For more than 30 years, the Center for Schools and Communities has worked to raise awareness of the need for equitable access to education and community systems where all students and families feel safe, valued and respected. We’ve been working to strengthen our own commitment to enacting socially-just practices, right now and far into the future. For all of us at the Center, equity and allyship are ongoing processes of learning, unlearning and working toward a practice of humbled solidarity. We remain committed to lead and support programs and initiatives to address social injustice.
In recognition and celebration of February as Black History Month, we are pleased to offer three professional learning opportunities designed to advance knowledge and promote discussion on issues relevant to the African American experience and education. We hope you join us.
Sessions
Continuing Education Credits
The Center for Schools and Communities, as a division of the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, is offering Act 48 professional development credit for those with Pennsylvania teaching or administrative certificates. Participants must attend a session from beginning to end, complete the session evaluation and provide their professional personnel ID number, to receive credits; a link will be provided during the session.
Reconsidering the Civil Rights Movement Through Primary Source Analysis
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, from 6 to 7:15 p.m. EST
The teaching of the Civil Rights Movement, and leaders such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., is often reduced to narratives of trauma and struggle. This narrow focus on pain, exclusion and oppression can too easily confirm racial biases around Black inferiority. In this interactive workshop, we will analyze a series of primary sources from the Library of Congress collections to broaden our thinking about various historical narratives. Our collective critical examination may invite us to reconsider our understanding of the Civil Rights Movement and to recognize it as an era of visible resistance — full of courage, power, strategy and commitment. Our analysis of a primary source set will shed light on ways in which this resistance continues to inform ongoing civil rights movements today.
Andrea G. Kolb, M.Ed., Statewide Multilingual Education and Instructional Design Project Manager, Center for Schools and Communities
More events may be added in future, follow us on Twitter for updates. @Center_Schools
Critical Examination of Race Narratives in Children’s Literature
Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, from 6 to 7:15 p.m. EST
As educators continue enacting more culturally responsive pedagogies, multicultural children’s literature has flooded the educational marketplace and rapidly made its way into classrooms. Despite good intentions, however, not all literature that is marketed as multicultural is high-quality and asset-oriented. In fact, some texts portray strong implicit biases, stereotypes and oppressive narratives. In this workshop, you will be introduced to a critical analysis tool for examining multicultural literature and practice conducting critical examinations of various children’s books.
Andrea G. Kolb, M.Ed., Statewide Multilingual Education and Instructional Design Project Manager, Center for Schools and Communities
Stephanie Colvin-Roy, Lead ICPS International Trainer and CPSEL Training and Organizational Development Associate, Center for Schools and Communities
More events may be added in future, follow us on Twitter for updates. @Center_Schools
The Intersection of Equity and Education
Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, from 1 to 2 p.m. EST
Shileste Overton Morris, Ed.D., director of the Center for Schools and Communities will interview equity advocates Nikole Y. Hollins-Sims, Ed.D., educational consultant for the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) in Harrisburg, and Amber M. Sessoms, Ed.D., founder of Natural Inclination, to explore the intersections between equity and education.
The two guests will discuss the successes and challenges they have observed as they worked with districts and schools to prioritize equity and focus on systemic integration. The interviewees will also share strategies for teachers, parents and the community at large to support systemic equity efforts in schools.
Register for The Intersection of Equity and Education
Presenters
Stephanie Colvin-Roy
Stephanie Colvin-Roy has spent more than 15 years providing professional development in prevention education and youth development. She has developed a curriculum incorporating social emotional learning competencies and resiliency on topics including team building, alcohol and other drug abuse prevention, cyber addiction, bullying, cyberbullying, diversity, stress and anger management. She has co-written the “We Know BETter” gambling prevention curriculum recognized by the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. Currently, Colvin-Roy provides professional development, consultation and technical assistance to schools and youth-serving agencies with a focus on social and emotional learning as the training and organizational development associate for the Center for the Promotion of Social and Emotional Learning (CPSEL) at the Center for Schools and Communities. She is the lead national trainer for I Can Problem Solve (ICPS) and Raising a Thinking Child and manages the ICPS program in partnership with the program developer, Myrna Shure. Colvin-Roy worked as an adjunct professor at Thaddeus Stevens College teaching personal resiliency and diversity, is certified in the PA Student Assistance Program (SAP), and served as a commonwealth approved lead SAP trainer. She is certified in the OLWEUS Bullying Prevention Program, Lifelines Suicide Prevention and Lions Quest, an evidence-based SEL program. Colvin-Roy is currently pursuing advanced training in both “Courageous Conversations-Beyond Diversity”, and “Supporting Students Exposed to Trauma (SSET).”
Nikole Y. Hollins-Sims, Ed.D.
Nikole Y. Hollins-Sims, Ed.D., is an educational consultant for the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) in Harrisburg. She currently serves as the statewide co-lead for the Behavior initiative and as an active member of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support initiative. In addition, Hollins-Sims is the statewide lead for equitable practices in partnership with the Office of Safe Schools for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. She is also involved in the State Systemic Improvement Plan with a focus on increasing the graduation rates of students with disabilities. Finally, Hollins-Sims is a Pennsylvania certified school psychologist with a specific interest in social justice. She has conducted research around caregivers of children of incarcerated parents and their motivation to engage in family-school partnerships.
Andrea Kolb, M.Ed.
Andrea Kolb has nearly 10 years of experience in the ELD field and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on the education of English Learners. She is bilingual in Spanish and English and has experience working with teachers in the United States and abroad. She has served as a university instructor at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, teaching coursework related to the instruction and assessment of ELs as well as foundations of multicultural education, educational policy, multilingual literacies, and linguistics. She has experience in designing and delivering in-person, online and blended professional development programs, and she has worked as an instructional coach for teachers of ELs in a large urban school district. Additionally, Andrea has leadership experience in early childhood education programs for ELs as well as expertise in program development for high-impact dual capacity-building family engagement.
Shileste Overton Morris, Ed.D.
Shileste Overton Morris, Ed.D., is director of the Center for Schools and Communities, a statewide training and consulting organization that improves educational and life outcomes for children and their families. The Center’s work focuses on a continuum of efforts around early childhood care and development, social and emotional learning, positive youth development, family support and community service integration, school safety, and youth violence prevention. Overton Morris has worked at and with public and private institutions including nonprofit organizations, foundations and state government agencies building strategic partnerships and leading innovations. She serves on national, state, and local boards and has authored several publications to help clinicians, parents, and youth development staff work with adolescent girls regarding female aggression. Overton Morris has a strong repertoire in topics related to parent engagement, marginalized populations, and issues focusing on cultural competence, equity, and education leadership.
Amber M. Sessoms, Ed.D.
Amber M. Sessoms, Ed.D., founder of Natural Inclination, is an accomplished Nationally Certified School Psychologist and trained facilitator, with 19 years of experience within the educational and mental health sectors. As a little Black girl, she was abandoned by her biological mother and was raised in a predominately white town, she was always keenly aware of being “othered.” These early childhood experiences refined her natural inclination for curiosity regarding fairness and belongingness, which ultimately led Sessoms to pursue a career of service in school psychology and adult education.
Today, Sessoms combines her lived experience, formal education and facilitation skills to help her clients critically self-reflect on their ways of knowing in order to break down barriers and build bridges across differences.
Sessoms holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in African-American studies and a master’s degree in psychology from Millersville University. She received her doctorate degree in psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Sessoms was awarded the 2020 School Psychologist of the Year by the Association of School Psychologists of Pennsylvania. She is the first person of color to receive this prestigious award.