East Aurora School District 131: Keynote Speaker Emphasizes District-Wide Theme At Institute Day

Press release from East Aurora School District 131:

February 28, 2022

Since the start of second semester, teachers, staff, and leadership in District 131 have been reimaging what it takes to make students feel valued and safe within their classrooms.

Do you see me? ¿Me puedes ver?

This theme, first introduced during East Aurora’s January School Improvement by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jennifer Norrell, was fully embraced at the district-wide Institute Day on February 25. This thematic concept, meant to guide all district personnel in evaluating their own role in making students feel seen and understood, is one that will trickle down into decisions ranging from the curricular, social, and organizational.

To help manifest this idea, the district sought the talents of teacher, speaker, and author of I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything For Our Kids, Kyle Schwartz. Schwartz acted as the Keynote speaker for both January and February events, enabling all staff in District 131 the opportunity to hear from the experiences of a current public school educator.

Schwartz spoke about preserving and responding to the need for equity in the classroom. For Schwartz, this starts with recognizing that all students have stories, desires, fears, and strengths unique to them that they are just waiting to tell.

This concept, codified in her book of entries from real students finishing the sentence, “I wish my teacher knew…” directly correlates to the model question, Do you see me? ¿Me puedes ver?, introduced by Dr. Norrell.

The question is one that all district staff were invited to explore during February’s Institute event—titled the Mask-erade to further the theme of visibility and true perception of our students. Social workers, classroom teachers, custodians, clerical staff, IT personnel, and all in between were asked to assess how they, as part of the East Aurora community, could contribute to a district learning environment that enables all children to feel understood, seen, and able to reach their full potential.

In conjunction with Keynote Kyle Schwartz, Dr. Norrell was joined in leading the day’s events by the presidents of the district’s various Unions, each reading poems that held a spotlight on key messages of compassion, happiness, and thankfulness.

Festive masquerade masks in hand, East Aurora staff completed a day of professional learning centered not only on assessment and instructional best practices, but on introspection and a reliance on their own peer communities to build the best learning environment for all District 131 students.

This press release was produced by East Aurora School District 131. The views expressed here are the author’s own.