Dear Safe Schools Coalition Members and Friends:

 

 

 

 

Two $1,000 scholarships for restaurant workers and children of restaurant workers are available from the Shui Kuen and Allen Chin [http://blog.skacfoundation.org/] Scholarship, a program of the Asian Pacific Fund. The scholarship, founded in 2005, honors the values of Detroit restaurant owners Shui Kuen and Allen Chin through supporting the education aspirations of children of workers in the Asian/Pacific Islander food service industry in the U.S. Eligibility criteria are:

Self or parent currently or formerly employed at an Asian-owned or Asian cuisine restaurant

Community advocacy and social justice work on behalf of Asian American, immigrant, gay and lesbian and other progressive causes

Grade level: Incoming freshman or current, full-time undergraduate in 2011-12

Minimum GPA: 3.0

Status: U.S. citizenship or permanent residence

on-line application with essays

most recent official transcript(s) of grades (including grading scale)

resume (paid or unpaid work experience, school activities, family responsibilities, community service, honors and awards) two letters of recommendation, at least on of which is a from a current teacher or professor FAFSA Student Aid Report

 

 

 

 

 

 

When parents and educators are at odds with each other, students stop learning, act-out or even drop out. The Office of the Education Ombudsman (OEO) helps resolve complaints, disputes, and problems between parent, students and public schools in all areas that affect academic progress.

 

Parents and school administrators agree that OEO approaches situations with fairness, a willingness to listen to all involved parties, and a commitment to achieve a resolution. In many cases Ombudsmen work with all parties over several months to resolve complicated issues, providing an alternative to costly lawsuits and administrative hearings.

 

In many cases Ombudsmen work with all parties over several months to resolve complicated issues, providing an alternative to costly lawsuits and administrative hearings. In the last 6 months:

~ Ombudsmen intervened in 355 complaint cases from parents of students attending 109 school districts across the state

~ 42% of all students served were white

~ 47% were students of color

~ 8% were multi-racial

~ 3% decline to identify.

 

OEO was established in 2006 by House Bill 3127 when a group of legislators in Olympia responded to a need expressed by constituent groups for a state office to resolve conflict between families and schools and support family-school partnerships. The Washington State PTA embraced the idea and worked hard for the passage of the Bill. In 2007, OEO opened its doors within the Governor’s Office and as the first agency of its kind in the nation.

 

OEO works with adoptive families, foster families, military families, grandparents raising grandchildren, GLBT families, single-parent families and two-parent families. The most frequent issues OEO tackles are: student bullying/harassment, discrimination (race, sexual orientation), Section 504, suspension, special education, on-line schools, and barriers to parent involvement.

 

 

The Stories behind Some of Our Cases: Results achieved for students

 

OEO is frequently asked about our casework. By the time parents or students contact OEO, the situations have become complex and all involved parties are anguished. Here are real case scenarios –while the stories may be different, many are recognizably similar in that communication lines between the parents and school officials had broken down and the problems had escalated:

~ Hungry, low-income students are repeatedly told: "no money, no lunch" in front of their peers, while in line at the school cafeteria. They felt humiliated when given the "emergency lunch" of bread and cheese.

~ A student of color who has been racially harassed for weeks and reported the incidents to school staff , fights his tormentors and is suspended for a month.

~ A 6-year old student is expelled for bringing his new toy gun to show his friends.

~ An elementary, Native American student’s hair has never been cut in keeping with his cultural tradition. He wears his hair neatly braided but school officials want his hair cut to comply with district policy.

~ A special education student has emotional outbursts in the regular education classroom, is deemed disruptive, frequently removed from the school, and made walk home while his parents are at work.

~ A disabled student is denied transportation to school because her mother who is also disabled is not able to climb on board the bus to buckle his seatbelt as a new district policy now requires.

~ A student’s perceived sexual orientation is used as the excuse for his being physically hurt by other students in the school bus.

 

 

Top Concern for OEO Clients: Anti-Bullying and Harassment: Take a look at our new web pages

 

OEO is responding to increasing requests for help with anti-bullying and harassment issues by providing information about new state legislation and more resources on their web site.

Link to the new “ A Parent’s Role in Preventing Bullying, Harassment, Intimidation in Public Schools”.

Link to “ Is Your Child Bullying or Being Bullied?" quiz.

