Friday Memo - 1/29/21

Black History Month
A few memos ago, I mentioned an HBCU tour that I had the privilege to attend back in 2017. It was during that tour that I started my collection of HBCU hoodies and sweatshirts! So far, I have collected sweatshirts from North Carolina A & T, Howard University, Spelman College, Hampton University, Florida A & M University, Morgan State University, Fisk University, Tennessee State University, Tuskegee University, and I'm waiting on a sweatshirt to be delivered from Clark Atlanta University. We are going on a family vacation to Savannah, GA this summer, so I will be adding a hoodie from that school to my collection as well. My dream is to have a hoodie/sweatshirt from all 107 HBCUs! 

Throughout the month of February, you will see me wearing items from my collection in honor of Black History Month. Please feel free to ask me where the hoodie is from and about my experience at the school. I've had the opportunity to visit some of the schools, and I ordered the rest of the hoodies from the schools directly or bothered a friend/colleague to pick me up a hoodie from one of their school visits.

Fisk University - one of my favorite visits!

We will have a door decorating contest to honor Black History Month through Statesman Time. Details for the contest will be shared next week!

Important Dates
February 1 - Department meetings, 3:35 pm to 4:45 pm
February 2 - Transition Task Force meeting
February 1 - 5 - School Counseling Week
February 8 - Faculty meeting with Alive & Well, 3:40 pm to 4:40 pm
February 12 - WGSD Virtual Conference 2021 (ABAR focus), 8:15 am - 11:00 am (Click HERE to register)
February 12 - Session 3 of district ABAR workshop (12:00 pm - 3:00 pm)
February 15 - No School - President's Day

DOMAIN 1: HIXSON & COVID-19

Seating Charts - UPDATE IMMEDIATELY
All teachers need to make sure that their seating charts are updated and uploaded to the seating chart folder. We have had to quarantine multiple students since we returned from winter break. Sometimes this quarantining process carries over into the evenings or weekends. There have been times when we have gone to look at seating charts and they were not updated. This simply cannot happen. If your seating charts need to be updated, please do so immediately. 

Statesman Time
All teachers are required to teach the Statesman Time lessons. If you have not been teaching the Statesman Time lessons, please do so, as this is an expectation. We will be surveying students and staff eventually about their experiences with Statesman Time. We will use the feedback to inform Statesman Time planning for next year. This feedback will not be helpful to us if the lessons are not being taught. 

I would like to send a special thank you to the staff members who have contributed to planning and organizing Statesman Time. Your work does not go unnoticed.

Revised plan for supporting students who are quarantined
Click HERE to view our revised plan for supporting students who are quarantined. If you need to change your plan down the line, please let me know as soon as possible so I can update the document. Be sure to let your students know about the change.

Remote teaching
If you ever have to teach remotely, please make sure you review the protocols below and let me know if you have any questions. 

Protocol for teaching remotely 
Click HERE to access the protocol for teaching remotely.

Protocol for substitute teachers who will cover virtual classes
Click HERE to access the protocol for substitute teachers who will cover virtual classes.

DOMAIN 2: HIXSON & EQUITY

State of Black Educators Symposium!
The inaugural State of Black Educators Symposium was created for people/organizations interested in coming together to discuss better ways to recruit, develop, support, and mentor Black educators.

SBE21 will focus more on practical solutions to address inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-bias, and anti-racism within schools and organization. SBE20 was nearly at capacity (1,600). With SBE21 being online, we anticipate over 2,000 attendees from all across the world! Register now for this two day event.

DOMAIN 3: HIXSON & STEGER

Building Room Assignment Work Group
Do you think you would enjoy helping create the building map for next school year, which includes determining room assignments? If you are interested, please email Dr. Mayes. The Hixson admin team is trying to see if there is interest in participating in this work. If so, we will form a work group after course requests are due, and we will work on creating the building map together.

Transition Task Force Updates

The Equity work group of the Transition Task Force is seeking feedback on progress that Hixson and Steger have made on equity work thus far in both buildings. Please click HERE to take their brief survey. They really need your feedback to help them move their work forward!

Friday Memo - 1/22/21

Inauguration Day!
I was so inspired by the Inauguration last Wednesday, and I know many of you were as well. It means so much to me to see a Black and Southeast Asian woman become Vice President of the United States. When I was a kid, the thought of a woman of color being Vice President never crossed my mind because I was taught, directly and indirectly, that it simply was not possible. I was taught that people of color did not belong in those positions. However, today I am cautiously optimistic about the steps we continue to make as a country to become a more inclusive society. Now, I know that inclusion is not enough, but please understand how much representation matters. If, as an adult, I feel validated by having a woman of color as Vice President, then imagine how this is impacting our students...every last one of them. 

