Creating circles of support for girls in schools and on campuses

The women of NYSUT have built a safe space to gather and create, plan and advocate for women's equity and equality through the NYSUT Women's Committee, which was established for the first time in NYSUT's 50 year history at the 2017 NYSUT Representative Assembly. 

As grown women, we know what this circle of support has meant to us. 

The question, how do we replicate this model for our students both in P-12 and in higher education? 

For the answer we needed to look no further than our own NYSUT women leaders who had already started this work in communities, locals, and districts across New York state. Young girls ages six to early adulthood shared their experiences with us. What we found was how profoundly these clubs have impacted these girls. Their words were the inspiration to spread this message in every space and place that needs to hear it.

Women Empowerment Clubs should be everywhere, particularly for girls of color!

Why? 

Just listen to what students had to say about these clubs:

• It's incredibly important for women to know they have a safe space to be accepted just as they are.
• This club offers a space where competition and comparison among women doesn't exist and doesn't matter.
• Knowing that other girls are going through the same things you are is really comforting.
• We've created a community that is constantly adapting and changing to meet our needs.
• This group has fueled a desire to be curious about things, engage in dialogue with an open mind, and seek out education on topics of interest.
• Being surrounded by my fellow students in this way made me confident and comfortable in my own skin.

The young women who participated in these clubs continually used the word empowered to describe how they felt about the work they accomplished. They all referenced the clubs as a starting point for their leadership development. 

These women referenced the roles they played in their club like secretary, vice president, or president. They saw these roles as essential to their personal growth. 

Another common thread was wanting to pay it forward to other girls and women. Even at their young ages they saw the value in giving back. These clubs helped these women see themselves as service leaders in their communities. What more could we ask of the students we teach? 

We want our students to see themselves as having a voice in our communities and society. These clubs did that for these girls.

Growing up, my school and community certainly did not offer anything like this, and I would have benefited from it so much. I was painfully shy, extremely introverted, and certainly never saw myself as a leader. These young people already have a strong idea of who they are as women and who they want to be as they continue to evolve. What. A. Gift! 

Sure, these clubs benefit the students who make up the fabric of the club, but it should be said that ALL students, not just girls, are welcome in these clubs and do attend and participate in the meetings, and these clubs get things done!

Clubs like these change the school climate for the better. Members...

• ensure the bathrooms are stocked with free period products.
• lobby for gender neutral bathrooms, so all students feel safe and comfortable. 
• speak up so dress codes are equitably enforced.
• model the language students should use toward one another to create a respectful environment. 
• rally for causes they care about in their communities by attending marches or by collecting items or money to assist others in need.  

The State Education Department has created a workgroup entitled The Girls of Color Interagency Workgroup with the goal of creating equitable learning spaces and addressing inequality in our educational system. Seems to me that Women Empowerment Clubs might be one small way to address this goal. A link to their work can be found here: Girls of Color Interagency Workgroup

The point is this. 

Achieving equity and equality for everyone and building a world where we all belong, are seen, and respected will take many forms. 

A club like this in your community, school, or on your campus can be anything you want it to be and can start with students as young as elementary school and continue into college. There are no rules except to say if you build it, they will come. 

The women of NYSUT have designed a tool to help you get started with your club. It is found here at NYSUT Women. We even have a grant to help you get your club started. Learn more about our grant: Mosaics of Sisterhood Grant

It took nearly 50 years for NYSUT to create a standing committee for women to find their voices, share their experiences, and support and empower one another. Let's not make our girls, particularly our girls of color, wait 50 years to have this same deep connection. Start a club in your community, school, or campus today and watch these circles of support grow! 

 

And how are the teachers?

The traditional greeting of the Maasai people in Africa asks, "And how are the children?" The response, "The children are well." 

As educators, we spend countless years of our life ensuring that in fact the children are well. However, right now, during this pandemic there is a second question to ask, "And how are the teachers?" Unfortunately, the response right now from most teachers is, "We are not well." 

If we do not take care of our teachers, right now, we will not have anyone left to take care of the children in our public schools. It is just that simple. 

I spent the morning of October 19th listening to the International Summit on the Teaching Profession (#ISTP21). It was an important conversation that included education and labor leaders from countries around the world including the United States. 

What struck me was the overwhelming focus on teachers and their wellbeing.  

As an advocate for teachers and their wellbeing, I was heartened to hear so many discuss the reality that teacher wellbeing and student achievement are linked — something we all know but seldom hear acknowledged so openly. 

Much of the discussion was focused on a cultural shift within education. I could not agree more with that! However, what needs to happen, in my humble opinion, is to rebuild trust. Teachers have lost trust in those making educational decisions to utilize their expertise. Even when we have good leadership at the state and federal levels, teachers are weary. They wonder how long it will last and whether any good initiatives or thoughts will be able to sustain once those leaders are no longer in those seats. That is why we need a complete and utter cultural shift within education.  

