Events

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS 

Tuesday, January 28th, 4-6pm > HUSTLE to FLOW

The first step in transforming how we show up in our schools is to move from hustle to flow, which enables all other pivots.  We need to move away from reacting to crises, by centering in our bodies and enabling the dynamic response that comes from flowing where there is energy and momentum.

Healing Together invites you into a nourishing circle for reclaiming our flow! While our ancestor’s hustle brought us here, it is our flow that liberates us and those coming. Come experience somatic, rest & healing practices for bringing our more present, more nourished & more embodied selves to our schools and our communities.

Participants will be able to: 

• Engage daily, simple & enlivening practices to support flowing when our nervous systems are bound up in hustle in school systems
• Offer themselves, their bodies and those around them more compassion, witnessing and care as we move from hustle to flow

Ames Paulson, Healing Together Director, is a social entrepreneur, facilitator, writer, speaker, trauma survivor, and mental health advocate working at the intersection of healing and social justice - helping to disrupt cycles of violence, fear, hate, and injustice, heal individual and collective trauma, build community resilience, and democratize access to healing resources in the Bay Area and around the world.

xochicoatl bello (they/elle), Healing Together Program Weaver & Facilitator, is a diasporic reindigenizing two spirit artist, tradesperson, cultural bearer, educator, facilitator, and healing practitioner. They are committed to cultivating cultures of healing by restoring our connections to the sacredness of self, each other, Earth, and ancestors through circle practice, ceremony, Indigenous technologies, art, and agricultural traditions.

Tuesday, February 18th, 4-6pm > LENS to MIRROR

The most important pivot we make is turning toward our own healing and self-transformation work.  Only through modeling how we want the world to be will we be able to be in authentic relationship with our students.

The work of building Beloved Community – a world where we all belong - in our schools and communities is no simple task. What is the work we must do in our own hearts, families and communities to be in integrity with the changes we are seeking from larger systems? How does our own healing and fierce vulnerability impact our ability to create change in the world around us?

Participants will be able to: 

• Understand the history and depth of the concepts of Beloved Community and Fierce Vulnerability

• Understand the impact of trauma on our ability to create long-term change

• Identify short term, medium term and long term practices to incorporate healing into education and organizing work

Kazu Haga is an international nonviolence trainer, practitioner and student of nonviolence and restorative justice based in the Fruitvale neighborhood of East Oakland. His work blends spiritual practice and trauma healing with nonviolence resistance to create systemic transformation. He is passionate about bringing about a world where all people remember that we belong to each other.

Tuesday, March 25th, 4-6pm > TRANSACTION to TRANSFORMATIVE RELATIONSHIPS

In the hustle of schools, we can slip into reproducing dehumanizing habits rather than taking the time to build meaningful relationships that can transform all of us.  In recent years since the pandemic, conflict amongst adults and youth has increased in our schools.  It's time to strengthen our skills in conflict repair toward building beloved community.

With the OUSD Restorative Justice team, leaders in the national field of RJ practice in schools, participants will learn practical tips and techniques for effective communication and the prevention and management of conflict in productive ways.

Participants will be able to: 

• Understand what activates them and develop strategies for effective responses
• Use a conflict toolbox to support understanding and working with conflict, whether it's theirs or others

A son of Oakland, Kyle McClerkins is a longtime leader in facilitating restorative justice in OUSD elementary, middle and high schools and part of the OUSD Restorative Justice Team.

David Yusem is the OUSD Coordinator for Restorative Justice and a member of OUSD's Racial Justice & Healing Taskforce, with years of experience in community mediation with the SEEDS Community Resolution Center.

Tuesday, April 22nd, 4-6pm > PROBLEM to POSSIBILITY

Sometimes we can get stuck in the problems in our schools and district, rather than focusing on what's possible.  This limitation is often part of our trauma, and can impede the progress of racial healing.

