Minnesota Academy For The Deaf issued the following announcement on June 2.
Sharing a letter that Superintendent Wilding sent out to MSA families last Friday:
Dear MSA community,
We are deeply saddened by the events that have taken place in Minneapolis this week. We join the entire state in mourning the death of Mr. George Floyd. We mourn this tragic loss of life, along with our state and nation, and acknowledge that Mr. Floyd's death has had a great impact on many of our students, families, and community members statewide. Regardless of where they take place, these incidents demonstrate the impact that systemic racism has on our society. We often feel helpless, angry, or frustrated and do not know what we can do.
The Minnesota State Academies condemns all forms of racism (and other types of discrimination, bias, or oppression). We embrace all of our students and know that many of them face barriers based on their race, ethnicity, culture, region, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or their physical, personal, or socio-economic status in their lives. We love all of our students, and promise to support them and do everything we can do to make them be successful. This includes cultural competency training, re-examination of our curriculum and instructional practices, and improving our collective understanding of race and culture. Social and emotional safety is as critical as physical safety. We remain committed to learning and working collaboratively with our diverse community to have courageous conversations about race and making sure that all of our students, parents, family members, and staff members are treated fairly and equitably.
These situations can prompt questions from our students. This National Association of School Psychologists resource has guidance for discussing violence with children (https://www.nasponline.org/…/talking-to-children-about-viol…). This NASP resource contains information about how to help children cope with trauma, which will be activated when events like this occur (https://www.nasponline.org/…/how-children-cope-with-ongoing…). The Minnesota Department of Education also has resources available for students and teachers on their website.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to our administrators if we can help you process this tragedy.
Sincerely,
Terry
Original source can be found here.
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