We are trying to help better create a sense of inclusion and equity at our school, especially for our classified English Learners and their families.
To do this, we need to have more funds for, culturally relevant curriculum and events, as well as to create educational and social opportunities for the families of our students. Offering families a bigger role in their child's educational experience is vital to the academic and social emotional success of the student, but if families don't necessarily feel comfortable because of cultural, language or other barriers they tend not to attend school activities. So our goal this year is to create a more inclusive space, where we target families that have previously been in the background. We will be holding monthly meetings such as the ELAC (English Learner Advisory Council) and other opportunities to connect, but we will be including food which always helps bring people together. In this case, we will offer pan dulce and Cafecito (Mexican sweet bread and coffee.)
Culturally, Pan Dulce and Cafecito represents comradery, a time to get together with close friends and family, share about life, and feel at home. It doesn't seem like much, and yet food brings people together in any culture. The issue is that minimal funds in public school districts doesn't always cover food for meetings and gatherings. So any extra money received would be so helpful in our endeavors to bring people together for the health and wellbeing of our students. To better create a sense community where all families have a voice and their voice is heard.