The Connecticut State Department of Education recently offered resources and materials for students in response to protests and riots across the country following “several tragic, high profile, and disturbing acts of violence against people of color at the hands of police,” the department said in a release.

“It’s inescapable that our children and students have also seen and heard about the unrest and root causes on TV, on the internet or social media, in a school setting, or from their friends,” Connecticut Commissioner of Education Dr Miguel Cardona shared in the June 2 release. “Processing and making sense of the emotions that incidents of racism and violence and the consequences evoke can be very difficult for all of us regardless of our age. Likewise, engaging in meaningful, developmentally appropriate conversations with our children and students about these issues and events presents an understandably sensitive challenge for many parents and educators.”

Later the release reads, “If we are to prepare our students to become productive members of a diverse society who embrace diversity and foster school communities in which all members feel valued, respected, and safe, remaining silent on these current events is not an option. As adults and educators, we must be proactive about making this a teachable moment by addressing issues of racism and inequity head-on.”

Commissioner Cardona shared resources to help provide teachers, students, and parents “insights and strategies to help engage in a dialogue about racism, hate, violence, and other tragic events that children may hear about at school and/or see on the news.”

All of the materials are available online. They are listed below as named in the release and with links. The links to the materials will be live with this story at newtownbee.com.

Written Materials Shared

Teaching Tolerance, tolerance.org/topics/race-ethnicity

Avoiding Racial Equity Detours, portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/Discipline/Critical_Work_of_Racial_Identity_Development_Presentation.pdf

State Education Resource Center (SERC), ctserc.org/documents/misc/equity-2017-09-20-teaching-and-learning.pdf

The National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement developed a guide — Talking to Kids about Tragedies (such as shootings and terror attacks) in the news — which helps explain for parents and guardians the importance of discussing the event with children and helps parents with common questions children ask in the aftermath of tragic events, schoolcrisiscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/guidelines-talking-about-tragedies.pdf

Compilation Of Racial Identity Models — Racial Equity Tools, racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/Compilation_of_Racial_Identity_Models_7_15_11.pdf

A Look At Implicit Bias And Microaggressions (Todd Finley, Edutopia), edutopia.org/article/look-implicit-bias-and-microaggressions

Association Of Middle Level Instruction And Microaggressions In The Classroom (Rick Wormeli, AMLE), amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet.aspx?ArtMID=888&ArticleID=1081

How White Parents Can Use Media To Raise Anti-Racist Kids (Sierra Filucci, Common Sense Media), commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-white-parents-can-use-media-to-raise-anti-racist-kids

The National Education Association (NEA) has several online resources for teachers, students, and parents to help engage in a dialogue about racism, hate and violence which can be accessed on NEA’s website, nea.org.

Resources For Addressing Trauma, Violence, And Grief (with links to additional resources), portal.ct.gov/SDE/Digest/Digest-items/Resources-for-Addressing-Trauma-Violence-and-Grief.

SERC Racial Equity Online Discussions

According to the release, the SERC will offer facilitated online discussions June 11, June 18, and June 25; participants will share their perspectives on a different topic each week. Registration is required separately for each session. On June 11, the discussion will be “COVID-19 and Anti-Asian Racism: Supporting Asian Students, Families, and Educators;” the June 18 discussion will address “Distance Learning and Family Engagement: The Perspective of Communities of Color;” and the June 25 discussion will examine “Mental Health and Racial Equity.” Registration is available online at ctserc.org/events by clicking on the event.

Connecticut State Department of Education Leadership Webinar

The Connecticut State Department of Education will host a webinar on June 16, from 10:30 am to noon, titled “Schooling for Critical Consciousness: Engaging Black and Lantinx Youth in Analyzing, Navigating, and Challenging Racial Injustice.” Registration is available online at ctserc.org/events?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D145282277.

Commissioner Cardona closed the release saying, “Together, as leaders, as educators, as adults, we can ensure our school communities are learning environments in which all students feel valued, respected, and safe to learn and grow.”