I am not going to ignore the elephant in the room. I know many of you were disappointed with the video and prompt provided to us by the district earlier this week, but I hope you were still able to have substantive conversations with your students on Wednesday. I also encourage every one of you, regardless of your curriculum, to have conversations with your students about the Inauguration and other related topics. Please do not hesitate to show any and all parts of the Inauguration. If you have any questions or if you want someone to run ideas by, then please reach out to admin. We are here to help.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention President Joe Biden. Wednesday was a big day for him too, and I wish him all the best in his new presidency because there is a ton of work to do.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I will be spending my time this weekend looking for an outfit like Michelle Obama's, and looking at Bernie Sanders memes! :-) 

Important Dates

January 25 - 29 - Elementary Virtual School Visits/6th & 7th grade Course Selection Talks
February 1 - Department meetings, 3:35 pm to 4:45 pm
February 1 - 5 - School Counseling Week
February 8 - Faculty meeting with Alive & Well, 3:40 pm to 4:40 pm
February 12 - Professional Development Day - ABAR EdCamp
February 15 - No School - President's Day

DOMAIN 1: HIXSON & COVID-19

Revised plan for supporting students who are quarantined
Click HERE to view the final version of our revised plan for supporting students who are quarantined. If you need to change your plan down the line, please let me know as soon as possible so I can update the plan. Be sure to let your students know about the change.

Remote teaching
If you ever have to teach remotely, please make sure you review the protocols below and let me know if you have any questions. 

Protocol for teaching remotely 
Click HERE to access the protocol for teaching remotely.

Protocol for substitute teachers who will cover virtual classes
Please read the information below regarding how we will handle/support substitute teachers who need to cover virtual classes. 

IF we have a sub who needs to teach via Zoom:

1. The classroom teacher must add Sarah Magruder as a co-host to the Zoom so that she can start the Zoom classes, if necessary.

2. Sarah Magruder will assign a hixsonsub1(through10)@wgcloud.org to the primary teacher.

3. The primary teacher needs to then make the hixsonsub(NUMBER ASSIGNED)@wgcloud the cohost on Zoom.

4. Sarah Magruder then assigns the sub covering for the virtual class the sub wgcloud email address

5. and password to login to Zoom with. The sub will log into Zoom using the hixsonsub(NUMBER)@wgcloud.org assigned to them by Sarah Magruder.

1. https://zoom.us/signin

1. example: username: hixsonsub1@wgcloud.org password WGSD2021!

6. IF more than one sub will be teaching via Zoom for the primary teacher then the primary teacher will

7. need to add the appropriate hixsonsub(number)@wgcloud.org as co-host to their Zoom sessions.

We have a total of 10 Sub accounts setup in wgcloud to use. 

DOMAIN 2: HIXSON & EQUITY

Book Recommendation
I'm not sure if anyone is reading or has read Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, but I am currently reading it at home and I simply must share how amazing this book is. Wilkerson explains how a caste system works by comparing three caste systems: Nazi Germany, Jim Crow America, and the caste system in India. If you are looking to deepen your understanding of how oppressive systems operate, and our roles within those systems, then I HIGHLY recommend this book to you. It may be worth a book study...

DOMAIN 3: HIXSON & STEGER

Room Assignment Work Group
Do you think you would enjoy helping create the building map for next school year, which includes determining room assignments? If you are interested, please email Dr. Mayes. The Hixson admin team is trying to see if there is interest in participating in this work. If so, we will form a work group after course requests are due, and we will work on creating the building map together.

Transition Task Force Updates

The Equity work group of the Transition Task Force is seeking feedback on progress that Hixson and Steger have made on equity work thus far in both buildings. Please click HERE to take their brief survey. They really need your feedback to help them move their work forward!

2021-2022 Team Names
The Rebranding and Campus Beautification work group of the Transition Task Force is currently seeking ideas for new team names. If you have an idea or a theme for team names, please submit it to Dr. Mayes by January 29, 2021. Please, no colors or constellations. Those themes are already in place at Hixson and Steger, and we need to pick team names that are inclusive of both schools as one.

Monday Memo - 1/18/21

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

March 14, 2017

                                 August 28, 1963                                          

Did you know that the very spot where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech is inscribed eighteen steps from the top landing of the Lincoln Memorial? I had the opportunity to stand on that spot while visiting Washington D.C. in 2017. I was on an HBCU tour with a group of about forty high school juniors and seniors. Our tour of Morgan State University was canceled due to weather, so we decided to tour the Washington Mall instead. I will never forget this simple yet inspiring moment in my life.

