CultureofRespectActionTeam

May 14, 2010

** Culture of Respect Team Notes **
1. FIELD TRIP We visited the art room to look at the student-created mural on Tolerance and Diversity. The committee was unanimous in commending Mrs. Fallon and the art students, led by Vada Majors, for a job well done.

Recommendation: We would like to have an image made of the mural and have it printed on the front of the student agenda books for the 2010-2011 school year.

2. BRAINSTORM/ COMMENT/ SUGGESTIONS As a whole group, the entire committee spend some time brainstorming ideas: · A recommendation was made to put the issue of “Physical Structures of the Building” back on the list of school-wide priorities. Review the Safety Audit.

For example: Exterior doors are open during the school day, corners are hidden, certain areas of the halls where students are hidden, stairwells are dark, etc…

Suggestions: Need mirrors, More security cameras, Key switches on lights, Move the location of the office so that everyone must go thru.

Discussion about adult perception of safety and student perception of safety. They seem to be two different issues. Adults focus on physical safety and security. Students focus on bullying, etc.

Discussion about the number of mandated fire drills – When is the last time a school in the US has been lost to a fire? What about conducting drills for “intruder in the building”?

Discussed the need for a “safe place” for students at the beginning of the day. On any given day, the library hosts approx. 100 students before school. Many more are hanging out in the hallways, which causes problems. Is there a need for a “safe place”?

· Student comments on the surveys show that students really desire more of an adult presence in the halls.

· Discussed student movement in the hallways. Is there a need for students to be moving everywhere in the building? Could safety issues be addressed in scheduling?

· What about utilizing outdoor space – allowing students to go out to the courtyard?

· Discussed the connection between environment and perception of safety and respect. Is there any any problem with open campus? Shall we research this more?

3. Broke into groups to cover the agenda:

1. Mr. Nailor volunteered to lead the Professional Development Cmte. 2. Mrs. Womer volunteered to lead the School-wide Events & Facilities Cmte. 3. Ms. Parker volunteered to lead the Classrooms & Activities Cmte. 4. Mr. Freeman volunteered to lead the Discipline Referrals Cmte.

School-wide events subcommittee
Members that contributed to this discussion were as follows: Carla Graham, Mary Fallon, Cathie Mathias, Cindy Womer Goal: Make Four school – wide events to happen next year
 * 1) **School wide Ethnic Day/Cultural Awareness Day**-different areas of the school are set up as different countries complete with food, objects of awareness and people who can tell them more about the country that they represent. Community members, parents, teachers and administrators can all get involved in the representation and presentation of this event. Students would also have passports to that would get stamped as they traveled to each country. This could get incorporated in Social Studies and/or English curriculum with a project or discussion afterwards.
 * 2) **Community Day** - Students would have a day set aside to help out the Danville Community in the way of service hours to clean parks, help senior citizens, preschool children, or elementary school children for example. This could be tied in with their hours needed for their Graduation Projects.
 * 3) **School wide Talent Show** - Show would have an underlying theme of Acceptance and Mutual Respect. It would feature student and faculty based skits, music and other such talents.
 * 4) **Family Feud** - Students would form their own teams of intermixed “Families” and define that family by their name. They would go up against Faculty and Administrators who would also be in intermixed ‘families”. This was hugely successful a few years ago with students and faculty with a phenomenal participation rate. Final rounds can be televised and shown on DTV during Mods.
 * 5) We would like to continue to do the Handprints in the cafeteria.
 * 6) Dedication Ceremony for the Mural on Honor and Respect (Tolerance and Diversity) made up by the art students.
 * 7) Movie: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? - Movie addresses such diverse issues as disabilities, social-economic diversity; dysfunctional families; obesity; mental retardation; role reversal in family; social misfits; single parents. After movie there will be a discussion follow-up on Alternative solutions, how the community could have helped, social services, etc.
 * 8) Bullying- we did discuss inserting some type of bullying recognition event, not just for students but also for faculty.
 * 9) Proposal of a student/faculty slide show and a yearly photo of faculty as a “Family”.

