Andrea Browning (00:10):
We all do our best learning and growing when we feel a sense of belonging. Research and practice show that belonging is an essential ingredient for excellent student outcomes. Students who belong are more likely to come to school, feel socially and emotionally well and achieve academically. In this audio cast, we’ll share the story of Alice Birney Elementary School, which sits on the northern coast [00:00:30] of California in the small town of Eureka. The school community includes about 375 students and is truly diverse. Approximately 20% of students are Asian, 33% are Hispanic or Latino, 3% are native, 3% are Black, 25% are white, and 13% of students are of two or more races. About 16% are students with disabilities. You’ll hear about how Alice Birney has developed rituals and routines that promote a powerful sense of belonging for students, [00:01:00] their families, and their educators. These elements are grounded in relational trust and are strengths-based and co-led with families.
(01:08):
My name is Andrea Browning and in addition to my voice, you’ll hear from several members of the Alice Birney community. Let’s start with how Tony Smart, a reading interventionist, describes Alice Birney.
Tony Smart (01:20):
It’s a multicultural school. So although we live up in rural Northern California, which can be [00:01:30] predominantly white, Alice Birney and a lot of our other schools in Eureka City schools have such an array of cultures from around the world. I get to interact with our families and our learners that come from Vietnam and Mexico and Columbia and Afghanistan and all over the United States.
Andrea Browning (01:56):
To further understand the impact of diversity that Tony just described, [00:02:00] Derixa Landry, a parent at Alice Bernie, shared more about why this diversity has mattered to her family.
Derixa Landry (02:06):
One of the things that I think that has been so wonderful for my daughter is just being around so many different cultures and having access to more than just what she sees at home. And so I think that she’s gotten to develop friendships and community with Spanish speaking [00:02:30] folks among learners, individuals. She’s gotten to participate not only in Mariposas Monarcas, but also she danced with the Little Angels for a year, which is our Hmong dance group. We have kids with differing abilities in our classrooms and I think that that has given her a different perspective and I think that that has given her an appreciation [00:03:00] for the differing families and how that looks. So I think for her, the community comes with just being able to be together with all these different kids.
Andrea Browning (03:12):
Thriving diverse educational environments like the ones just described by Tony and Derixa often create conditions that allow for students to feel like they belong and are valued. It’s important to note that belonging builds over time when educators consistently demonstrate through their relationships, routines, and instructional practices [00:03:30] that students and families are welcome and their voices are valued. Our Alice Birney storytellers shared a whole portfolio of strategies that support belonging. What was interesting about the strategies is that they were mutually reinforcing, meaning the strategies implemented benefited the whole community. As an example, Alice Birney offers literacy nights for parents, which align with the literacy supports that their children receive. The CARE Program, which stands for comprehensive approach to responsive education, uses a whole person integrated [00:04:00] approach that supports academic growth and social and emotional wellbeing. And their ELAC, which stands for English Learner Advisory Committee, has been a powerful avenue for parents to collaborate with educators on serving the learning needs of their students.
(04:14):
Here’s Tony again with a quick overview of inclusive programs and strategies that foster belonging at Alice Birney.
Tony Smart (04:21):
We’ve got a robust afterschool program, extended learning. We’ve got great SAI team that works with [00:04:30] our learners that need educational plans. We’ve got a big ELD department and we have a multicultural fair that we host in the spring. Our afterschool program has a dance program. We have the Monarcas and Folklorico and we have a Hmong dance team. We host open house. We have back to school [00:05:00] night. We have book fairs. We have a robust ELAC program where we’re bringing in our English learners, the parents to tell us their needs. Yeah. And we’ve had literacy nights where we bring in families.
Andrea Browning (05:17):
What makes all of these strategies work so seamlessly together is a fundamental value of relational trust. Here’s Sandra, the care specialist at Alice Birney, to share more.
Sandra Osuna (05:27):
So I would say that in general, [00:05:30] I think we feel that relationships and relationship building is what kind of drives everything else. So it’s almost like their academic learning and all the needs that they have in that way. We feel that the foundation of relationship building between us and families, between kids and teachers, all of us just being knowing that we can trust each other and build a connection with each other, that’s really important to our school. And I think that is also kind of the foundation for why [00:06:00] we think it’s important to have all the different parent nights that we have. I think that’s a big part of what motivates us.
