruiting any minute now. Please consider sharing the Talking Points flyer with your libraries, and let them know there’s much more support and info in the CSLP Libraries and Summer Food how-to guide.

Posted on

The National Day of Racial Healing will be on January 19, 2021

On this day, individuals in organizations and communities come together to explore their common humanity and build the relationships necessary to create a more just and equitable world. 
WHY DOES THIS DAY MATTER? Racial healing is not only important, it is essential – because healing is at the heart of racial equity. It is not the responsibility of one person, one group or even one organization to drive healing. The responsibility belongs to all of us to participate in these honest, powerful and moving experiences and to pursue this journey together. Through racial healing, we can all forge deep, meaningful relationships, lay the groundwork to transform broken systems and create a world in which we are a new force for positive change. 
We choose Healing over Hatred, Belonging over Bias, and Unity over Division. Together we can bridge the divides to transform communities for our children and future generations.

There is a toolkit for libraries and another for teachers:
https://healourcommunities.org/day-of-racial-healing/