THE LATEST IN DEI - DECEMBER 2024

Greetings from the Deeper Dive!

As the school year seems to be flying along so quickly, I invite everyone to take a moment to pause and reflect on positive moments that have taken place thus far. November was National Gratitude Month, and it offered many opportunities to express gratitude. Royal Oak Schools is grateful for all of our students, caregivers, staff, and community members. We exude excellence because of your input, support, and, most importantly–your existence! Thank you for all that you do! The upcoming December break may offer additional time to gather with loved ones to express gratitude.

Together with family, friends, coworkers, or even as a personal journal–I invite you to join in on our ABCs of Gratitude Challenge. Use this link to access a chart that can be displayed on your refrigerator, bulletin board, or common workspace.

In our schools, presentations to students continued throughout the last few months, with emphasis on diversity, equity, inclusion, and neurodiversity. Neurodiversity is a term that describes the natural variety of ways that people's brains work and process information. For our DEI presentations, we have continued to celebrate differences and talk about the importance of being upstanders.

One of our amazing Teacher Consultants, Melissa Walega, has partnered with administrators, social workers, and teachers to share information, presentations, and resources on neurodiversity. Students have been excited to ask questions and also share what they know about neurodiversity, accommodations, accessibility, and much more.

Many of our staff members have also been participating in the Oakland Schools “Neurodiversity in Education Series: Building Understanding, Fostering Affirming Support” series. During this series, we have learned more about neurodiversity-affirming practices and the best ways to offer support in education.

As continual learners, it is always great to seek opportunities to learn more about the world around us, and all of the people in it. Please use this link to find out more about embracing differences, and to start or continue the conversation about neurodiversity together with family and friends.

On a final note, please save and share the date: Monday, January 20, 2025. On this day, we will come together again with the Berkley and Clawson communities to celebrate unity and the impact of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. If you have joined us for this annual event in the past, you know that it always offers a great opportunity to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy– while also engaging in service projects and giving back to the community. Please stay tuned to our district, city, and school communications for further details on this amazing event. Until then, stay warm, stay safe, and stay connected to one another as we head into a brand new year!

~Ashley Phillips, DEI Coordinator

THE LATEST IN DEI - NOVEMBER 2024

Greetings from the Deeper Dive!

During the last 4 weeks, the breathtaking fall foliage has reminded me of the beauty that is held in times of transition and change. Change can present challenges at times (I’ll reference the raking of continually falling leaves in this instance), but the process in between can definitely prove to be both enlightening and transformative. In the last month, diversity, equity, and inclusion work in ROS has brought about much enlightenment and transformation! I have attended 2 trainings in the past week that have asked participants to reflect on the following statement: “Answer the question, I used to think... Now I think…”. Engaging in this reflection process has reinforced to me the power of education and transformation.

Mid-October, a group of our Royal Oak Schools staff members joined fellow educators in Oakland County to participate in the Oakland County Restorative Practices Collaborative Training. This training was facilitated by Oakland Schools’ Safety and Well-Being Consultant, Dr. Julie McDaniel-Muldoon, and it emphasized the impact of Listening Circles, Community Circles, Trauma-Informed Restorative Practices, and much more. The work completed by all of the districts in attendance was transformational, and will help to support the positive well-being of our school community. Learn more about Restorative Practices here.

Towards the end of the month, our district engaged in the Implicit Bias II: Recognizing and Addressing Microaggressions Late Start Professional Development. During this session, attendees reviewed the concept of implicit bias, learned more about microaggressions, and practiced addressing and responding to microaggressions. This was a very enlightening and empowering session, and it will help us to continue to provide and maintain safe and inclusive learning environments.

I am very excited to see our district continue to GROW in the right direction. Our community of excellence exemplified. Way to go(grow), Royal Oak Schools!

~Ashley Phillips, DEI Coordinator

THE LATEST IN DEI - October 2024

Greetings from the Deeper Dive!

I hope that the 2024-2025 school year has been off to a great start for everyone! Things have been very busy and productive for our district with our continuous commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We have several student clubs, programs, events, and professional learning opportunities taking place at this time. A few items that I would like to highlight this month are DEI presentations to students, Religious Diversity Journeys, and the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Educator Summit.