We are in a pivotal moment for education. One where we must think transformatively about the culture we want to create in our schools. However, we cannot get to where we need to be without valuing, honoring, and listening to teachers. For far too long we have talked at them, to them and around them. Policies have been top/down and test/punish. Teachers and their schools have been placed on lists without any rhyme or reason and without the necessary supports to help them achieve and grow. 

Here are some straightforward steps we can take to help rebuild the trust that has been eroded: 

• Listen to teachers and value and respond to what they have to say. Ask what they need and then give it to them. Check in with them without punishment to see how it is going, monitor, and adjust as needed. 
• Fund public education in P12 and higher education. Invest in education. Provide the funding promised so teachers can innovate, create, and imagine a culture of education that supports the whole child and the whole teacher. 
• Fund and provide high-quality embedded professional learning for our teachers like the type we provide through NYSUT's Education and Learning Trust. We must ensure our teachers are supported as they navigate the challenges they face.  
• Do away with systems that test, punish and sort teachers, schools, and children into inequitable categories they cannot shake.  

NYSUT has just put out our Future Forward report with five pillars to keep our public schools as the center of every community. You can read it here: NYSUT's Future Forward Report And, as I shared earlier, NYSUT has professional learning to help all educators attend to their wellness and the wellness of their students. Go to www.ELT.nysut.org to learn more. Don’t consider ELT PD; consider it time for yourself, because until each and every teacher can answer the proverb with the answer, "Yes, the teachers are well," we are not doing enough to support our schools, colleges, educators, and of course, the children. 

Post pandemic, we must put our well-being first

Like you, the pandemic has taught me many lessons. The primary one -- it’s time to stop being so hard on myself and instead start focusing on my overall health and wellness. 

Prior to the pandemic, like many women, I spent the better part of my adult life worrying about my body image.  

Is society to blame? A little.  

Am I to blame? You bet. 

I worried about the lack of curves in some places on my body — and too many curves in others. I stressed about dimples on my thighs and veins on my legs. I would fret about my tummy not being flat enough, but my chest being too flat. I was anxious about maintaining society’s version of an “ideal weight.” 

Was I focused on overall health and wellness? No. 

Mind you. Never was I unhealthy. I was just programmed to compare myself to others. To judge myself. I focused too much on appearances and cultural expectations. I equated overextending myself with proving my worth. Placing my own health and wellness last. 

Unfortunately, placing yourself last is quite common for women. According to a CDC study shared by The 19th News: 

• “Breast and cervical cancer screening tests declined by 87% and 84%, respectively, in April 2020 compared with the previous five-year averages.  
• Breast cancer screenings were down 84% for Latinas, and 98% for Native American women.  
• Cervical cancer screenings dropped 82% for Black women, and 92% for Asian American and Pacific Islander women. 
• Last August, The 19th reported that women’s wellness visits — where mammograms often happen — had fallen by as much as 86% during initial COVID-19 lockdowns.” 

Many women were unable to obtain their screenings due to a lack of access or because they were too busy taking care of other family members, lacked childcare or elder care assistance. I am one of the lucky ones and was able to keep my annual medical appointments.  

In May 2021, I was scheduled for a routine mammogram and ultrasound. I went feeling the best I had in years because the pandemic had afforded me the time to focus on my well-being, and I was slowly changing my mindset about myself. So, this new-found outlook made the subsequent call to come back for a needle biopsy an even greater shock. I could not believe what I was hearing. In that moment, all the worries I had held onto for decades about my figure and my appearance came rushing back to me. I had wasted a chunk of my adult life wishing my body were different and now all I cared about was staying healthy. I wanted my body to be exactly as it was. What a gift that realization was! 

A second call came, and I was told the irregularity would require a surgical biopsy. The good news is the lump turned out to be benign.  

I write this very personal blog to say this to you, my fellow NYSUT women: 

• Get screened yearly.  
• Do not miss routine appointments. 
• Stop judging yourself and your body. 
• Focus on physical and mental well-being and reclaiming balance in your life. 

Summer is the perfect time for educators to schedule appointments and prioritize physical and mental health and well-being. 

Learn from my mistakes and embrace your body now, do not wait for a scare to snap you into it. Take charge of your health.  

Remember, you survived a pandemic, and you are strong! However, if you still need a nudge to prioritize yourself, look no further than your fellow NYSUT women who are here to remind you. 

In sisterhood, solidarity, and strength,

Jolene

 

An Accidental Celebration

Wednesday, while driving home from work, I could see in the distance a police vehicle on the side of the road with its lights on and traffic lined up along the road. I was kicking myself for taking what I thought was a short cut to beat the traffic. I assumed there must be a car accident up ahead. 

To my surprise there was not.

Ahead was a celebration. 

A parade...in front of Forts Ferry Elementary School in Latham, NY. 

Ahead of me was a line of cars covered in balloons and streamers congratulating students.

Normally, anything preventing me from getting home expeditiously would be seen as an annoyance, but I relished witnessing this joyful moment. I went to take out my phone to capture the scene from my car but then realized the police officer directing traffic may not look upon that action with approval.

What I saw were children popping their heads out of sunroofs, parents and grandparents packed into cars, and educators outside, singing, clapping, and dancing.  

