Representation Matters
On November 17, A School Without Walls GSA marked Transgender Day of Remembrance by designing the activity pictured below to raise awareness and share resources about Transgender issues and communities. River came up with the idea to draw pictures of Rita Hester, each in our own style, for the community board, Sadie, one of our Crew teachers gathered articles, and Sarah created the QR codes for this Crew based activity. This was a moving activity for me for many reasons, but most importantly, because we live in a city where it is ok to say gay, while many parts of the country are actively trampling on LGBTQ+ rights.
As a queer, Latinx school leader and the parent of a non-binary child, I have come to appreciate the importance of representation in our public spaces and our public schools. Our young people need to see themselves and feel belonging in the curriculum, in every school space, in community spaces, and in local institutions. Growing up, I never experienced a hispanic teacher, author, or curricular unit, no one talked about gender identity, no one admitted to being gay. That meant I had to wait until I was an adult to explore these identities on my own.
Representation to me includes nurturing a courageous space in our school community so we can challenge ourselves to reflect on how well we enable students to bring their full selves to the school community. We want our students to feel a sense of belonging or, as Bettina Love calls it, a “homeplace”, so that who they are is as essential as what they learn.
As a school, we are still growing and I know we will have work to do to ensure that we center representation for our black, brown, queer, multilingual and neuro-divergent students. We have an obligation to pay attention to the importance of representation as we hire staff, develop new curricula, select texts, locate resources and opportunities for fieldwork, and partner with the community. I know I will need the input and feedback of students, staff, and families on our work so far, to help us identify candidates and resources that are a good fit for our growing community, and to let us know what we can do to bring in those on the margins who don’t yet feel that sense of belonging we aspire to. I’m grateful for the work that our community of care has already put into this shared journey.
Community Board depicting QR codes for resources and portraits of Rita Hester