Physical Safety of Building that will/can contribute to students feeling safe 1. Lock switches on the light switches. 2. Mirrors in the corners of the building so that students can’t “hide” in corners and crevices. 3. Office needs to be more centrally located in front of main entrance so that visitors are immediately observed upon entrance and cannot get past and be able to go through the building undetected. 4. Key cards and swipes should be implemented in the rear doors so that they can be kept locked. 5. Another safety drill should be done such as the one we did about 5 years ago that times and keeps all alert to what one must do to be safe in the event of a violent intruder in the building.

**Professional Development Subcommittee**
Mr. Nailor, Mrs. Helbig, Mrs. Boonie Discussion: How do we as a staff talk about the difficult interpersonal issues? One idea is to begin a series of “**AFG Lunch**” discussions (**A Free Good Lunch**) for Professional Development.

Teachers, administrators, para-professionals will be __invited__ to join the discussions. - Participation is voluntary - Participants must sign up in advance (so we can order lunch for everyone) - Participants will be emailed a short article to read in advance so everyone has a common frame of reference to begin with. - Participants will earn professional development hours/ credits for participation. - Community members, parents, professionals will be invited to “host” the discussions. - Topics may include: o Special needs/ social skills o Religious diversity o Gender issues o Cultural diversity o Other?

A survey is going out to all faculty to see if there is interest. Planning is underway for the first AFG Lunch for Friday 8-20-10.

Possible topics: “Top Ten Things You Should Know about the Alt. Ed. Program at DHS” “Top Ten Things You Should Know about Special Needs Kids and Friendship” “Top Ten Things You Should Know about Autism Spectrum Disorders”

Notes for Next Time: A video series called “Inclusive Communities” has been recommended by Rikki Boyle.

Classrooms and Activities Subcommittee
A. Subcommittee is formed: Michelle Becker, Ginny Herring, Deborah Parker B. Creation of a faculty survey to assess what is currently happening in classrooms to promote a culture of respect. Faculty will be asked to complete a survey that will communicate how much time they spend in class promoting a “culture of respect”. C. Areas that address “culture of respect” may include, but are not limited to: · Bullying/Harassment · Gender · Sexuality · Race/Ethnicity · Religion · Academic/Intellectual Diversity · Socio-economic Differences D. “Culture of Respect” Survey (on surveymonkey.com) 1. Do you teach any lessons that promote a culture of respect? This may include, but is not limited to: · Bullying/Harassment · Gender · Sexuality · Race/Ethnicity · Religion · Academic/Intellectual Diversity · Socio-economic Differences

2. Do you feel that you informally promote a culture of respect in your classroom?

3. Check all that apply. In your classroom, is the promotion of a culture of respect: Built into your curriculum On a case-by-case basis

4. List activities/lessons/units that promote a culture of respect in your classroom. Include any lessons that have occurred this year, or will realistically occur by the end of the year. Please use the following format: Class/Topic/Length Example: High School 101/"That's So Gay"/3 days 5. Do you perceive a need for additional “culture of respect” activities/lessons in your course?

6. Would it be helpful if ideas for lessons/activities were provided to you?

E. Survey to be sent out to faculty via email by June 2010.

Discipline referrals subcommittee
Berkey, Humbert, Freeman, Megargel Items Discussed/conclusions:

Ø Discipline manager could be revamped to allow teachers to input more specific information regarding referrals related to intolerance/disrespect - drop-down menu could include choices such as cyber-bullying, disrespect based on economic status, grade level, etc. Ø According to Mr. Burger, we are in the process of changing to Fox Pro as a means of reporting discipline - will enable us to track referrals in a more efficient way Ø Repeat discipline offenders - "red flag" students who may need individual counseling to aid in reducing such referrals Ø Disrespect often stems from grade level based "bullying " - Assemblies such as pep rallies could be changed so that students are not segregated/prompted to compete by grade level - may take some time to change this part of the school culture Ø Physical plant of building needs to be addressed - discipline problems/bullying may not be observed by teachers since it occurs in hidden areas (stairwells, etc.) or in narrow/crowded hallways where it is difficult to observe