December 2021 Envision Equity

Watch: Adolescent Advocates Heroes of Racial Eduity

JCPS DEP Resume/CV

Interested in learning more about @JCPSDEP1 and our programs/initiatives? Check out our department's CV/Resume here: https://issuu.com/jcpsdep/docs/dep_resume

August 2021 Envision Equity

 Welcome back students! Enjoy the August 2021 Envision Equity!

Literacy & Chess summer program at @ Chancey

Students in the Literacy & Chess summer program at @ChanceyChat culminated their camp today with a chess demonstration and presentation. Thanks to coach Corbin Seavers, and @jcpsky teacher Stephanie Chávez for leading this great summer experience for our students! https://www.flickr.com/photos/jcpsdep/albums/72157719537557010

JCPSDEP Extending Equity: Dwan Williams

The @JCPSKY Diversity, Equity, and Poverty Department is working hard to expand Equity. We are proud of the work we are doing and want to share our work with you! This week, meet Dwan Williams, Specialist in Racial Equity Policy. #jcpsdep

Envision Equity June 2021

DuBois Academy’s first 8th grade promotion celebration

Girls on the Rise Summer Program

 Enrollment is now open for our Girls on the Rise summer program for students in grades 6-12!

Contact gotr2021@gmail.com for more info.

Rising Poet Contest Winner Announced!

 JCPS student Lanasia Mason wins JCPS Rising Poet competition. Hear her poem below.

NAACP/JCPS Community Forum

 Please join us on Thursday, May 13 at 6:30 p.m., for our NAACP/JCPS Community Forum. The panel will be addressing the progress made on the district’s strategic goals as it pertains to the racial equity plan.

2021 Summer Camps

Registration is now open for our 2021 Summer Camps taking place at Goldsmith Elem, Frayser Elem, Crums Lane Elem, The Academy @ Shawnee, Chancey Elem, Burnet Ave. Baptist Church, Watterson Elem, Rangeland Elem, King Elem, Foster Elem, and Engelhard Elem. Register online at https://forms.gle/UY2RLFFtdYTYreom9

Spring Break Lit & Camps!

@jcpsky students are on day 4️⃣ of our virtual Spring Break ‘Literacy &’ camps. Students are learning about yoga, chess, karate, dance and more! #jcpsdep 

Women's History Month

Please join our next JCPS/NAACP Virtual Community forum on April 8 @ 6:30 p.m. Speakers will include Dr. Vanessa Mcphail and Ms. Michelle Dillard. PD credit is available for @jcpsky staff. Find on pdCentral using code 20-21114202. Register here: http://bit.ly/jcpsnaacp

Louisville Teacher Residency program

 We are currently accepting applications for our 21-22 Louisville Teacher Residency program. To register to attend an information session, please email louisvilleteacherresidency@jefferson.kyschools.us!

NAACP/JCPS Community Forum

Great discussions around Racial Equity and students of color during our NAACP/JCPS Community Forum tonight! Thank you to all those that attended and contributed! #jcpsdep

Speaker Series PD with Jessica Duenas

Reminder: Our next Speaker Series PD will take place today from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Our speaker will be Jessica Duenas and the topic will be 'The Implications of Educator Identities on Diverse Students. @jcpsky staff can register on pdCentral. Join us! #jcpsdep

Spring Break ‘Literacy &’ Programs

 Registration is now open for our virtual Spring Break ‘Literacy &’ Programs. Programs run 3/29 to 4/2. Open to @jcpsky students in grades 3-5. Activities will include Karate, Hip-Hop, Yoga, and Soccer! Register here.

Community Arts Organizations Talk

 Sign up here to see a panel of community Arts organizations talk about the services they offer the community and our youth.

Racial Equity Training facilitated by Dr. Delilah Gonzales

Please join us on March 24 & 25 (Choose One), for our Racial Equity Training facilitated by Dr. Delilah Gonzales, the Director of Field Experience and Clinical Teaching for the College of Education at Texas Southern University. @jcpsky staff can Register on pdCentral! #jcpsdep

Rising Poet Competition

 @jcpsky students are invited to submit poems to the Rising Poet Competition! Students may submit entries at the following link for a chance to have their poem published and aired on @WLKY

 If You Can’t Fly, Then Run

Diversity, Equity, and Poverty Division

One of the best things about being an educator is when you bump into one of your students after they have left you, and you learn of their success. What’s even more fantastic is if one of your students ends up working where you once taught them!