Andrea Browning (06:08):
Another critical element for promoting belonging is offering parents genuine opportunities to lead. This means going beyond just asking for input or feedback to allow families to name their hopes and needs and take charge of the strategies to meet them. For Alice Birney, the ELAC is one important avenue for parent leadership. Here’s Pam, an English learner educator with more.
Pam Brittenburg (06:30):
[00:06:30] We’re very proud of the fact that over about the last six, seven years, we’ve put a lot of time and energy into building a really strong ELAC and an ELAC is a place for our parents of our multilingual learners to be able to come together and discuss everything having to do with their child’s education and our school site. One of our main goals within that time together is to help build parent agency and to help [00:07:00] parents to develop the skills that they need to be able to advocate for their learners. When I first got here, it was the pandemic during COVID, and so that was a kind of an interesting time in education. And we had one parent that would consistently show up for these meetings, but we could never get any other parents. She would come and it would be me, Kristen, and her, and we would sit and we would talk about how were we going to get this ELAC up off the ground?
(07:29):
What [00:07:30] were we going to do? And she would share a lot of her hopes and dreams and goals with us. So as time went on, we were able to, along with her, help to get more families involved and start building this really wonderful, strong, thriving ELAC that we have now.
Andrea Browning (07:46):
ELAC doesn’t just advocate for students. It’s also driven significant shifts in Alice Birney’s programming to help support the way families partner with educators to support their students. Here’s Pam with two examples.
Pam Brittenburg (07:59):
For the past [00:08:00] several years, we’ve been doing an ELPAC information night. So the ELPAC is the English language proficiency assessment of California that all English learners have to take. And so in this ELPAC information night, we actually invite the parents and the students to come and they learn about the tests, but then the parents have time to sit right next to their student and they all get a Chromebook and the student actually takes the parents in and they do the practice test together. [00:08:30] The families really appreciate that time to be able to sit down and work together and look at the ELPAC test and just have an idea of what it is that their students need to do on these tests. I think one of the biggest concerns for a lot of our families were, how do I help my child to develop as a reader even though I might not be able to read and write in English or maybe I don’t even speak English.
(08:59):
And so after [00:09:00] really listening to their concerns, then we started to talk to them about, well, what types of things would be of value to you? What would be helpful? And then they started to say, well, I don’t even know what it looks like, what they’re doing in their classes, and I’m not sure what types of activities I could do. And so what we decided to do based on their feedback was, okay, let’s have different rooms with different themes. Maybe we’re going to do a make it and take it activity [00:09:30] for teaching decoding strategies. One room is going for that. Maybe there’s another room for children that need more help with comprehension and development and having families come in and being able to offer information in multiple languages for them on what can you do with your child, even if you don’t read in English, what can you do for them in your home language to help build their oral language development?
(09:56):
One of the things I would say that we also did just out of [00:10:00] this was we developed something called an instructional walk and we invited our families, most of who are actually non-English speakers. Most of them were Spanish speakers and they had a day where they came onto our campus and Kristen Sabillo designed a schedule for them where they would come in and out of classrooms and they were able to sit in the back of the classroom and watch the teachers teach and be able to watch the interactions [00:10:30] between student and teacher, be able to watch what the students were working on. And then they came back together at the end of the day and had a debrief and were able to ask questions. They wrote thank you letters to the teachers for letting them come into their rooms.
Andrea Browning (10:46):
The same parent who helped Alice Birney get the ELAC off the ground founded a Mexican folklorico dance troupe, the Mariposas Monarcas. Pam described how the parent transitioned to this new leadership role.
