2022-2023 school year

• July 5- Aug 10, 2023 Essential Photovoice with the Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program - A team of NOCA CC trained in January 2023 through a grant by Essential Partners to facilitate the Essential Photovoice (EPV) process for a group of 10 CRLS teenagers. EPV asks participants to answer prompts with photos they take during the workshop (for example: “Share a photo that says something about who you are”). The participants then share their photos with each other, explaining their choices and leading to deeper conversations; the photos serve as a much more accessible and effective conversation starter than text prompts alone. The conversations themselves use the “Reflective Structured Dialogue” (RSD) protocol developed by Essential Partners, which creates a safe space allowing vulnerability and thoughtful conversation, and invites questions of curiosity. Guided by the dialogue, participants caption their photos and refine their choices, selecting photos to create a public photo exhibition. Members of the public and community leaders are invited to view the photos and captions, motivating dialogue with the viewers. See the culminating photo exhibition of their work and the process on the project's Instagram site. https://instagram.com/photovoice_cmb

• April 1 and 3, 2023 - Community forum on FY24 School Budget proposal - These community forums are meetups of parent/caregivers and school staff to look closely at and discuss what budget impacts might look like at each school and to offer feedback to the district and School Committee about ways the budget can better address the needs of students and schools. Your specific perspective about your school is vital to this conversation! Let’s uplift each other’s voices and experiences. These events are co-sponsored by North Cambridge Courageous Conversations, Cambridge Families of Asian Descent and Cambridge Families of Color Coalition. Link to the budget proposal and pages of interest.

• March 9, 2023 - Understanding Islam -  Guest speaker Dr. Khalil Abdur-Rashid, the Muslim Chaplain at Harvard University spoke on on the basic pillars of Islam, the history of Islam and Muslims in America (especially within the African American and immigrant community), and common misconceptions about Islam, which was followed by Q&A. Resources:

  • • Accommodating Muslim students during Ramadan

    • Accommodations for Muslim students during MCAS (which falls during Ramadan this year) 

    • All about Ramadan for Cambridge Educators (slides) 

• February 1, 2023 - CC Chats - How to be a disruptor - If you’ve ever felt tongue-tied when confronted with a racist or discriminatory remark, please come practice disrupting racism and discrimination through group work and (fully optional!) role play in a safe and collaborative environment. Please come prepared for active participation and brainstorming about how to make “good trouble” in our community! See the disrupter prompts and protocols we used here.

• November 2, 2022 - Race in America (via Zoom) was a repeat of the November 2021 workshop with Spanish translation and a Spanish-speaking and school staff-specific breakout discussion rooms. The program was hosted with True to Life Conversations and Amigos Courageous Conversations.

2021-2022 School Year

• November 19, 2021 - “Race in America” (via Zoom) a foundational workshop for those who are new to anti-racism and equity work or continuing their journeys. Examine how race and oppression invisibly shape every aspect of American society, from our jobs and healthcare to our neighborhoods and school communities. We watched  two brief videos (Understanding Types of Oppression and Understanding Systemic Racism) to introduce a range of important concepts, and then formed small discussion groups (in mixed or racial affinity groups).  

• January 25, 2022 - "Social Identities" (via Zoom) workshop. This was part one of a workshop on social identities (e.g., how the groups you belong to identify you). We reflected on and discussed the facets of our identities to better understand how the world around us does or does not allow us to choose which pieces of our identity are most important. Please view responses to the reflection questions from the part 1 workshop here.

• February 10, 2022 - Part 2 (via Zoom) of our workshop on social identities — the many overlapping identities we all hold and how they impact our experience in the world. In this follow up session we dug deeper into our personal identities. Participants created “identity wheels” to guide exploration and discussion. 

• March 23, 2022 - A community workshop on "Understanding Islam" with guest speaker, Dr. Khalil Abdur-Rashid (biography), who is the Muslim Chaplain at Harvard University. The talk was followed by small group discussion and an opportunity for Q&A with Dr. Khalil. 

  • Guide for Educators to Accommodating Muslim Students During Ramadan  (by Dr. Khalil)

  • Resources for Families and Children on Understanding Islam