A new section on cyberbullying has resources to help keep youth safe when using computers and cell phones. Link to cyberbullying resources.

The “ Prevent Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation in Your School” link offers resources and steps for educators and administrators to help maintain a safe environment for students. In this section, there are specific sections for principals, school district administrators and compliance officers, and teachers and staff. There is also information about anti-bullying classroom curriculum.

 

 

No Name-Calling Week  is a week of educational and art activities aimed at stopping name-calling and bullying in schools. The Creative Expression Contest is an opportunity for students to submit essays, poetry, music, original artwork, or other pieces that convey their experiences and feelings about name-calling, and their ideas for putting a stop to verbal bullying in their schools and communities. This year, GLSEN have added a new High School category to the contest for short-film submissions that focus on anti-LGBT name-calling and bullying in school. The goal is to have students working on their art pieces during the week as a way to learn about and deal with name-calling and bullying.

 

For more information go to www.nonamecallingweek.org.

 

 

From the Washington State GSA Network at GLSEN WA:

 

Hey everyone...it is that time again. Acknowledge the hard work your friend did putting that dance together! Give out kudos to your GSA advisor! Let it be known that your favorite teacher is the creme of the crop!

Fill out and send us your nominations for the 6th Annual Washington State GSA Network Awards Banquet, to be held at the Maritime Event Center, May 22nd.

We are looking for nominees in the following categories:

~ Community Organization of the Year

~ Community Leader of the Year

~ GSA Student Leader of the Year

~ GSA Advisor of the Year

~ Inspirational GSA Club of the Year

~ Educational Excellence Award

~ The Rob Goldsworthy Outstanding Educator of the Year

 

Go to http://chapters.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/washington/resources/article-362.html for more information!

 

 

To Whom It May Concern:

 

I'm reaching out to you on behalf of DoSomething.org, where we're looking for potential youth candidates for our largest grant program, The Do Something Awards. You may remember from our correspondence last year that we are one of the nation’s largest organizations devoted to the funding of young social entrepreneurs. We're reaching out to you at Steps to Respect because we're looking to see if there are any youth-led projects that are ongoing in dealing with issues of bullying and violence, or if there are any new programs that are particularly noteworthy. We respect what you and your organization do so very much, and we know that you are familiar with both the problems and solutions. We're hoping that you might be able to recommend any great youth-led projects that you know of. 

 

The Do Something Awards (formerly the BR!CK Awards) identifies exceptional young social entrepreneurs, activists, and community leaders who have a significant social impact. The Do Something Award nominees and winners are the pivotal "do-ers" in their fields and causes. For this year's awards five nominees will be selected and rewarded with a $10,000 community grant, participation in the second Do Something Awards TV show on VH1, media coverage, and continued support from DoSomething.org. Of those five nominees, one will be selected to win the Grand Prize, a $100,000 grant, which will be announced during the live broadcast.

 

I hope you'll help me share this opportunity with the members of your organization through your next newsletter, e-blast, or network post (see blurb below, and attached logo). Additionally, you can recommend people for the award by filling out a simple nomination form at http://www.dosomething.org/awards/nominate-2011. Quantity of applications is not a concern. Rather, we want to identify the "best-in-class" activists, leaders, and social entrepreneurs age 25 and under.  Applicants must be citizens or residents of the U.S. or Canada and must apply by March 1st, 2011, although applying earlier is strongly encouraged.

 

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions or thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Best,

Sara

dsawards@dosomething.org

Do Something Awards Team

 

Do Something Awards Post

Could you use $100,000 to change the world? The Do Something Awards celebrate young people 25 and under who are tackling a problem and changing the world. Five nominees will be rewarded with a $10,000 community grant, participation in a live VH1 TV show, media coverage and continued support from DoSomething.org. The grand prize winner will receive $100,000 during the live broadcast!! Application closes March 1st, 2011.  Apply or nominate someone today at www.DoSomething.org/awards

 

 

 

For students who are underprivileged, especially those who have been abandoned by family and other support systems because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, the cost of an education can seem an insurmountable obstacle to success. Point Foundation believes these students should not be further disadvantaged as they prepare for the future.

