The Joseph Sears School DEB Newsletter
Volume 10
November 2021
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- A Special Message from Sears Students
- A Letter of Support from Sears Administration
- Hanukkah is Coming to Kenilworth
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A Special Message from Sears Students |
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The members of the DEB (Diversity, Equity, and Belonging) group of the Principal’s Advisory Council here at Sears wanted to let you know how we have been making change in our community this month.
We have been meeting regularly to help make Sears a more accepting place for all.
One of the things we’ve concluded from our discussions with peers and our own lived experiences is that negative and anti-*LGBTQIA+ language at school affects students and is an important issue within the Sears community.
While there are consequences for this behavior at school, we know that consequences are reactive, and we are looking for ways to be more proactive. Therefore, we have been working on ideas of possible actions to help minimize the discriminatory behavior in a proactive way.
Some of these ideas include the following:
- Educational videos and presentations to help educate students on acceptance and an appreciation of diversity
- Encouraging people to start asking pronouns
- Increasing representation of multiple identities in the school’s curriculum
- Reading books about diversity to younger students
- Extended advisory topics
- Help selecting the One School One Book
We were also asked to provide feedback to the School Board on the Equity and Inclusion Policy and we are very hopeful that this policy will help our school to be more inclusive for all people.
If you are wondering what you can do to help, please consider talking with your children about what it means to show acceptance and appreciation for all groups of people.
Some important questions to bring up include “What are some of the groups of people that do not receive as much acceptance as others?” and “How can we support members of these groups?
We suggest that parents also educate themselves on the topic of caring for children of different identities, so that all members of the school community are contributing towards the improvement of Sears. Our group is working towards providing more resources for students and parents outside of school, along with the presentations and videos previously mentioned.
We want our school to be a place where all are accepted. No matter who you are, you are loved and accepted and should not feel like you are alone or hidden.
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*The LGBTQIA+ acronym stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual or Ally and now 2S has been added to represent Two-Spirited which is used by Indigenous people to describe their sexuality or gender and the plus sign encompasses inclusivity |
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A Letter of Support from Sears Administration |
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Dear members of The Joseph Sears School Community,
We are a school district with a strong commitment to the Four Cornerstones of Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, and Kindness, as well as the Portrait of a Sears Graduate Characteristics of Fearless Learner, Creative Thinker, Courageous Advocate, and Compassionate Citizen. With these commitments, we look for opportunities to support our students in developing agency through taking action and leadership on the issues that are of importance to them and that further our shared values. We believe these student leadership opportunities are powerful, vulnerable, and a true demonstration of who we want our students to be now and in the future. In addition to our students taking action and leadership on the issues that are of importance to them, we believe the shared values identified by our student Diversity, Equity, and Belonging committee that “we want our school to be a place where all are accepted” is valid, important, and worthy of everyone’s support, including support from their fellow students, parents, community members, and the school administration. To this end, we will continue to partner with the student DEB committee and help them to achieve their goals, as their goals are our goals. We will continue to listen, provide resources, create and hold space, take action, and advocate on their and all of our student's behalf.
One action we can take immediately is to remind everyone of the Student Safety Reporting Form, which is an online place for our students to share their experiences with us so we can better understand and respond to unkind or unsafe behavior. To that end, we ask any student to complete this Student Safety Reporting Form, also available on our website under Students, to share information regarding an experience or experiences they or someone they know has had or is having at school that is making them or others feel unaccepted or unsafe. In order to follow up on the information that is shared, anyone who completes this form will be asked to provide their name.
No matter who you are, you are loved and accepted and should not feel like you are alone or hidden.
To supporting our students together,
Kate Donegan, Superintendent
Steph Helfand, Principal
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Hanukkah is Coming to Kenilworth |
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We are excited to announce the momentous, inaugural Hanukkah menorah lighting in Kenilworth! A public menorah will proudly stand in North Park on Green Bay Road at Kenilworth Ave throughout the holiday. Everyone is invited to celebrate the festival of lights with music, sweet Hanukkah treats, and entertainment for the kids on Saturday, December 4th at 6:45pm. |
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The DEB Committee was created in 2019 to encourage richer dialogues and augmented programming around diversity, equity, and belonging in our school community. The committee is made up of parents, faculty, administration, socio-emotional learning team leads, and a school board member representative. This unique collaboration amongst school and community stakeholders allows for diverse perspectives on the committee and in the schoolhouse. |
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The Joseph Sears School DEB Committee
Faculty/Staff Committee Members
Nancy Economou, Social Worker
Hilary Harvey, Social-Emotional Learning Facilitator
Bill Gordon, Vocal Music Teacher
Gabriella Noyes, Social Worker
Parent Committee Members:
Kathy Ambrosino, Marjorie Bransfield, Tanya Brown, Sarah Czepiel, Analia Elizalde,
Adrienne Eynon, Steve Fifita, Allison Fitzgerald, Brittany Gottschall, Katalina Groh,
Joe Guarino, Anjali Kase, Varsha Kaura, Omar Khalaf, Radhika Maheshwari, Anaga Maira,
Sumita Mehta, Vanessa Menton, Steve Mugg, Amisha Muthialu, Joanna Naftali,
Kyra Nelson, Erin Paul, Kristin Pilant, Janet Scholl, Meredith Sullivan
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Interested in joining the DEB Committee? Please fill out the following form and a committee chairperson will reach out with more information. |
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The Joseph Sears School Diversity, Equity, Belonging Committee
542 Abbotsford Road, Kenilworth, IL, 60043
School Office: 847-256-5006
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