Central's Civil Rights Team has just finished learning about the six protected categories. Students have met after school for one hour, twice a month, and have engaged in activities that introduce the concept of diversity and equity as they relate to the six protected categories. They’ve learned that there are groups of people who have been discriminated against in the past and because of this, there are laws in place to protect them. They learned about different religions, what is meant by national origin and ancestry, that race is a social concept, what visible and invisible disabilities are, what gender identity and expression mean, and that there are all different kinds of families. In order to help our students empathize with others, we felt they needed to know themselves a bit more. Each worked on their own "identity webs," or graphic depictions of the words or phrases they use to describe themselves, as well as the labels that society gives them.
At our last meeting team members completed their posters depicting the categories. These will be laminated and placed in our Civil Rights Hallway where our diversity posters and "Unsung African American Heroes" display were for all to view.
Also at our last meeting, students decided that they would like to visit second-grade classrooms. Some will teach about the six protected categories and talk about the Civil Rights Team, what we do, why it’s important, and do a little recruiting for next year’s team. Other members chose to read aloud a book and lead discussions about the protected group featured in the book. Each second-grade classroom will experience both presentations. The team will spend their last two after-school sessions creating their lesson plans for their second-grade students, as well as putting the finishing touches on their identity webs.
The team is organized and supervised by Mrs. Craffey and Mrs. O'Brien
