Fwd: Kick Off Your Week: “Our Languages, Our Future” Symposium Wraps Up Month of Multicultural Celebrations

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From: Supt. Christina M. Kishimoto <reply@hawaiidoe.org>
Date: Mon, Mar 4, 2019 at 1:12 PM
Subject: Kick Off Your Week: "Our Languages, Our Future" Symposium Wraps Up Month of Multicultural Celebrations
To: <20048903@notes.k12.hi.us>

VIEW EMAIL ONLINE "Our Languages, Our Future" Symposium Wraps Up Month of Multicultural Celebrations The Department's inaugural multilingualism symposium on Saturday, with the theme "Our Languages, Our Future," was a great success, bringing together educators from across the state to design innovative learning experiences that honor and celebrate students' languages and cultures. With the United Nations declaring 2019 the International Year of the Indigenous Languages, it's very timely for us to reflect on and advance our multilingual efforts. The symposium was a fitting conclusion to a busy February that included local and national cultural celebrations at our schools. At Kailua Intermediate, for example, Principal Jill LaBoy and her staff embraced Black History Month with the theme of "Honoring the past, inspiring the future." "I truly appreciate all of the efforts my school team put into organizing Black History Month at our school, especially Dr. Marcia Howard," Principal LaBoy shared. "The posters around campus of famous African Americans inform our students of people who have made an impact on our world. The daily vignettes in the morning bulletin take it a step further to connect the accomplishments of people of color in the past and present to how their contributions impact our world today. The messages and events of our school's Black History Month allow us to celebrate diversity, acceptance and unity." And the celebration doesn't end in February. The school will enjoy a performance by a West African Dance troupe and Polynesian dancers to showcase the similarities and differences between the cultures. To learn more about Kailua Intermediate's upcoming activities, click here. Meanwhile, Kailua High also plans to continue embracing and weaving cultures into their curriculum beyond February. English teacher Angelica Grimble says the effort is a year-long lesson for her students — not just something limited to February and Black History Month. "My juniors, during our American Dream Unit, explored the plight of African Americans by delving into the world of Harlem Renaissance poetry including Langston Hughes' poem, 'I, Too.' My AP Language & Composition class completed a rhetorical analysis of Dr. Martin Luther King's 'Letter from Birmingham Jail,'" she added. "We did not do this because it is February. We did this because I want to teach my students how to embrace other cultures by understanding their rich history, struggles and victories." I applaud Principal LaBoy, Dr. Howard, Ms. Grimble and all of our HIDOE educators who used Black History Month, Mahina 'Olelo Hawai'i and our inaugural multilingualism conference as a platform to collaborate and foster student voice and learning. FAFSA Cash for College Challenge Update We're in the home stretch of our FAFSA Cash For College Challenge, which will reward a total of $40,000 in prize money among senior classes with the highest completion rates and largest gains in FAFSA applications. The contest ends March 15, so I encourage all of our high school counselors, teachers and staff to keep pushing our seniors forward to submit their applications now. As of Feb. 22, Molokai High has moved into the lead with nearly 80 percent of their FAFSA applications completed, followed by Anuenue School, Lanai, Roosevelt and Kailua. Great job! Overall, 49 percent of seniors have completed their applications. Keep tracking our progress at Hawaii's FAFSA Data Dashboard as we sprint to our 70 percent completion goal. FOLLOW US: Facebook | Twitter | Vimeo | Pinterest | LinkedIN     ONLINE: HawaiiPublicSchools.org This email was sent to all Hawai'i DOE staff. unsubscribe

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