When we surveyed our students last year, one of the questions asked was if they felt that there are staff at DeBeck who they could go to when they had questions or concerns. We had some
students who shared that they did not feel that they had a staff member who they could turn to. We also had students who asked for staff to use gender-neutral terms when talking to their class. Since that survey, we have connected with Ellen Hsu who is a Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Teacher Consultant with the Richmond School District. Ellen led our Professional Learning Day on September 24th about acceptance with a focus on SOGI and what we can do to help all students feel welcome at school. If using gender-neutral terms is something that you’re thinking about as well, you can use some examples in the graphic included in this post.