The “problem to possibility" pivot reminds us of our ability to vision past obstacles. Connecting mindset, manifestation, and innovation, we are pushed beyond merely identifying or fixating on a challenge. Instead we are invited to be generative and inspired towards paradigm shifting.  Come explore and practice freedom dreaming - our schools, community, and profession depend on us actualizing critical hope and a new way forward in the field!

Participants will be able to: 

• Understand the concept of freedom dreaming, while also aligning on barriers to this pivot
• Engage in somatic practices and a visual arts manifestation activity that inspire critical hope for our schools and community
• Leave grounded and connected to colleagues and the larger transformation underway

Lindsey Fuller (she/her/sis) is the Executive Director of The Teaching Well, a national leader in supporting educator wellness and sustainability.

 

This series is supported by OUSD Health & Wellness and the Kaiser Foundation.

OUSD is excited to announce the first Fellowship for Racial Healing leaders who are exploring the intersections between transformative wellness, antiracism, disability justice & culturally responsive pedagogy.

A 10-month commitment to support OUSD staff who are implementing, collaborating and supporting each other on racial healing projects to build antiracist community schools, beloved communities and joyful learning environments for students, families and staff to thrive everyday.

The Fellowship will consist of virtual & in-person sessions monthly on Tuesdays 4pm-6pm, plus 2-3 Oakland in-person day retreats & coaching sessions.

Who should apply?

Any OUSD staff leading racial healing at sites, which can include but are not limited to Community School Managers, TSAs, Principals/APs, teacher leaders, Wellness Champions, Culture & Climate Teams, ILTs, counselors, or family and student leaders doing this work in OUSD schools.

Click HERE for more details!

Site teams are encouraged to apply together.

Taskforce Background:

OUSD's Racial Justice and Healing Taskforce was founded in the summer of 2019 with leaders in the Principal Professional Learning Bias Cohort, Office of Equity, Behavioral Health, Restorative Justice, Health and Wellness, Special Education, Expanded Learning, English Language Learner & Multilingual Achievement, and Teacher Support to build a district-wide initiative to lift up a racial justice, equity and healing mindset for all educators in Oakland. This task force combined two task forces focused on Culturally Responsive Practices and Implicit Bias as mandated by the Voluntary Resolution Plan created to address disproportionate suspensions of African American students in OUSD.

From a grant through the California School Based Health Alliance, the Taskforce hosted a speaker series focused on developing culturally responsive practices in our schools in the spring of 2019. Building on OUSD’s Core Values of Cultural Responsiveness and Equity, the entire OUSD community, staff, teachers, and families were invited to attend events and trainings with some of the nation’s most prominent leaders in the field of transformative education practices to effectively serve and support diverse populations of students. During the 2019-2020 school year, school site professional development at middle schools delved deeper into how school communities can integrate frameworks and practices into school culture and institutional structure.

In January 2020, the Taskforce held the first Racial Justice, Equity and Healing Summit which attracted over 300 educators from across the district to share core professional learning workshops. Racial Affinity Circles were organized in Summer 2020 by Taskforce members to hold safe space for Black, API, Latin@ and Native, White and Jewish communities to come together to discuss our various roles in the Movement for Black Lives, and will continue through the school year. For the 2020-2021 school year, the Taskforce focused on integrating professional development in the New Teacher supports, the Principal Leadership Institute, Teacher and Staff Professional Development offerings, and a Racial Affinity Facilitator Fellowship for school sites to send a staff point person to be able to implement site work. The Taskforce has since organized seven Racial Justice summits on Professional Learning Days, two week-long Summer Racial Justice Institutes, and 11 Community of Practice learning series for over 4,500 educators with over 10,000 learning experiences across more than 100 sites and including over 100 community partners.

Focus areas include:

• Supporting Black Thriving & District-Wide Coordination
• Equity Policy & Administrative Regulations
• Piloting Equity Champion School Sites
• Antiracist & Culturally Responsive Curriculum
• Developing Racial Justice Learning & Affinity Groups

Contact Us

For questions or support, Email Us

School Site Teams: Complete the Antiracist Learning Inventory & Needs HERE.

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