They had made it. Together.

I found myself quite emotional, and my breath caught in the back of my throat. This end-of-the-year celebration, something quite typical, although not in this exact form, was almost bringing me to tears.

Behind the music, dancing, clapping and socially distanced jubilance was the hardest year ever.  

It was brutal.  

Unimaginable. 

Yet this school community, like so many others, was celebrating.

As this school year ends, people will continue to write about learning loss. They will write about future standardized test scores. They will write about what divides us. They will not write about the pure unadulterated relief, support, care, and love that was being exuded from each and every educator that was out in that parking lot, each car filled with supportive, grateful families and each little face that was beaming with pride for having survived a global pandemic with their teachers by their side each and every day.

The police officer eventually motioned for me to pass and make my way home, but I hated leaving that sweet gathering behind. 

I did not know anyone in the parade, but I can tell you this with certainty, there is nothing like the "family" created within a school community. 

Nothing. 

In a typical year, educators, students, and families go through so many ups and downs. But in a pandemic? They have survived a Category 5 hurricane...one that kept going and going and seemed like it would never end.  

Yet through it all they had each other to lean on and to confide in even when they did not think they had anything left in the tank to keep going. The bonds made, even distanced ones, will last a lifetime.  

And the exhaustion these educators feel? Well, there are not adequate words to describe how mentally and physically taxing this work has been for them. (Let's hope we all focus on their social and emotional needs as we move forward!) 

Those educators in the parking lot? 

They will be there again come September, with those big smiles, open arms and huge hearts. Maybe I'll accidentally find myself driving by there to witness that too.

They will welcome another class of students, and they will continue being the backbone of our communities because that, my friends, is what teachers do!

Making the Case for Women in History Year-round

When I began teaching 6th grade social studies in 2006, just two women were cited as significant figures in our ancient civilizations textbook: Cleopatra and Queen Hatshepsut. Those two subchapters were the only places that the materials accompanying my lessons, in any subject, noted the significant contributions of women.  

When I left that classroom in 2017, even with the growth of the women’s movement in the interceding 11 years, the lessons still were the same. 

 

March, Women’s History Month, is always a time of reflection for me. It’s anecdotes like this lack of women cited in history textbooks that highlight for me the need to address the gender gap early in education in order to make strides for women’s equality long term.  

 

And don’t get me wrong, the gender gap in school curricula is changing. Where often math classes focus on numerals and equations, films like 2016’s “Hidden Figures” unlock the potential for educators to build lessons on the accomplishments that women — and specifically Black women like Katherine Johnson — have made in mathematics. Where for years English classes focused on Shakespearean or American classics predominantly written by white men, I know there are many educators who have placed a new focus on literature written by women and women of color.   

 

One AP English teacher recently told me she has created a unit specifically on the oppression of women throughout history. Yet she acknowledged that there is still a gap when it comes to teaching women’s contributions to society. 

 

Exposure to strong female role models — both those with whom children personally connect and those they learn about in their studies — is essential for all students. From an early age, it helps break gender stereotypes and shows young girls in particular that they can be changemakers, not just aspire to make change.  

 

It’s hard to downplay the dividends this could pay for the next generation of women when they reach their career fields, particularly when considering the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had on women in the workplace — the SHEcession, if you will. 

 

In 2020, women accounted for more than half of all net job losses, according to analysis of federal labor data by the National Women’s Law Center. In December, all of the 140,000 total jobs lost were held by women. Black and Latina women have been the hardest hit in the past year, with 8.4 percent of Black women and 9.1 percent of Latina women remaining unemployed, compared to 6.3 percent of white women and 6.3 percent of women overall.  

  

As a 27-year educator and teachers union official, job losses in education are a particular gut punch for me. During a recent conversation with a Rochester-area union leader, she relayed the story of a paraprofessional who lost both her school job and her retail job due to the pandemic. To make matters worse, she contracted COVID-19 in December. Sick and without work, she has had to navigate a backlogged unemployment system while maintaining her role as primary caregiver for her children.  

And that’s to say nothing of the ongoing inequality faced by women still in the workforce. White women make about 80 cents on the dollar compared to white men. The gap is much greater for women of color.  

 

Women are significantly underrepresented in senior leadership positions as well. Even in education, where 77 percent of New York educators are women, just 27 percent of superintendents are women, according to a New York State School Boards Association study.   

 

Providing a well-rounded, diverse education will brighten the economic futures of girls who grow up assured they will make ground-breaking professional contributions, rather than seeing how only a select few make it to the top. We should start by taking a hard look at national and state learning standards to identify where exactly the current gaps in our curricula are. Acknowledging the lack of emphasis on studying women, especially women of color, and the implicit or explicit biases that create and perpetuate that pattern is critical. 

 

Giving all children an opportunity to learn from the wisdom and experiences of trailblazers of all genders and races, from this country and from around the globe, has to be a concerted effort. I know many make a special effort to do so during Women’s History Month, but we need to make it a year-round endeavor.