Nach den Wahlen hier (ja, ich hatte eine schlaflose Nacht vor dem Fernseher), fragen mich viele FreundInnen aus Good Old Germany, wie es uns jetzt hier geht. Normalerweise werde ich HIER nicht politisch (sonst schon), aber was ist denn hier gerade noch normal?
Mittlerweile habe ich mich beruhigt und warte einfach den Tag des Impeachment-Verfahrens ab. Vorher möchte ich Dir aber zeigen, dass wir hier in Ann Arbor ein bisschen wie auf der Insel der Glückseligen leben. Die beiden folgenden Texte haben die Schulleiterin der Grundschule (Lakewood) sowie die Schul-Superintendentin von Ann Arbor per Email an die Schulverteiler geschickt. Sie sagen so viel über das Klima hier. Wenn Du Hilfe beim Übersetzen brauchst, melde Dich!
Und schau Dir das Youtube-Video an, der Kinderpräsident ist der Knaller!
Happy Friday, Lakewood Families!
It has been an emotional week as the news of the national election has swept over our community. This morning at our weekly community meeting, I felt the need to address our student body about our values of inclusivity and respect that are the building blocks of our community. I have heard only a few older students repeat things that adults may have said in person or on the television. All of these remarks from the students lacked understanding and true malice. Students were repeating things that they heard but not necessarily true. I stressed with the students that they ALL belong to Lakewood. All of the students are valued members of our community. Lakewood is an inclusive community that welcomes all persons from different language groups, religions, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. Overall, we love our students and appreciate the support of our families. We are here to teach and protect our students. Lakewood strives to be a kind, respectful, responsible, and SAFE environment for all students. I directed students to talk about their issues concerning the election and the hate speech that has been discussed on the television with you the parents instead of discussing it with their peers. The teachers and I plan to support and encourage calmness and a feeling of safety throughout their day. Again, all Lakewood students belong here!
Here are some resources that may help you talk with your child about how they are feeling and any of their anxieties.
Here’s the Kid President video on disagreement that you can view online with your child/family.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghk-nDJB3Tk
Here are some other articles that may help:
http://parents-together.org/talking-kid-presidential-election/
http://www.today.com/parents/how-talk-your-kids-about-election-results-t104827
I hope this information helps as we continue through this tumultuous time.
M. Seals
Und das hat die Superintendentin, die für die öffentlichen Schulen in Ann Arbor (=AAPS) zuständig ist, an alle geschickt:
Dear AAPS Students, Staff, Parents, and Community,
I want to reach out today as we are all processing the results of our national elections and begin to consider how we will best move forward together.
We want to assure you that over the coming days we will be particularly sensitive to our students and their perceptions of yesterday’s election and the campaign leading up to it.
As you can imagine, many of our students have heard things that make them feel unwelcome or uncomfortable during this long and arduous campaign. Students and adults alike may also have missed sleep or been adversely impacted by the rhetoric surrounding them.
So as a school team, we are considering today our role as public schools in serving our students, and our next steps in the process of moving forward.
We remain firmly committed to the following:
We will continue reassuring our students and staff that our core values in the AAPS remain the same. Every student and family and every member of our community is valued and welcome. We will continue to work toward peaceful resolution of conflict and against bullying as we continue to approach problem-solving with kindness and fair play in all or our interactions.
As a school district, it is our job to ensure that our students become strong citizens. We will continue to model, teach, and reinforce critical thinking and appropriate conflict resolution skills as well as how to disagree respectfully. We expect that critical conversations will be ongoing in classrooms, around dinner tables and across our community as we move forward from today.
In the AAPS, our commitment is to move forward together in our classrooms and schools, in our District and across our community while remaining true to our core values of openness, inclusivity, respect for diversity and caring for which our Ann Arbor community is known.
Sincerely,
Jeanice Swift