The impact of trauma


Week of September 15-19
 
Meeting and connecting with our parents, families and caregivers is crucial to the success of our students. 

This week I attended all the area meetings to present information about OBMSA and provide an overview of the goals for the office.

These interactions allowed attendees to hear firsthand about where we are now and where we hope to go as an office and as a district in the education of our black male students. It also provided a venue for parents and families to provide feedback and ask any pressing questions they may have had about the office. I strongly encourage everyone to attend these meetings as your voice is important and needs to be heard!
 
Over the weekend I attended a conference at Metro State University in St. Paul titled "Empowerment through Black Man Healing Conference" led by Sam Simmons. The overarching theme for the conference was trauma. 

The breakout sessions were very informative and dug deep into the trauma black people in general and black men in particular have faced throughout their lives.  I also learned that trauma has a huge impact on our daily decision making. 

That got me thinking about young people in our schools and how the trauma that they may have witnessed or experienced impacts how they navigate through our school system.  In addition, I thought about how earlier generations engage our educational system and what impact their prior experiences have on today's students. 

I don't have the answers to these thoughts, but I'm definitely going to set up a time to connect with Mr. Simmons to gain some knowledge around trauma in hopes of being more responsive to the needs of our students and families and to be able to inform others who work directly with our them on a daily basis.

The work continues.
 

Presenting OBMSA and Acceleration 2020

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