That’s exactly what happened with Ms. Juna Mangar! 

Ms. Mangar was born in a refugee camp in Jhapa, Nepal. She is the oldest child of parents who decided to come to the United States in 2008. During the 2008-09 school year, she attended Newcomer Academy (NCA). Today, she is employed by JCPS as a nurse for NCA! Catching up with Juna, she shares with readers her challenges, her experiences as a student, and her journey: 

I, along with a lot of immigrants who come to the United States, face a lot of challenges every day. These were my greatest challenges—the language, the food, and the culture. I only knew limited British English from studying in a refugee camp in Nepal. So I struggled to try to understand teachers and other people sometimes in the office, bank, and hospital setting when they spoke American English super-fast. 

The food here in America was very different. I was so used to eating spicy foods in Nepal, so pizza and sandwiches tasted kind of bland. So I would pack my own lunch for school, but after a few months I started to try American foods and now I like eating pizza, pasta, and sandwiches sometimes. The culture here was very different from Nepal. For example, in Nepal boys can wear anything that has pink without being judged. During that first fall season, my mother made my little brother wear my pink sweater and sent him to school. The other kids laughed at him in his elementary school. Later that day, his teacher told the other kids to be kind; we learned something new that day and we still are learning something new every day.   

It was interesting being a JCPS student because I had never ridden in a bus to go to school in Nepal. Plus having other international students at the Newcomer Academy made me more curious about people from different cultures and backgrounds. Overall, I had an amazing first school year in America through JCPS. I am so grateful for all my teachers and for the international friends that I made while attending Newcomer Academy. I remember being so nervous and even feeling nauseous while riding the bus to school. But when they used to stop in front of the school for the students to get off, a few of my teachers used to greet us by saying “Namaste” (“Hi” in Nepali), “Hola,” and other international greetings or by fist-bumping us. I learned to fist-bump because of Mr. Book while I attended Newcomer Academy. Even though it may seem a small act or a regular act of greeting for Americans, it made a huge impact on me and made me feel so welcomed to the school every day.  

When I was a little girl, I saw a lot of sick people in the refugee camp, so I wanted to be a doctor or a nurse and help people when I grew up. But since I was not a citizen of Nepal, attending college while being a refugee would have been impossible. Tragedy struck in our refugee camp in 2008, after all of our belongings were destroyed in a fire. We lived in the nearby jungle for more than three months and made the decision to come to America. In America, I took the responsibility of helping my parents and my younger brothers. While helping my parents take care of my middle brother Buddha’s asthma problems, I decided to be a nurse. 

With her love of meeting new people and learning about cultures, Ms. Mangar decided to work for JCPS. She sees it as an opportunity to be with students who are new to the United States and new to Louisville. Having been in the same shoes, she knows the challenges with language barriers and cultural unfamiliarity. Her hope is to have a positive impact on the students’ lives she serves.   

“If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward” by Martin Luther King Jr. This quote is one of my life mottos that keeps me motivated, and I will continue to live like that in the future until I become old and bedbound. Anything is possible, so do not be discouraged and lose hope. Because if you don’t lose hope, then you will have the potential to become the person you have wished and dreamed of for all your life. 

Understanding Racial Trauma and Conquering the Enemy Within

February Envision Equity #3

Check out the third February edition of Envision Equity with amazing cover art by Central High School student Mackenzie Jones.

BHM Envision Equity Edition #2

 Enjoy the 2nd of 3 Envision Equity eMags for the month of February.  This one highlights the legacy, love, & need for HBCUs

BHM Envision Equity Edition #1

 Please enjoy the first of three Envision Equity magazines for the month of February!

Happy Black History Month!

 Happy Black History Month!

JCPS schools have several Black History Month events coming up! Please check out this booklet that contains some of the Black History Month events happening in our district!

2020 Educators of Color Celebration

2021 Justice Now Kickoff