Pam Brittenburg (10:58):
And so once we [00:11:00] got to a certain point, she actually was building her agency along the way and building up her confidence and she finally said, “My dream has always been to bring Mexican folklorico dance to the students of Alice Birney.” And it was something she talked about for many, many years. And so at one point she said, “I am ready to step down as president and I’m ready to pass this position on to let someone [00:11:30] else now take over because I would like to put my time and my energy into bringing folklorico dance to Alice Birney.” Both her children have already gone on. They’re at the middle and the high school, but she wanted to stay here and bring this to the Alice Birney students. And we have this incredibly strong Mexican folklorico dance group here that is a source of great pride for all of Alice Birney and many, many, many of our Spanish speaking families, but also some [00:12:00] of our other students that are not of Mexican heritage or do not speak English are also involved.
Andrea Browning (12:06):
It’s become a truly special element of Alice Birney’s culture and a source of joy for the students, their families, educators, and the community of all backgrounds. It’s also inspired other dance troops, including Little Angels, a Hmong Dance Troop. Here’s Fernanda, Alice Birney’s Bilingual Tech to share more.
Fernanda Delgado (12:23):
So for the last, I think two years, we have been running a Mexican folklorico [00:12:30] dance group here at Alice Birney. It’s called Mariposas Monarcas, like the Monarch Butterflies. So we have about 30 students now. We were able to buy dresses and different outfits from five different regions of Mexico. And so we perform in different schools events and also in the community like Arts Alive and different events [00:13:00] in the community. And even we perform private events. They invited us. Our students, they bring joy wherever they go. We have students from TK through fifth grade and they love it. They really enjoy dancing and performing, but they are also learning about the culture. They are learning about their bodies, like coordination, teamwork, cooperation. They’re learning the name of the [00:13:30] muscles because they have to move their bodies. They have to feel comfortable with their bodies. And also we have a lot of students that they struggle at school academically, but they are now shining and dancing and that is like they are coming out of the shell and that helps them build confidence and self-esteem and leadership.
(13:55):
Our students are learning how to be a good audience, how [00:14:00] to support each other. They learn how to become good friends and good members of our school community. It’s been amazing. It’s really fun. It’s something that they wait for. I walk from one class to another every single time it’s like, “When do we have practice? When are we going to dance next time?” They are so, so excited.
Andrea Browning (14:27):
Because of the positive impact the dancing had on students, [00:14:30] we asked Fernanda to share more about how the dance troupe grew.
Fernanda Delgado (14:34):
Well, I think the students at the beginning, some of them were familiar with the traditions, with the music, with the styles. They’ve seen this in different places growing up, but some of them at the beginning, the other students were attractive because of the dresses. The dresses are beautiful and the girls that, “I want to wear that dress. I want to do this because I want to look like them.” I think that was [00:15:00] at the beginning, but then I think they fall in love with the music, with the rhythm, with the colors, with the food. And I think this is dancing, but it’s community, it’s understanding that even though we don’t look alike, we are not similar in appearance, we are here, we are together, we are doing this. And like I was saying, seeing students that I know that [00:15:30] they don’t speak Spanish at all, like zero.
(15:33):
They are singing the songs. I’ve seen students now wearing or writing things like I love Mexico or things like they’re drawing up Mexican flags because now they know more about the culture. They are learning. When we teach a dance, we teach where that dance comes from, what region, what does it mean? Some songs are [00:16:00] more traditional than others, but we teach them.
Andrea Browning (16:04):
Derixa Landry, whose voice you heard at the beginning of the story, has a daughter who dances with the Mariposas Monarcas as well as Little Angels. Here she is reflecting on her daughter’s experience.
Derixa Landry (16:17):
So he first performance with the Mariposa Monarcas was during the celebration of Our Lady De Guadalupe and we got to go [00:16:30] and perform at the big celebration that they have at the Catholic Church here locally. And when we walked in, I remember they did the whole procession with the lady Guadalupe and there was mariachi bands and wonderful food and they have these beautiful elaborate costumes that any little girl would love to wear with flowers in her hair and [00:17:00] belowy dresses. And I remember the joy that she had in this space, not knowing a single word that was going on and being spoken, but being able to connect with her friends and with the music and with the experience just brought a whole new level of appreciation for her for being a part of this community.
Andrea Browning (17:28):
Finally, here’s another [00:17:30] powerful way that Alice Birney celebrates the strengths and beauty of their diverse community through their annual multicultural fair. Here’s Kathy.