On August 28, 1963, the day that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech, my great grandmother was 37 years old, my grandmother was 17 years old, and my mother wasn't born yet. On the day that Dr. King gave this speech, my great grandmother was the same age that I will be on August 28 of this year. Thinking about such significant events in terms of how old the matriarchs in my family were on these days helps to give me perspective. On that day, Dr. King delivered a freedom dream to the world. How did that impact a 17 year old black girl? What about her 37 year old mother? Did that speech give them hope for the future? 

I had a conversation with my grandmother and older sister yesterday about the events that unfolded last week at the capitol and the continued fight for racial justice in this country. My grandmother always reminds us of how life for black folks back then was about surviving a world that believed deeply in their inferiority and had every intention on keeping them there. She explained how the events last week elicited the same feelings of horror that she lived with on a daily basis growing up in Jim Crow America. This was deeply disturbing and hurtful to me, and it exasperated my own feelings of hopelessness that I have recently been trying to supress. 

But then I listened to Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech today.

Did listening to this speech make it all better? Absolutely not. Did it remind me of the sacrifices that my ancestors made for me and for the betterment of this world so that someday Dr. King's dream can be realized? Absolutely. Today, I will meditate on this speech. I will meditate on the possibilities of Dr. King's freedom dream, and specifically consider the educator's role in the very act of dreaming. I invite you to join me in honoring Dr. King's life and his contribution to the world in whatever way you see fit, particularly as we look ahead into what could be a very tumultuous week.  

Important Dates

January 12 - February 5 - NWEA Testing
January 19 - Virtual Incoming 6th grade Parent Night
January 21 - Virtual Incoming 7th grade Parent Night
January 20 - Picture retake day, Inauguration Day
January 25 - 29 - Elementary Virtual School Visits/6th & 7th grade Course Selection Talks
February 1 - Department meetings, 3:35 pm to 4:45 pm

DOMAIN 1: HIXSON & COVID-19

Revised plan for supporting students who are quarantined
Click HERE to view the final version of our revised plan for supporting students who are quarantined. This plan starts on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. If your quarantined students were attending your virtual classes (if you have any), then you need to understand that they may not be able to do that anymore because more teachers are now live streaming their instruction, causing quarantined students to have classes to attend at their regularly scheduled times. This plan was released to parents this afternoon. Jason Heisel and Gail Tumminello are working on getting webcams checked out to teachers who requested one. 

If you need to change your plan down the line, please let me know as soon as possible so I can update the plan. Be sure to let your students know about the change.

Remote teaching
If you ever have to teach remotely, please make sure you review the protocols below and let me know if you have any questions. 

Protocol for teaching remotely 
Click HERE to access the protocol for teaching remotely.

Protocol for substitute teachers who will cover virtual classes
Please read the information below regarding how we will handle/support substitute teachers who need to cover virtual classes. 

IF we have a sub who needs to teach via Zoom:

1. The classroom teacher must add Sarah Magruder as a co-host to the Zoom so that she can start the Zoom classes, if necessary.

2. Sarah Magruder will assign a hixsonsub1(through10)@wgcloud.org to the primary teacher.

3. The primary teacher needs to then make the hixsonsub(NUMBER ASSIGNED)@wgcloud the cohost on Zoom.

4. Sarah Magruder then assigns the sub covering for the virtual class the sub wgcloud email address

5. and password to login to Zoom with. The sub will log into Zoom using the hixsonsub(NUMBER)@wgcloud.org assigned to them by Sarah Magruder.

1. https://zoom.us/signin

1. example: username: hixsonsub1@wgcloud.org password WGSD2021!

6. IF more than one sub will be teaching via Zoom for the primary teacher then the primary teacher will

7. need to add the appropriate hixsonsub(number)@wgcloud.org as cohost to their Zoom sessions.

We have a total of 10 Sub accounts setup in wgcloud to use. 

DOMAIN 2: HIXSON & EQUITY

Alive and Well

We had a very informative session with Alive and Well on Monday afternoon. Click HERE to view Michele's presentation.

Resources for having difficult conversations with students regarding recent events

Special Report: DIscussing Sedition in the Classroom, Should We? (podcast - 27 min)

Inauguration Day - January 20, 2021
I was notified on Friday that the district will release a plan to all staff for the handling of Inauguration Day. I will share it with you as soon as I receive it. 

DOMAIN 3: HIXSON & STEGER

Transition Task Force Updates

The Equity work group of the Transition Task Force is seeking feedback on progress that Hixson and Steger have made on equity work thus far in both buildings. Please click HERE to take their brief survey. They really need your feedback to help them move their work forward!

2021-2022 Team Names
The Rebranding and Campus Beautification work group of the Transition Task Force is currently seeking ideas for new team names. If you have an idea or a theme for team names, please submit it to Dr. Mayes by January 29, 2021. Please, no colors or constellations. Those themes are already in place at Hixson and Steger, and we need to pick team names that are inclusive of both schools as one.

