As we settle into the school year, one of the issues facing educators is that of colorism. The definition of colorism as recalled from the Webster dictionary is defined as a “Prejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion, often among persons of the same racial identification”. Often times when walking the halls of our K-12 schools I hear things like “you’re light-skinned or dark-skinned” and or hearing different praises for lighter skinned compared to darker skin. As I talked to my colleagues about the things I was hearing throughout the halls and playgrounds, I was curious to find out if there was any curriculum around this topic that could carefully explain this very large and complex “ -ism”.  Not only does this colorism intricately weave the European colonization into different cultures that have carried these beliefs over time, it continues to grow in other forms of movies, magazines, schools, hospitals and society as a whole.
As I went looking for answers, I started reading tons of scholarly journals and data on this and came across this article on recognizing and addressing colorism in schools.  This article is from teaching tolerance and also has some great links for educators as well as on our UE Blog to help bring a clearer picture to this topic in the classroom as well as a strategies list that include: ongoing counseling, school discipline, Book readings, mentorships as well as using curriculum that is culturally relevant.
If you know of any other great links on this topic, please feel free to post them in the comments section below!

Name: Joshua Suman
Position: Student Support Counselor – Seattle Public Schools (Madrona Elementary)
 
What led you to your current position?  I was led to Seneca and this position by a deep commitment to supporting equitable access to high-quality education. My history working with and volunteering in service of young people has provided valuable context in this role, which is the most rewarding I have had during my professional career!
 
Fun Fact/Quote:  I have two Jack Russell Terriers – one is blind and the other has only one eye…And they are happy, energetic, and mischievous!
 
What does your average day look like? I am fortunate to arrive at Madrona every morning to a chorus of greetings from our excitable and friendly students! I have a small group of students I meet with in the morning for a daily check-in – we discuss social skills; conflict resolution; emotional responsiveness; and the importance of having a strong network of adult and peer allies.
 
I provide student support throughout the day in a variety of capacities and in a number of contexts. Our students face immense challenges in many areas of their lives. Through strong, trusting relationships with students, I am able to better serve their immediate and long term emotional, academic, social, and physiological needs – as well as provide wraparound support for their family, as appropriate. Family support also comes in a variety of forms – food backpack distribution in conjunction with a local nonprofit for low-income families; assisting families experiencing homelessness navigate the parameters of McKinney-Vento; facilitating holiday meal and gift distribution for families in need; and working with Seattle Public Schools to source and disseminate available resources to support these students in school and at home.
 
One crucial aspect of my work is communication – with students, teachers, and parents, as well as building and district administrators and consultants. I regularly meet with teachers outside of class time to conceptualize strategies and delivery methods to support students in class; download about previous resets out of the classroom; and maintain a strong sense of the pulse and culture of the classroom and school at-large.
 
At the end of each day, our students leave me filled with a sense of satisfaction and purpose that is unmatched in any other line of work I have experienced!
 
Why do you do this work?  This work is rewarding beyond belief; challenging in a way that necessitates innovation and growth; and provides a positive resource for the students and families most in need. I am fortunate to have found in Seneca an organization that mirrors my values and allows me to pursue my passion for serving youth while fostering professional development.
 
What hope do you have for the future of our program?  I am excited to be part of Seneca’s present and look forward to the many inspiring and innovative ways we will change the face of education in the years and decades to come. In particular, I look forward to seeing Seneca integrate our values and the model of Unconditional Education throughout SPS – providing exponentially greater support for some of our most vulnerable students and families.

Dearborn Park International School (k-5) serves students in the heart of Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. As part of Seneca’s expanding partnership with Seattle Public Schools, a Student Support Counselor was placed at the school in Fall of 2017.
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With an enrollment of about 400 students, Dearborn Park takes seriously it’s responsibility to provide every student with an excellent, holistic education. Dearborn is a dual-language emersion school which embeds Spanish, Mandarin, and English into instruction. As one of the most diverse schools in Seattle, students at Dearborn come from families representing over 25 unique languages and cultures.  About 70% of students at Dearborn come from low-income families, and about 40% are English Language Learners. Dearborn is a school where joy is always in the air, families and community members are active and engaged, and staff care deeply about the students they serve.