Kathy Warren (17:38):
I started a multicultural fair about 18, 19 years ago. It’s been a while and it’s our biggest event that we have at our school and it’s amazing. Just in my classroom, I think I have five languages spoken in my first grade classroom. Last year, I think I had seven. So it is a very diverse population and just bringing everyone together [00:18:00] and just celebrating the diversity is pretty incredible. This year we’re going to try to do an art gallery to go along with the multicultural fair and just really highlight our whole community here. It’s just everyone is joyful. Everyone is sharing. Everyone is appreciating other people’s cultures and also being proud of their own culture and being able to share that. And it’s just, you have to be here and hear the sounds and the smells and seeing the smiles and just the way everyone interacts with each other.
(18:27):
It’s incredible.
Andrea Browning (18:29):
And here’s [00:18:30] Derixa painting a picture of the fair for us and sharing why it matters to her and to her family.
Derixa Landry (18:36):
So when you first walk into the multicultural fair, the first thing that hits you is the smells and there’s just a rich smell of all these different foods and you walk in and it’s in like a courtyard and the food vendors are lined along the courtyard and then there’s chairs set up in the middle [00:19:00] and then you sit down in the chairs and you have just these sounds, different rhythms, different costumes, beautiful traditional regalia from all these different cultures and I cry every time because growing up there wasn’t anything like this in our town. And so to be in a place where we are celebrated [00:19:30] for our differences is just something that just fills my soul. And I think that the celebration of the differences is the part that really I think is special for our families and for me personally and then getting to watch the kids shine in their different cultural experiences and then getting to see other students share in those cultural experiences with their friends.
(20:00):
[00:20:00] For me, it closes the gap. It seems like it closes the gap for kids to be able to participate with their friends doing these celebrations of all the differences that we are. And I think that in today’s climate in the world, that’s so important
Andrea Browning (20:21):
Alice Birney creates a sense of belonging for every member of their community through relationships, environments, instructional practices, extracurricular activities, [00:20:30] and community celebrations. Let’s let Sandra and Derixa close us out.
Sandra Osuna (20:36):
Yes. I think that it kind of creates our community here where it feels more like family and it does feel like the kids feel like they’re all kind of cousins and we’re their aunties taking care of them kind of thing. So I feel like the relationship building with the families kind of has made it feel like we’re just one big family here. I noticed that whenever we have to have conversations with students [00:21:00] when they’re maybe not making the right choices in class and things like that, I really feel like they feel comfortable telling us the truth and kind of the reasons behind it. And a lot of times it ends up being stuff that’s happening at home or just things that we might not know if they didn’t feel safe telling us. And so I really feel it’s that kind of, like I’m saying, that relationship building familial kind of feeling that we have here that really allows the kids to feel safe enough to share.
Derixa Landry (21:30):
[00:21:30] I think the thing that hits me most about Alice Birney makes this place such a special place for me and I know for other people is when I walk through the door here, I feel like I am validated, listened to, questioned about what my experience is and even when I’ve had issues that I have not been happy about, [00:22:00] Kristen has always taken the time to sit down and say, “Hey, let’s talk about this and heard me and validated me. ” And even if the outcome wasn’t the way that I hoped or wanted, my feelings and thoughts have always been taken into consideration. And I’ve seen that not only with myself, but I’ve seen that with students as well. And I think that that’s really important to have kids honored for their experience [00:22:30] and heard for their experience and validated that their experience and their truth is their experience and the truth.
Andrea Browning (22:47):
Thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed this audio cast developed by the Western Educational Equity Assistance Center funded by the US Department of Education. The contents of this [00:23:00] audiocast were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education. The Department does not mandate or prescribe practices, models, or other activities described or discussed in this audiocast. The contents of this audiocast may contain examples of, adaptations of, and links to resources created and maintained by another public or private organization. The department does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this outside information. The content of this audiocast does not necessarily represent the policy of the department. [00:23:30] This audiocast is not intended to represent the views or policy or be an endorsement of any views expressed or materials provided by any federal agency.