DOMAIN 4: HIXSON & CONSTRUCTION

Construction tour

The Hixson admin team had the opportunity to tour our construction site on Friday. It was such an amazing experience to witness up close how this building is transforming and expanding. We are so grateful to the Webster Groves community, architects, and construction workers for their hard work and dedication to this project. I've included some pictures from our tour below. 

video of new gym

8th grade Science Lab

New Band Room

 

Friday Memo - 1/8/2021

Important Dates

January 11 - Faculty Meeting with Alive and Well, 3:35 pm to 4:35 pm
January 12 - Amighetti's Day/Night for Hixson
January 12 - February 5 - NWEA Testing
January 18 - No School - MLK Day
January 19 - Virtual Incoming 6th grade Parent Night
January 21 - Virtual Incoming 7th grade Parent Night
January 20 - Picture retake day, Inauguration Day
January 26 - Transition Task Force
January 25 - 29 - Elementary Virtual School Visits/6th & 7th grade Course Selection Talks
February 1 - Department meetings, 3:35 pm to 4:45 pm

DOMAIN 1: HIXSON & COVID-19

As we transition to second semester, I wanted to remind you of the procedures for teaching remotely should you find yourself needing to do so. Please review the information below and let me know if you have any questions. 

Protocol for teaching remotely 
Click HERE to access the protocol for teaching remotely.

Protocol for substitute teachers who will cover virtual classes
Please read the information below regarding how we will handle/support substitute teachers who need to cover virtual classes. 

IF we have a sub who needs to teach via Zoom:

1. The classroom teacher must add Sarah Magruder as a co-host to the Zoom so that she can start the Zoom classes, if necessary.

2. Sarah Magruder will assign a hixsonsub1(through10)@wgcloud.org to the primary teacher.

3. The primary teacher needs to then make the hixsonsub(NUMBER ASSIGNED)@wgcloud the cohost on Zoom.

4. Sarah Magruder then assigns the sub covering for the virtual class the sub wgcloud email address

5. and password to login to Zoom with. The sub will log into Zoom using the hixsonsub(NUMBER)@wgcloud.org assigned to them by Sarah Magruder.

1. https://zoom.us/signin

1. example: username: hixsonsub1@wgcloud.org password WGSD2021!

6. IF more than one sub will be teaching via Zoom for the primary teacher then the primary teacher will

7. need to add the appropriate hixsonsub(number)@wgcloud.org as cohost to their Zoom sessions.

We have a total of 10 Sub accounts setup in wgcloud to use. 

DOMAIN 2: HIXSON & EQUITY

Alive and Well

Alive and Well is collecting baseline data from all Webster schools regarding trauma informed care. Please take a moment to take this anonymous SURVEY. It was due by January 4th, but if you missed the deadline, I clicked on it today and discovered it's still open so please complete it ASAP.

Resources for talking with students about January 6, 2021 
I included the first three resources on this list in my email earlier this week regarding the unfortunate events that unfolded on January 6. I recently found another resource, which is a video on how to raise and teach anti-racist kids. It's long, but includes powerful panelists and valuable information that could support us all on this journey. Take a look if you can find the time!

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/when-bad-things-are-happening

https://beyondthestoplight.com/2021/01/06/resources-for-teachers-on-the-days-after-the-attack-on-the-u-s-capitol/

https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/talking-kids-about-attack-capitol

How to Raise and Teach Anti-Racist Kids - (video & sound starts at 2:54) Author Kwame Alexander brings together an inspiring group of educators and equity activists to this #KidLit4BlackLives virtual town hall to answer questions about the role educators, families, and caregivers play in helping children make sense of and actively challenge systemic racism.

Hear from panelists Cornelius Minor, author of “We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be”; Tiffany M. Jewell, author of “This Book Is Anti-Racist”; Pam Allyn, global literacy expert and coauthor (with Dr. Ernest Morrell) of “Every Child a Super Reader”; Dr. Noni Thomas López, head of school at The Gordon School in Providence, RI; and Karyn Parsons, author and founder of Sweet Blackberry.

DOMAIN 3: HIXSON & STEGER

Transition Task Force Updates

Logo redesign contest - We have received some very cool logo design submissions from both Hixson and Steger students. The Rebranding & Campus Beautification work group from the Transition Task Force is creating a plan for you to view them and vote on your favorite design. Stay tuned! This should be fun!

DOMAIN 4: HIXSON & CONSTRUCTION

We have brick!
The construction project continues to move along. I wanted to take a quick moment today to celebrate the fact that they are adding brick to the new gym! It is truly amazing to see this project unfold. If you drive along Ambrose, you can see this work for yourself!