Last month, our 5th-grade Oak Ridge Elementary students kicked off our DEI presentation series with a focus on the theme “Empathy is Essential.” During our discussion, we discussed the overview of DEI, what DEI means to us, being great student leaders, and exercising empathy. These students are off to an amazing start and will continue to lead their peers towards excellence.

On October 9th, a group of our Royal Oak Middle School 7th Graders will begin our district’s participation in the Religious Diversity Journeys program. RDJ is sponsored by the Inter-Faith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit, and it offers invaluable field trip opportunities for students to learn more about connections, history, traditions, and culture. This program was established back in 2002, and Royal Oak Middle School will be one of approx. 30 schools participating in the program this year. Click here to learn more about Religious Diversity Journeys.

Lastly, Royal Oak Schools will also be represented in the 2024 JEDI Educator Summit. We are very excited to join educators, leaders, and practitioners across the state to advance liberation, improve inclusive practices, advocate for student voice and agency, and much more.

September 2024
I hope that everyone had an amazing and restorative summer! Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year. I am confident that this school year will be our best year yet! My personal theme and outlook for this year is simply put: HARMONY. I am looking forward to working together with students, staff, families, and our Royal Oak community to continue to elevate our community of excellence.

Mid-August I was elated to bring members of our Royal Oak Schools Staff to the Tri-County Culturally Responsive Mathematics Institute “Teaching to Liberate” Educator Conference in Livonia. Attendees were able to engage in keynote and breakout sessions hosted by Dr. Chris Emdin, Hanaa Elmi, Afzana Grady, Cornelius Godfrey, Dr. Jamila Dugan, and Dr. Bettina Love. The sessions focused on inquiring about our students’ dreams for their present and future, understanding biases, nurturing students to actively engage in mathematics practices, and much more. We were very excited to partner with Oakland Schools, Washtenaw ISD, and Wayne RESA for this wonderful learning opportunity!

Lastly, as we kicked off our 2024-2025 school year, we were excited to welcome Education and Equity Consultant, Dr. Shaun Woodly, as our keynote speaker for our Opening Day. Dr. Woodly is the architect behind the “Teach Hustle Inspire” ™ , and is a globally-inspiring speaker, author, and educator. Dr. Woodly’s message was themed “Your Year of IMPACT!”, and it offered a great motivational start for all-staff with emphasis on culturally-responsive teaching, building relationships, offering empathy, and using audience analysis to increase engagement. This great start to the year will surely drive us forward to the finish line…as we embrace all of the greatness and growth along the way! Students, families, and staff: Make this your BEST year yet!

July 2024

Greetings from the Deeper Dive!

I hope that everyone had a Joyful June! Even though the 2023-2024 school year came to an end, the fun and learning continued for our community well into Summer Break! On June 19, 2024, hundreds gathered at the Royal Oak Farmers Market and Centennial Commons in Downtown Royal Oak to celebrate Juneteenth.

Juneteenth celebrates the ending of slavery in the United States. While the Emancipation Proclamation was actually enacted in 1863, news of the proclamation did not reach Galveston, Texas, until 2 years later, in 1865, on June 19th. The following year, 1866, Juneteenth became an annual celebration in Galveston to celebrate the abolition of slavery. Over time, this holiday has been recognized and celebrated throughout the U.S., bringing together facts, food, fun, family, fine arts, and much more. In 2021, Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday after the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act s.475 was signed into law.

Royal Oak’s 4th Annual Juneteenth Celebration featured educational speeches and artifacts, a 1,865-step Freedom Strive Walk, fine arts performances, food trucks, horse rides, rock climbing, and community vendors. I was so happy to see so many students, families, and community members come together to celebrate this amazing day as we learned and fellowshipped together. 4 years ago, siblings and Royal Oak Schools alumni Carvell Wilkins and LaKeesha Morrison (descendants of Royal Oak’s Black Pioneer Hamer family) began this annual celebration. Each year, the event has continued to grow bigger and better.

Follow this link to find out more about Juneteenth and its history.

June 2024

I hope that everyone had a Marvelous May! It is so hard to believe that we are already in June and approaching all of our end-of-school-year celebrations and activities. I am so grateful for all of the connections that I have made with everyone since coming aboard in late November, and I am looking forward to many more collaborations, connections, events, and programs next school year.