Seneca’s partnership with Dearborn began with a full-time Student Support Counselor focused on carrying out the reset procedure- helping students who are experiencing behavioral challenges, in the moment, to regulate emotions, reflect, restore relationships, and reintegrate into classrooms. With support from Seneca staff, these Tier II and Tier III behaviors became less frequent and shorter in duration. This reduction in reactive interventions provides a powerful opportunity in Seneca school partnerships – focus can shift to proactive PBIS-informed approaches (check-in/check-outs, reward systems, behavior plans etc) for individual students. It also enables Seneca staff to be key resources in systems changes at both the classroom and school-wide level.
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One powerful support that Seneca has been prioritizing with its SPS partners (including Dearborn) is focusing on the Teacher-Student relationship. Research has consistently shown that the relationship between a student and their teacher is one of the greatest factors in student success. This is sometimes referred to as the invisible classroom – “a collection of continuously active neurological and human connections that have an immense effect on learning but little to do with the actual content of the lesson (Olson, 2014).” It is what exists beyond competencies and test scores – it is the behavioral, emotional, and rational elements that create a contextual, safe, and caring environment in which learning occurs for all students. Teachers, more than any other adult in a school building, have the power to create these environments. By closely partnering with teachers and doing in-class proactive work with individual students, Seneca staff play an active role at Dearborn (and other schools) to work towards positive invisible classrooms. These efforts create sustainability, key to the mission of Seneca’s Unconditional Education model.

Learning Without Limits is a K-5 school in the Fruitvale neighborhood in Oakland that believes strongly in the balance between constructivist learning and knowledge-based learning using culturally relevant pedagogy. Students attending Learning Without Limits are empowered with the academic skills and character traits necessary to succeed in college and beyond. The teachers and staff help students grow into leaders who care about their peers and who are able to act in support of what they believe in.  

Students and their families are a part of a community where relationships are nurtured and student growth is a collaborative effort, and their actual vision statement was written by founding families and teachers (they chant it as a whole-school community every morning).
 
We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us as we grow into leaders, who are passionate and care about making our world better. We are equipped with skills and knowledge, filled with curiosity and we know that even when we face challenges, we will achieve!

Name:  Ashley Crittendon
Your Position? Behavior Support Specialist (BSS) at Learning Without Limits
 
What led you to your current position? When I worked at Cox in 2015, I was a lead SSA where I would train incoming SSAs before they would be sent off to their various school sites. After my first year working as an SSA at Learning without Limits in 2016, a BSS position became available, so Darrell Burns, whom was my supervisor at the time, encouraged me to apply for the position.  I repeatedly told Darrell I wasn't interested, and with much push and encouragement from him, but more push than encouragement, I decided to apply and was chosen to work as a BSS at my home site Learning without Limits since August of 2017.
 
Fun Fact/Quote? "Success is no accident.  It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do." -Pele 
 
What does your average day look like? I support kids in four different classrooms in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade throughout the day and I support at lunch and recess where I play kickball and or basketball with students.  I finish the day off by doing documentation (mental health notes and Apricot), collaboration meetings with my students' support teams, or supervision with my two SSAs on site. 
 
Why do you do this work? First of all, I love being around kids and watching them grow as individuals, but a lot of the students that we work with are hard work, so they often get pushed to the side and forgotten about.  I feel I can really be an advocate for these students and I want to be the support that they can depend on and continue to grow to the point where they can have a feeling of success and be able to be more self sufficient.  As Darrell says often, "We want to work our way out of a job" because there are many other people who can benefit from our support.   
 
What hope do you have for the future of our program? My hope is to continue to provide our clients and school partners with tools and various interventions to  help them build capacity to support students and their families, so that All-In can continue to broaden our relationships with other clients and school partners.  

Name: Jacqueline Leong-Abad
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Position: Clinical intervention Specialist at Legacy Academy

What led you to your current position?  I was interested in working with younger kids to gain more experience with this age-group as I had previously been working with adolescents and adults.