 

More info: http://www.pointfoundation.org/instructions.html

 

 

36 minutes - Lead with Love  www.leadwithlovefilm.org

 

 

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: APIQWTC SCHOLARSHIP

DEADLINE: February 12, 2011

 

AWARD OVERVIEW

APIQWTC (Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community)  is a non-profit consortium of more than fifteen organizations in the  San Francisco Bay Area providing support and community for nearly 500  queer Asian and Pacific Islander individuals. The APIQWTC scholarship  supports queer API women and transgender people in their pursuit of  technical/professional training or higher education. The scholarship  hopes to recognize those who are active in the community and encourage  future leaders. APIQWTC will be awarding scholarships of $500 to two  Asian/Pacific Islander lesbian, bisexual, or queer women or  transgender individuals pursuing technical/professional training or an undergraduate/graduate degree.

 

AWARD CRITERIA

High school seniors pursuing further education or training in summer  2011 or fall 2011 are also eligible to apply. Applicants should  demonstrate academic commitment as well as community involvement.

 

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS

Please submit:

· A cover letter

· A resume or c.v.

· A two-page double-spaced personal statement.

 

The personal statement should address community involvement and future  goals. How has your cultural heritage, sexual orientation, and/or  gender identity influenced your life and any activities in which you  have been involved? Discuss any relevant experiences up to the present  and how you see yourself involved in the community in the future,  either through your career or otherwise.

 

· An official transcript

· At least one but no more than two letters of recommendation.

 

Letter(s) of reference should come from an instructor, employer,  academic counselor, coach, community leader, or any other individual  not related to you who is familiar with your personal, academic, or  leadership qualities.

 

Please submit statements and resumes/c.v.s electronically no later than 7pm February 12, 2011. Letters and transcripts must be postmarked by  February 12, 2011.

 

Send statement and resume/CV as electronic attachments to: mailto:sueyoshi@sfsu.edu

 

Send letter(s) and transcripts to:

Amy Sueyoshi, Associate Professor

College of Ethnic Studies/San Francisco State University

1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132

 

Feel free to direct any questions to Amy Sueyoshi at mailto:sueyoshi@sfsu.edu

 

The selection committee reserves the right to not award the scholarships if an appropriate applicant can not be identified.

 

 

Go to: www.genderdiversity.org/

 

Safe Schools Coalition
c/o Rosehedge
1401 East Jefferson Street, Suite 401
Seattle, WA 98122

Safe Schools' website: http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org
Safe Schools' blog: http://safeschoolscoalition.blogspot.com/
Join SSC's group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=43732067796
Join SSC's group on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1110307
Follow SSC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/safeschoolsc

Got a problem at school with anti-gay harassment?
In Washington State:
1-877-SAFE-SAFE (1-877-723-3723) 24 hours a day - the phone line is answered at the Sexual Assault Hotline and they will have a Safe Schools Coalition Intervention Specialist volunteer get back to you within 24 hours. Or contact us by email: Intervention: http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/contact/?id=10 and we will respond within 24 hours.

For non-emergencies: 206-451-SAFE (7233).
Or email us here: http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/contact/?id=8

Speakers Bureau (student/community workshops, professional training): http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/contact/?id=9

Membership http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/contact/?id=5
Publications and Listserv http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/contact/?id=7
Website http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/contact/?id=11

Co-Chairs:
Frieda Takamura, retired from the Washington Education Association.
Beth Reis, Public Health - Seattle & King County, 206-296-4970.
Heather Murphy, Ph.D., school psychologist.
Stefanie Fox, community organizer.

Beth Reis for Action Items, Resource messages (books, films, curricula, etc.), Professional Journal messages and Help Needed by Reporters/Authors, Researchers, and Member Organizations

Joseph Bonnell and Robyn Walters for News messages

for Event messages

Joyful Freeman for Jobs, Internships, and Volunteer Opportunity messages

Ryan Schwartz for Right Wing Watch messages

Brad A. Palmertree for Opinion (blogs, editorials, letters to the editor)

Nicole Lee for Lesson Planning Guide messages

Beth Reis for

Gabi Clayton for Legislative/Elective messages and Fundraising* messages

Send Events to be Posted on the Safe Schools Coalition Calendar!

Buy cool Safe Schools T-Shirts & Gear

This message has been distributed as a free, non-profit informational service, to members of the Coalition and others who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Please do not publish or post in a public place on the Internet, copyrighted material without attribution. Forwarding of this material should not necessarily be construed as an endorsement of the content.