Join with us 5-7 pm on Tuesday (June 16) as trainers from Families Of Color Seattle (FOCS) lead an online dialogue workshop where Washington Middle School parents/guardians and educators will grow their understanding of systemic racism and creating inclusive and anti-racist learning spaces for children. 

A workshop for all WMS families & educators

We will unpack what this looks like for Black children and other children of color. The dialogue will focus on deeper self-awareness of power, privilege, and review scenarios for informed best practices. We will have affinity breakout rooms, in understanding and support of Black and Brown parents who are hurting and need safe spaces for discussion. 

Together through sharing narratives, we work towards the goal of increasing parent and practitioner engagement in undoing racism, growing inclusive spaces for children of color, raising all children with anti-oppression values, and supporting kids in wake of racialized violence.

To help create a safe space for discussion, we ask all participants to register in advance. All WMS PArents, guardians and educators are welcome. No fee.

Register Now for the workshop

Time: 5-7 pm on June 16, via Zoom.
Zoom details: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Zoom meeting.
Languages: We expect to have live translation in Somali and Spanish. Please contact us at info@wmsptsa.com if you are or you know of a parent/guardian who could only attend if other translations are available.

FOCS recommends the following pre-work for participants…


Videos:

A quick exercise:

  • Please take the Harvard Implicit Association Test (IAT) prior to the workshop. FOCS especially recommends Race (‘Black – White’ IAT), and Skin-tone (‘Light Skin – Dark Skin’ IAT).  

A community agreement for the workshop:

Bios of our trainers:

Christine Tang, LL.B & LL.M, serves FOCS as the Director of Programs. She has served on the Board of Directors 2015-2017. Christine’s prior public service was in New Haven, CT, as the City’s Director for the Office of Sustainability. Christine also worked in Washington, DC and New York City in Corporate Social Responsibility consulting, environmental policy and government relations. She has a Master in Environmental Law from the George Washington University Law School, and completed an Executive Education program at the Harvard Business School on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Strategies to Create Business and Social Value. Christine has two boys, and, as a Nigerian-Romanian immigrant, she finds in FOCS the support and understanding she needed as a mother of children with intersectional identities. Christine is a community member and FOCS stakeholder on the Seattle Public Schools Advanced Learning Taskforce and King County’s Best Starts for Kids Developmental Screening Community Expert Council. She is passionate about issues pertaining to intersectionality, environmental justice, racial equity and inclusion in education.

Adana Protonentis is a community educator, a mother, a parent advocate, and an artist. She is the Director of Operations at Seattle Children’s PlayGarden, where she works to ensure that every child in our community has a safe, accessible, and adventurous place to play. A mixed-race Black woman, and parent of mixed-race children with and without disabilities, Adana lives her life at the intersection of multiple identities. She is passionate about harnessing the power of story to create a more inclusive, just, and anti-racist community and uses storytelling in all of her social justice work. She consults with Seattle Children’s, the Arc of King County, the Woodland Park Zoo, the Natural Starts Alliance, and local preschools, and independent schools on inclusion and anti-bias. When she isn’t saving the world, you can find Adana in the garden with her kids or baking something delicious.

Sponsored by the Washington Middle School Parent Teacher Student Association. Contact us at info@wmsptsa.com with thoughts or questions.