The Inspirer Speaks: Washtenaw's National African American Parent Involvement Day 2016

National African American Parent Involvement Day is Monday, February 8th. 

Most local schools are doing something. 

Joe Dulin

The email I got from Community High has coffee and bagels in the morning, an invitation to stop in to any of your children's classes, as well as afternoon activities. It is open to all parents who are interested in getting a better sense of their children in school--not just African American parents. Obviously the details vary by school, but I think it's important to note that the opportunity is there for you to visit your child's school and classes. [You know "Take Your Child to Work Day?" This is the opposite! "Take Your Parent to School!"]


Joe Dulin, who died in 2014, was an Ann Arbor educator and the principal at Roberto Clemente school. He was also the originator of NAAPID.

Noted Dulin, in an undated a2schools.org article,

Ayinde Jean-Baptiste

NAAPID is not just for black people –– it’s for all people,” Dulin says. “It comes during Black History Month, and I thought it was a tremendous time to introduce it as a project for parents to get into our schools to exchange notes, phone numbers, emails, have conversations and get in touch with the teachers.”
Dulin was inspired to create a parent involvement day after going to the Million Man March in 1995. “A young man named Ayinde Jean-Baptiste, then 12 years old, was one of the speakers, and he challenged us to go back to our communities and do something,” Dulin says. “I got the feeling that, out of a million men, he was looking at me.” When he returned home, he gathered up some friends and family and NAAPID was born.

Now the reason I find this so interesting is that the email from Community High notes that there will be a:

Community-wide NAAPID event, "NAAPID at Night," in the Ypsilanti Middle School auditorium, 6 p.m., 235 Spencer Lane, Ypsilanti, MI. Details here. And the speaker will be Ayinde Jean-Baptiste, the then-child who inspired Joe Dulin to start NAAPID!

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Give the State Board of Education A Piece of Your Mind

Jack Panitch, former Angell PTO President and Tappan parent, sent me a note that he had sent out to some other people, along with some attachments. I'm putting the attachments first--they are background reading if you want them.

I think Jack's key point is--turnout is important. Invite your friends. And this is not just an Ann Arbor event. These are members of the STATE Board of Education--so invite your friends from other school districts as well.

In any case, these are the attachments Jack sent.

State Board of Education Comments on Finance Proposals

Michigan Parents for Schools: What Do We Want From Our Schools?

Professor Arsen Letter to Governor Snyder

Ruddell Rebuttal on "Resisting School Reform"

Traverse City Record Eagle: Report on a Forum


And here is Jack Panitch's note, which he originally wrote to PTO leaders. I think he is very kind to the so-called "reformers" who are trying to destroy public education. I'm not so interested in "balanced" discussions but, in some ways, that is an important reason to be there--to learn what the "other side" has to say.

March 11, 2013, 6:00 p.m.  Little Theater at Pioneer High
Two weeks ago, I wrote to ask you to urge your members to fill Pioneer High School’s Little Theater on the evening of March 11th, for the State Board of Education’s forum on the future of K-12 education and funding reform in Michigan.  This is an opportunity to show Lansing that large numbers of informed voters are watching their actions and that we care about our kids’ futures.  It is also an opportunity to fall flat on our face if attendance is thin.

Here’s a little more about the format and content.  A balanced panel will discuss the most important current topics targeted for legislation in the near term.  A neutral moderator will lead a discussion of the issues among four key panelists.  The panel is constituted to present a balanced view: State Board of Education President John Austin and MSU Professor David Arsen will represent the viewpoint of education professionals.  State Board of Education member Eileen Weiser and Attorney Peter Ruddell will represent the viewpoint of Governor Snyder and the Republican Party.  Following the panel discussion, the floor will be opened up to questions from the audience. . . 

John Austin

But first, let’s set the scene.  Here’s what has happened to public education in Michigan over the past several years and what will continue to happen if nothing changes: whether their intentions are noble or otherwise, the radical reformers in the legislature and working with the Governor, individuals who are listening to lobbyists and special interest groups and not really listening to what parents want for their childrens’ future, are attempting to supplant actual experts in the field of public education to apply unregulated, free market forces that may work for the delivery of energy or other public utilities but have no arguable application to the way we need our children to be raised in a democratic society.  The result will be the diminished capacity of our public schools and the diminishment of our community: parents of means, including those who can obtain the financing to do so will quickly move their children into private schools containing all of the enrichment programs they expect their children to be exposed to, and the children of parents without means will be left in a diminished educational environment with wholly inadequate funding.   The proposals are radical and extremely harmful both to public education and to our democracy.  Their promoters would argue that the established education community is vested in maintaining the “status quo” and that a conservative approach no longer serves the interests of Michigan’s students.  Legitimate leaders in the field of public education see it differently.