Fun Fact/Quote? At one time, I had a pet wolf named Hunter. 

What does your average day look like? The average day at Legacy Academy can be a lot of pushing in and pulling out, based to the level of support needed by students and staff. There are days where I’m folding origami and playing card games to enhance a students social skills to conducting Risk Assessments and collaborating with a students and their outside providers team to support safety. Although this is the school’s freshman year, there have been various opportunities such as providing school-wide psycho-education to the teens, assessments, individual and family therapy, and art-based interventions.

Why do you do this work? I enjoy the creativity of kiddos and I learn something new from working with each person and their families. Every day is a new day and it can be so different from yesterday, which I appreciate. 

What hope do you have for the future of our program? I hope our program expands to provide groups (planning is underway).

Name: Rashida Wright
​Position: Academic Intervention Specialist at Invictus Academy and Behavior Support Specialist at Caliber Beta Academy, both in Richmond, CA. 
 
What led you to your current position? 
 I have always wanted to teach, since the 2nd grade, when I had the most amazing and vivacious teacher ever and wanted to be just like her! I have always loved teaching students and working with under-served students with different needs. I was a mental health counselor for two years, then a teacher for five years at James Baldwin Academy.  After working in that concentrated world for 7 years, I realized that I wanted to branch out and grow my collaboration and leadership skills; I wanted to broaden the impact that I felt I could make, so I came to All-In! 
 
Fun Fact/Quote? 
Fun fact:  I lived in Madrid for a year!  
Quote: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. – Nelson Mandela 
 
What does your average day look like?  
The way my day looks depends on which site I am at.   At Caliber (where I am a Behavior Support Specialist), I collaborate with the program specialist, education specialist and general education teacher of my student, I then am supporting said student throughout the day in all of their classes, providing behavioral support and interventions, tracking behaviors, incentives, etc., as well as providing academic support in the classroom.  I also facilitate weekly meetings with all service providers of all students in the collaboration model at Caliber, I also attend the leadership team meetings.   
At Invictus (where I am an Academic Intervention Specialist), I begin the day collaborating and checking in with general education teachers, I then provide push in and pull out academic services to all the students on my caseload (15), I also complete IEP paperwork, facilitate IEP meetings, assess students, collaborate and communicate with caregivers and families, attend leadership meetings and hold meetings with general education teachers to support differentiation and accommodations within the general education classroom. 
 
Why do you do this work? 
I do this work because I love teaching and I believe that every student, regardless of ability, background, or privilege deserves to feel empowered and each student also deserves access to an equitable education. 
 
What hope do you have for the future of our program?   
My hope for the All-In program is that it continues to expand and build partnerships for an even larger impact!

Name: Katrina Dollaga
Position:  Student Support Assistant at Lazear Charter Academy
 
What led you to your current position?  When I graduated, I wasn’t quite ready to work in the social services field but I always knew I’d make my way back to it. I have always enjoyed working with children, especially in education. My first job ever was tutoring students in math and English. I also volunteered for an English-Tagalog bilingual program for newly immigrated K-8th grade students in San Francisco. It’s always been such a rewarding experience working with students and when I was ready get into the field, I knew I wanted to work in education. I was drawn to All-In! and the SSA position because of the holistic approach to supporting students.
 
Fun Fact/Quote:  My favorite number is 11!
 
What does your average day look like ? I usually start my day writing mental health notes in the MTSS room. A few minutes before school starts, I make my way to the yard to say hello to students. I then meet up with my client to get breakfast and do our daily check in. Throughout the day I’m in my client’s classes to support him in staying in his classes as well as access the material. I do this by utilizing behavioral modification strategies and incentives specific to the support that he needs. When needed, I also support other students. Each day is different and there are so many moving parts so I’m constantly communicating with the MTSS team.
 
Why do you do this work? I do this work for the small wins in each day. The student’s smiles and laughter make it all worth it! 
 
What hope do you have for the future of our program?  I hope that All-In! continues to grow and foster partnerships with schools!