BTN Voice of Baltimore Teachers THE VOICE Summer 2021 Issue #12 Baltimore City Public Schools Annual Peace and Remembrance Day Written by Koli Tengella It is an overcast and yet swelteringly humid Wednesday morning as I stand at the bottom of the stairs in front of Baltimore City Public Schools district headquarters. The three levels of the stairs form a huge semi-circular platform stage. ln, the center of it is a dark wood podium with a microphone. Behind the podium standing on further ascending steps are six well- dressed mask-covered men and women holding large white signs with black lettering. Each sign holds the name of a city school student who has died this year because of violence. This is the fourth annual Peace and Remembrance Rally of Baltimore City Schools. My name is Koli Tengella. I have been working as an actor and comedian for nearly 40 years and teaching theater/performing arts from a trauma-informed perspective with city schools for over twenty years. Currently, at Mount Royal Elementary/Middle. A week ago, I was asked to write and perform an original poem for this event. I have been both an opening act and a headliner in my show business life. Today, I'm the feature act, which is the guy in the middle but this morning's opening acts are straight-up "A" listers and headliners. This begins with the MC Dr. Sonja Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, City Coun- cil President Nick Mosby, and Mayor Brandon Scott. I'm introduced, share my truth not only as an educator but as a parent as well. Continued on page 2 My Child Struggled with Virtual Learning, What About Next Year? By Miles Armstrong FEATURES 2 Living Differently : Autism Awareness is Pathway to Acceptance 3 When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated During a regular year, the ending of May rolling into June signifies the upcoming summer 7 The Parents Korner break. We all remember as children getting out for the summer and the excitement it brought knowing we would be out of the building and enjoying our newfound freedom with our friends. But with emergency virtual learning taking over last school year and this one, this last quarter of the school year and summer should be used to figure out how to get your scholar back on track if they lost their way. Here are some tips if your child struggled with TEACHER INQUIRY GROUPS virtual learning and how you can get them to get on track. Teacher Inquiry Groups will com- • Have a conversation with your child’s teacher. Find out exactly what your child strug- mence in July 13, 2021 with the gled with this year. Virtual learning was extremely hard on students and teachers. Most teachers have never worked from a computer, they are in person educators, so most of reading of Dr. Eddie Moore Jr's them are willing to go above and beyond to work with you and your child. Now if you book: The Guide for White Wom- have not talked to the teacher all year, talking with them now may be a tad more diffi- en who Teach Black Boys. Teach- cult. But by having this conversation you can get as close as you can to an expert opin- ers interested in participating in the ion on the following steps to take. cohort should contact Community Continued on page 3 Advocate and Organizer Mr. Miles Armstrong at 410-469-9902. “ If there is no struggle, there is no progress” - Frederick Douglass Continued from page 1 Living Differently: Autism Awareness is pathway to acceptance Written by Avery Smith In many ways, Janard is like many other children his age. The soon to be 10 -year-old enjoys an afternoon at his neighborhood playground, laying under the bed with a flashlight reading, and watching his favorite cartoon, The Amazing World of Gumball, drawing pictures of animals and devouring any candy or sweet baked goods he can get his hands on. He loves to sing, dance and does not mind showing off his talents for a crowd. But Janard is different from his peers in one specific way, he has what he calls “superman like powers.” He is on the autism spectrum. What does it mean to be on the spectrum? Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined as a neurobiological developmental condition that can impact communication, sensory pro- cessing, and social interactions. Generally, it is seen as a different way of thinking. Janard, has the most infectious smile you will ever encounter in another human. Since his diagnosis at the age of 3, his parents have made it a priority to give him the tools to be as confident in his identity and embrace his unique skill set. His differences are what makes him the special guy he is. His family celebrates his autism often, particularly during the month of April. This past April was Autism Awareness month. This is an annual event that encourages awareness and acceptance about the existence of autism and the roughly 4 million autistic individuals around the world. Acceptance comes with understanding, and while individuals and families living with ASD live this life every day, there is still a need for factual edu- cation and awareness for the general public. Knowledge promotes ac- ceptance because it allows people to understand how to be more inclusive and build more supportive experiences. For many members of the autism community, the goal of the month-long campaign is a greater acceptance and appreciation of autism. On social media, families like Janards’ will spend four weeks sharing insights about their children to help those who are not educated about autism, using the hashtags #celebratedifference, #austismchampions and #autismawareness. Each weekend in April, Janard, alongside his brothers host outside their neighborhood mall a bake sale, to sell cookies, cupcakes, brownies and lollipops. With every purchase, an awareness brochure card that Janard helps to create is giving to customers. Proceeds from the fundraiser is giving to Autism Speaks, an organization that increase global understanding and acceptance, supports research, pro- vides funding for early childhood screening, improving transition to adult- hood and ensures access to reliable and updated information. Many advo- cates see the annual event as an opportunity to act on behalf of autistic indi- viduals, lobby for more services, the importance of equal treatment and an individualized approach to just about everything else autism related. As of March 26, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 1 in 54 children are living with autism. This number represents a 10% increase over 2014, when the estimate was 1 in 59. Continued on page 6 2 Visit us at www.baltimoreteachernetwork.org Continued from page 1 When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated • Have a conversation with your child. Find out what they did like How to Protect Yourself and Others about virtual learning, if anything, and emphasize how difficult Updated Apr. 27, 2021 this process was. All students, whether elementary, middle, high or master’s level, struggled with conforming to the new standards Choosing Safer Activities attached to virtual learning. For some, a lack of motivation per- sisted due to a lack of connection with classmates or an instructor. Let your child know that this was a once in a lifetime occurrence and that they will have options to rebound academically. Most of all let them know that this school year will only define them if they allow it to, creating a rebound plan will take care of this. Also utilize this conversation to figure out what your child wants to get out of school, connecting what they want to do for their career to their current academic situation is one way to make school more inviting for students. If they recognize that school can give them the tools to be successful in what they want to do they will treat it accordingly. • After talking to both the student and teacher do your own re- search. As a parent you should know the type of learner your child is and what they struggle with or need additional help with. Be diligent and do the research on summer options being offered whether in your city, county or another area your child may travel to. Find out if your school is offering summer learning and if they aren’t talk to them about their suggestions. • Discuss with the other stakeholders in your child’s life if they should focus on returning to the same grade. Kids who may have If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing many things that you struggled in grades like 5th, 8th or 9th may need to repeat in order had stopped doing because of the pandemic. to get back on track. Passing them to the next grade could lead to • When choosing safer activities, consider how COVID-19 is them falling further behind and could create issues later on that spreading in your community, the number of people participating in could include dropping out. Other students outside of those transi- tion grades may find benefit in staying put. the activity, and the location of the activity. • Outdoor visits and activities are safer than indoor activities, and • Lastly, talk with the prospective teacher for next year to find out fully vaccinated people can participate in some indoor events safely, what your child would ideally need to know prior to starting the without much risk. next grade. This allows for an opportunity to do a diagnostic, it also allows you to check in with the current teacher and find out If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, find a vaccine.