The materials you should review to determine for yourselves whether you agree with this characterization and to form questions in advance are included with this email.  They consist of a letter panelist David Arsen recently wrote to Governor Snyder about a proposal the Governor requested to replace the current system for funding public education, as well as an article panelist Peter Ruddell, one of the proposal’s drafters, penned in rebuttal to Professor Arsen’s letter.  Also included is the State Board of Education’s analysis of the same proposal.  To amplify the discussion beyond the panel, I must refer you to a study conducted by the Center for Michigan: this study is an attempt to determine what it is that Michigan parents actually want, and you can find it here (I don’t include it, because the file size is much too large): http://tinyurl.com/cqn6ybo.  I am also throwing in a piece drafted by Steve Norton, Executive Director of Michigan Parents for Schools, Tappan PTO officer and Treasurer of the Ann Arbor PTO Council.  Finally, there is a short article from the Traverse City Record-Eagle reporting on a recent State Board of Education forum. (Emphases added.)

MIFA Theater "One-Acts" This Friday and Saturday

This year, the MIFA One-Act State Competition is being held at Dexter High School on Friday and Saturday, February 17th and 18th. You can come watch if you like--and perhaps cheer on our hometown schools of Skyline and Pioneer. (No other county schools advanced to states.) The shows are 45 minutes long and the shows are free.  (Many of these shows are abridged from longer shows. For instance, Sweeney Todd was just the full-length musical at Huron High School last week. . . the version that John Glenn High School is doing, like all of these one-acts, cannot exceed 45 minutes.)

[Update 2/16/2012: There is a really nice writeup of last week's regional competition at Skyline High School in Community High School's newspaper, The Communicator.  The Communicator is an award-winning paper that engages in serious journalism. I think you will enjoy the article.]

Here is the tentative lineup.

Friday, 2/17/2012:

10 a.m.          Holland--The Diviners
11:20 a.m.     Avondale--The Fall of the House of Usher
1:35 p.m.       Olivet--Property Rites
2:55 p.m.       Skyline--Amadeus
4:15 p.m.       Anchor Bay--Children of Oedipus
6:20 p.m.       John Glenn--Sweeney Todd
7:40 p.m.       Lakers--The Charge is Murder

Saturday, 2/18/2012:

9:00 a.m.       St. John's--Parade
10:20 a.m.     Groves--The Ice Wolf
11:40 a.m.     Pioneer--Spring Awakening
2:10 p.m.       Chesaning--World War Z
3:30 p.m.       Grand Rapids Christian--Dancing at Lughasa
4:50 p.m.       Midland--Quilters

Ask and Tell, Please

I just noticed that tomorrow night, Thursday March 3d, there is a special forum

Do Ask, Do Tell
at the Neutral Zone, 310 E. Washington, Ann Arbor,
from 7-10 p.m.
Riot Youth presents a Free, community event- Do Ask, Do Tell to have a conversation with LGBTQQA youth activists. Be inspired to help them create positive community change. The evening includes community building, poetry, theater performances and conversation. For more information, click here http://www.neutral-zone.org/events/891/do-ask-do-tell

Now, because of a conversation I had with another parent earlier today, this is my question for you (and please, do tell us)--in the comments section:

1. If your child's school has, you believe, an environment that is friendly to LGBT youth, what is it about the school that makes it friendly?


2. If your child's school has, you believe, an environment that is not friendly to LGBT youth, what is it about the school that makes it unfriendly?

(No need to give the school's names--I'm interested in the characteristics.)

Thanks,

Ruth

Events This Week! SISS, Physicals

The Black Parents Association and the NAACP (I believe) are sponsoring a reception for the incoming SISS Director. (That is the person in charge of special education for the Ann Arbor Public Schools. The acronym stands for Student Intervention and Support Services.) You may recall that Ann Arbor had a disproportionate number of African-American special education students labeled as cognitively-impaired. (That, by the way, is not unique to Ann Arbor, and changes have been made, but that does explain the interest.)