May proved to be a very busy and productive month with many celebrations, student interviews, events, programs, conferences, school visits, and presentations.

In mid-May, I was fortunate to attend the Leading to Liberate- Tri-County Culturally Responsive Mathematics Spring Leadership Conference sponsored by the MiSTEM Network, Wayne RESA, Oakland Schools, and Washtenaw ISD. The conference offered a dynamic experience that supported leaders in enacting culturally responsive leadership within their building(s) and districts. During the conference, I was able to work with field experts such as Dr. Jay Marks, Dr. Christopher Emdin, Dr. Rich Milner, Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, and many more to engage in culturally responsive instruction support. We also collaborated with all 3 Intermediate School Districts to learn how to create more inclusive school environments. Each panelist and facilitator stressed the significance of prioritizing a student-centered approach. This approach will continue to be consistently applied at Royal Oak Schools to propel us forward in our inclusion efforts.

May also presented great professional development opportunities for our district during our Late Start Days. Each building participated in an Implicit Bias PD that allowed us to gain an understanding of:

The meaning of implicit bias and how to recognize its existence
How to identify personal implicit biases
How implicit biases impact education
How to address and dismantle negative effects of implicit bias
Even though Implicit Bias can prove to be one of the more difficult topics to discuss, we were able to unpack our fears and gain valuable insight about the concept itself, ourselves, and others through engaging in discussion, self-reflection, and community-building activities.

Lastly, I am wishing everyone well as we close out an amazing school year and head into Summer. I know that we have just a couple of short weeks in June, and I am encouraging all of our students to finish strong and continue to make positive, long-lasting memories with their classmates, teammates, fellow club members, teachers, and school staff as we bring the year to a close. Next school year will be even greater as we continue to strive for the best!

June will be a joyous month for sure! Here are additional Pride Month and Juneteenth resources for the month of June:

Family Acceptance Project-SFSU
Family Pride Celebration - Royal Oak
Royal Oak Juneteenth Celebration
Please be sure to stop by the ROHS Diversity Club table if you are able to attend the Juneteenth Celebration!

Ashley Phillips, DEI Coordinator

May 2024

Greetings from the Deeper Dive!

I hope that everyone had an Amazing April! I am also hoping that “April showers truly do bring May flowers” –as it is always amazing to see the growth and renewal that this month offers! Diversity, equity, and inclusion also continues to grow at Royal Oak Schools as we engage in current and innovative initiatives to increase awareness, acceptance, and access.

On Friday, April 12th, the Royal Oak community filled their IFFF Passports with stamps, pictures, and fun facts at Keller Elementary’s International Food and Fun Festival. We were able to enjoy food trucks, artwork, storytelling, music, sensory spaces, dancing, family projects, and much more throughout the very elaborate and engaging evening. I was very excited to host our first DEI Meet & Greet Booth during the event. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth and to all who helped to make this event so spectacular. If you were not able to scan the QR code to participate in our 1-question DEI survey at the Meet & Greet Booth, please click this survey link to offer your feedback.

As we closed out April, we were elated to host a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tour featuring guests from the Michigan Department of Education’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Office of Educational Supports. The concept of this tour grew from a partnership that advanced during Royal Oak Schools’ participation in the MDE’s Black History Month Calendar Project earlier this year.

Throughout the tour, our guests were able to:
- Experience an overview of Royal Oak Schools and our commitment to being a community of excellence
- Learn more about our commitment to progression in advancing DEI
- Participate in activities planned for ROMS’ Inclusion Week and ROHS’ Umatter Week
- Visit educators who participated in the MDE Black History Month Calendar Project
We are looking forward to many more partnership opportunities with the MDE and additional DEI stakeholders in the future. (See article with this link.)

Lastly, we were honored to celebrate Autism Acceptance Month, Arab American Heritage Month, Earth Day, and several additional celebrations throughout the month of April. I am looking forward to more awareness, acceptance, and recognition as we acknowledge Asian American Pacific Islander Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Staff Appreciation, and much more during the month of May.

~Ashley Phillips, DEI Coordinator