Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/20186
Del Norte Siskiyou Modoc Holidays Continued from page 21 An opportunity to teach Two years ago in Claremont, parents of kindergartners at neighboring schools fought about whether students should be allowed to continue the longtime tradition of dressing up as Native Americans and Pilgrims and sharing a feast. Suzanne Miller, a kindergarten teacher at Mountain View Elementary School, recalls that a Native American parent complained to school officials about paper bag costumes be- ing degrading to Native Americans, so teachers at her school and Condit Elementary School opted not to have the children dress up, even though the costumes had been created. Miller says no disrespect was intended from the cos- tumes and that she and other teachers used Thanksgiving as an opportunity to teach stu- dents about Native American culture — and harmony between diverse groups. When parents found out the costumes had been banned, some became angry and decid- ed to remove them from their children’s class- rooms. They sent their children to school in paper bag Indian costumes, despite the school’s decision against it. Native American parents became angry at the school. “It was terrible,” recounts Miller, a member of the Claremont Faculty Association. “You had little kids walking to school in these cos- tumes and people holding up signs about genocide and the police showing up, and it BELOW: Del Norte Teachers Association member Diana Lee shares her perspective on culturally sensitive holidays. Humboldt ALLEN (A) BOYD (E) BRIDGE (K) CABELL (L) CICHOCKI (O) DAVIDSON (F) DAWSON (B) DILLON (D) HASSON (J-HE) HEINS (C) MEEDEN (At-Large) MELENDEZ (H) MENDES ORTEGA (J-LA) PEÑA (G) ROGERS (M) SANCHEZ SHATUN (I) STERNBERGER WASHINGTON (At-Large) (CTA/NEA Coordination) STONE (N) VOGEL 4,503.47 2,875.74 3,883.64 Trinity Del Norte CTA BOARD EXPENSES D Shasta Lassen Tehama Mendocino 4,575.74 A 3,327.25 4,005.24 2,339.04 6,137.49 GOLDBERG (J-LA) 1,793.58 GROTH (P) 3,276.33 5,928.03 7,368.28 5,671.44 7,601.14 2,712.96 4,039.41 8,000.58 3,158.70 11,148.52 2,693.27 1,647.34 4,463.20 4,859.38 2,900.85 Humboldt Lake Siskiyou Modoc Plumas Glenn Trinity Colusa Sut. Sonoma Napa Mendocino Marin San Francisco San Mateo Santa Cruz B A Yolo Sol. Glenn Contra Costa Lake C Sonoma Marin San Francisco San Mateo Santa Cruz B Ala. Butte Sierra Shasta Yuba Tehama D D Colusa Sut. Joaquin San E Napa Santa Clara Contra Costa San BenitoAla. C C Monterey Santa Clara San G Benito Inyo San Luis Obispo Monterey Santa Barbara G San Luis Obispo Ventura San Bernardino Santa Barbara Los Angeles VenturaSee Inset Orange SEE INSET CTA DIRECTORIAL DISTRICTS Copyright © 2009, SpatiaLogic. Amounts represent monthly average for a representative quarter of fiscal year 2009-10. During this reporting period, the normal and statewide activities include CTA Board meetings, State Council, Service Center meetings, Equity and Human Rights Conference, Good Teaching Con- ference, various task force meetings and other business related functions. Some differences in expenditures may be due to the widely varied geographic sizes of directorial districts, distances traveled for Regional, Service Center and other meeting(s), and the varied number of functions CTA Directors are responsible for attending. Copyright © 2009, SpatiaLogic. was all on national news. Kindergartners don’t need to learn about genocide. They’ll get that information when they get older.” Since then, says Miller, the district has cre- ated a committee to create guidelines for cel- ebrating Thanksgiving in a cul- turally sensitive way and is con- sidering a harvest theme. Diana Lee, a k indergarten teacher at Smith River Elemen- tary School in Del Norte, says she used to hold Thanksgiving lessons that included paper Pil- grim hats and Indian headdress- es. But she no longer does that in her classroom, which has several Native American students. “I wasn’t thinking about how everyone dressed up, but I learned that wasn’t appropriate.” During a recent lesson about Thanksgiving, the children talked about how the Pilgrims learned to plant corn and crops from the Indi- ans and celebrated in a feast called Thanksgiving. They were then asked to write down and draw things they were thankful about in their own lives. One student was grateful for his dad’s muscles; an- other for television; and another for his toy cement truck. “Basically, we don’t talk about Suzanne Miller Claremont Faculty Association the parents of Native American children would feel, and I started questioning wheth- er I should do it,” says the Del Norte Teachers Association member. “Yes, it was fun to have 36 California Educator | NOVEMBER 2010 the Pilgrims too much. We talk about f riendship a nd b eing grateful, and introduce the holi- day as a way of giving thanks,” says Lee. “To me, it’s about being grateful for family, grateful for what’s on the table, grateful for our health and for all of the things we have.” See Inset K K Orange M N M M N N San Diego P San Diego P P J-HE – Statewide, Two At-Large Directors – Statewide J-HE – Statewide, Two At-Large Directors – Statewide Imperial K O Riverside Riverside Imperial Kings Kern Tulare H Los Angeles Kern San Bernardino O Yolo Sol. Nevada Placer El Dorado Sac. Amador Butte Sierra Calaveras Yuba Nevada Tuolumne Placer Stanislaus Mariposa Sac. Amador El Dorado Alpine Merced E San Joaquin Madera Calaveras F Merced Kings Tuolumne Fresno Stanislaus Mariposa F Madera Tulare Fresno H Mono Los Angeles Metro Area Inyo Mono Lassen Ventura DIRECTORIAL DISTRICTS G II Plumas Alpine Ventura G I II Los Angeles Metro Area I J-LA I I Los Angeles I I L M Riverside Orange N M H M M K OrangeBernardino O San N Riverside M I J-LAJ-LA Los Angeles I L K H O San Bernardino DIRECTORIAL DISTRICTS