In any case, if the intersection of special education and the achievement gap interest you, you can meet the new SISS Director, Elaine Brown, at an informal reception Wed. September 8th from 3:30-6:30pm at the David Byrd Center on Lohr Rd.

Sports Physicals: If your middle school children need sports physicals, they are being offered tonight, Tuesday 9/7 at Scarlett Middle School, and tomorrow night, Wednesday 9/8 at Slauson Middle School--both evenings they will be offered from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

This Week: Bullying and Safety Meetings

Monday, 5/17/10: The Saline School District is having a meeting to discuss safety, racism, and bullying--6:30 p.m. Pleasant Ridge Elementary School cafeteria. Read more here.

Thursday, 5/20/10, 7 p.m.: Bullying panel, hosted by Annarbor.com, at 301 E. Liberty in Ann Arbor.
Presenters:
Robin Batten, Washtenaw Area Council for Children
Annie Zirkel, a relationship and parenting consultant (and Ann Arbor Public Schools parent)
Michael Benczarski, principal at Whitmore Lake Middle School

The Washtenaw Area Council for Children is an excellent, if little-known, group in the county that works to prevent abuse and increase safety for kids. I've heard and read Annie Zirkel before and really like what she has to say. (See her work at practicehow.com.)And Michael Benczarski has a very interesting personal history and is living proof that you can overcome significant disadvantages. I'm excerpting his biography from this Annarbor.com article which gives more details about the event.

Michael Benczarski, principal at Whitmore Lake Middle School, was emancipated and became his own legal guardian at the age of 16. A high school dropout, he became a graduate of high distinction from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's in education in 1999, and graduated from Marygrove College in 2002 with a masters in education. Benczarski has 12-plus years experience in education including work as a paraprofessional, fifth-grade teacher, eighth-grade teacher, elementary principal, middle school assistant principal and middle school principal. He is trained in Love and Logic and has experience utilizing the concept of Restorative Conferences.

Conference: Educational Inequalities in Michigan

This looks interesting...from my email inbox.

EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY: AN INEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES IN MICHIGAN
The Jack L. Walker Conference on Political Affairs at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The theme of this conference is Educational Inequality in Michigan - An Inequality of Opportunities. The conference will be held at the Annenberg Auditorium (Ford School) on April 14, 2010 from 4.15 - 7 pm. On April 15, 2010 from 3 - 5 pm., at the Blau Auditorium of the Ross Business School, Lt. Gov. Cherry and various community organizations will speak about their efforts to advance educational equality in Michigan!

The Political Science Department and the Undergraduate Political Science Association are proud to host this annual conference. The conference honors Professor Jack L. Walker, who encouraged students to organize an annual forum to discuss current issues.
The Walker Conference seeks to provide an arena for developing community among our students; to provide a forum for discussing critical issues of an academic nature; to enhance the value of the University of Michigan as a learning community; and to immerse students in an academic culture. Our goal for this year's Walker conference is to provide a sense of the central issues and the contextual factors that have shaped public education policy and the delivery of public education in the past decade, as well as the present prospects for the immediate and longer-term future.The conference will have four speakers, Prof. Gregory Markus, Prof. Brian McCall, Prof. Maris A. Vinovskis, and Prof. Elizabeth Moje, giving brief presentations on their academic research. The presentations will be followed by an hour long panel discussion. [I don't know about the others, but I have enjoyed hearing Elizabeth Moje speak in the past.]

Also, Lt. Gov. Cherry will serve as our Keynote Speaker for the event on April 15 3-5 pm in the Blau Auditorium (Ross School of Business). The Director of America Reads and Student Organizations such as Detroit Partnership will speak on their efforts in the hopes of helping to shape the future of public education policy in this state. We expect attendance this year to be the highest ever; in the area of 200 guests. We are already receiving inquiries from all over the state about the conference. In closing, we would be pleased and honored to have you join us at the the Jack L. Walker Conference this year.

November 14th Kids' Health Events

For priority groups H1N1 Flu Vaccination Clinic: Saturday, November 14th, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pioneer High School. The priority groups now include all individuals from 6 months through 24 years of age and individuals 25 to 64 years old who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications.

For youth aged 4-10 years old
Ypsilanti High School Dental Screening Day: 10 a.m.-12 noon, November 14th, Ypsilanti High School cafeteria. For children aged 4-20 years old. Does your child/teen have dental needs? Bring them to Ypsilanti High School for a FREE dental screening and a voucher for free follow-up care at the U-M dental school. Each child/teen will receive a FREE dental screening and referral for a dental visit. Eligible children will receive a voucher for necessary dental care. Ypsilanti High School is accessible by bus routes 5 & 6. Questions: Call Marita Inglehart (734) 763-8073

For children and adults aged 5 and older
UM Dental School Dental Health Day at the UM Dental School
Registration 8:30 a.m.-noon; screenings and evaluations 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
University of Michigan School of Dentistry, 1011 N. University, Ann Arbor.
Call (734) 763-6933 or e-mail dentalhealthday@umich.edu, http://www.dent.umich.edu/events/2009/dental-health-day
University of Michigan School of Dentistry students and faculty will provide free oral health care services—oral exams, oral cancer screenings, X-rays, and oral hygiene education—to individuals ages 5 and older. Please enter the School of Dentistry at the North University Avenue entrance. Parking will be available at the Fletcher Street parking structure.

Naomi Tutu: Race and Reconciliation

RACE AND RECONCILIATION: A COMMUNITY-WIDE CONVERSATION ON RACE
WITH NONTOMBI NAOMI TUTU
November 13–November 15, 2009

From Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor, from the University of Michigan to Washtenaw Community College, in secular and religious communities, people soon will gather in Washtenaw County to take up the national discussion on race. Facilitated by international human rights activist Nontombi Naomi Tutu, this three-day dialogue will take several forms. All events are free, and everyone is encouraged to attend.
Friday, November 13, at 7:30 pm, Ms. Tutu will share her well-considered thoughts and take questions from the audience at Rackham Auditorium, in the University of Michigan Rackham School of Graduate Studies, 915 E Washington St., in Ann Arbor. Her remarks will be preceded by a book-signing in the lobby.
Saturday, November 14, at 7:30 pm, landmark documentary Long Night’s Journey Into Day will be screened, followed by a panel discussion. The panel, including Ms. Tutu and local Fox 2 News personality Huel Perkins (moderator), will consider the ways in which this intimate film about post-apartheid South Africa and its attempts to heal itself with truth might enlighten Washtenaw County’s efforts. The location is the Towsley Auditorium in the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College, 4800 E Huron Dr.
Sunday, November 15, Ms. Tutu will share commentary at the 10 am service at First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor, 608 E William (corner of S State St), and The Our Own Thing Chorale, conducted by Dr. Willis Patterson, will perform.

Nontombi Naomi Tutu, global citizen and daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, will help guide the three-day discussion. Her sustained and visible commitment to education, dialogue, reconciliation, and social justice on issues of gender, race, and international relations has made Ms Tutu a leader in her own right. With her immediate knowledge of the realities of a divisive society and the promise of communities that work to protect and sustain the dignity of all people, she encourages us to "be willing to speak and hear the truth because then we will have our just society." Tutu, King-Chavez-Parks Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan, is Associate Director of the Office of International Programs at Tennessee State University, founder and chair (1985–1990) of the Tutu Foundation, which provides scholarships and support to South African refugees in African countries. Born in South Africa during apartheid, Tutu has lived, worked, and studied in South Africa, the U.S., and the U.K.; is a graduate of Berea College (BA, Economics and French) and the University of Kentucky (MA, International Economic Development); and is also recipient of honorary degrees from the Universal Orthodox College of Ogun State in Nigeria and Bentley College in Massachusetts. She is author of Words of Desmond Tutu and I Don't Think of You as Black: Honest Conversations on Race.

Additional Information:
RaceandReconciliation@yahoo.com
http://www.fccannarbor.org/tutu.php
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=150279303574&ref=mf
Race and Reconciliation: A Community-wide Conversation on Race with Nontombi Naomi Tutu is co-sponsored by Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation; First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor; Second Baptist Church of Ann Arbor; Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, University of Michigan African Studies Center, Office of the President, Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs; Washtenaw Community College.