This is a 5 Day Workshop Series, hosted by the Huntington Teacher Center, for middle and high school teachers that will take place 3:30pm to 6:30pm every Thursday beginning October 6th and ending November 3rd.

To Register:

Email Angela Berner, Director of the Huntington Teacher Center, at aberner@hufsd.edu.

" An expert is anyone out of town..." Mark Twain

Join us to debunk this myth and others as ERASE Racism gathers together our Partners for Racial Equity, respected staff developers and, yes, local experts to present a seminar series designed expressly for middle and high school teachers.

Each seminar will include high quality, accessible instructional materials from well-respected sources along with standards-based classroom activities. Content includes Long Island's rich and diverse history and current data on regional economic, educational, housing and demographic trends. Participants will explore common and persistent stereotypes that impact the educational community. Best practices aimed at creating a safe and respectful environment for meaningful discourse will be shared and examined.

Teachers are not passive participants, but will actively analyze and critique the topics and presentations and have opportunities to share information and expertise.

Workshop Series

*Diverse Perspectives*

*Curriculum Connections*

*Professional Conversations*

Seminar I: Reflections on Teaching Sensitive Topics -or- "How could this lesson have gone so terribly wrong?"

Oct. 6, Thursday @ Jack Abrams School, Administrative Office, 50 Tower Street, Room 201 Huntington Station, NY 11746
3:30pm - 6:30pm

Description: The ability to reflect on the classroom, school and community culture when approaching potentially controversial topics is an essential element of lesson preparation and presentation. Acknowledging that controversial topics almost always invite the strongest responses, careful planning will bring about the best chance of meaningful and thought-provoking learning. Best practices, examples, activities and discussion will form the foundation of our exploration.

Presenter: Joan E. Skelly

Joan E. Skelly is a former teacher, building and central office administrator with over 30 years of experience in New York and New Jersey school districts. She has held administrative positions in elementary, middle and high schools. She received a BA in education from Stony Brook University, an MSed from Dowling College and pursued post graduate studies in school administration at New York University. An experienced staff developer and workshop leader, Joan has conducted a variety of courses and seminars in the New York metropolitan area.

Seminar II: How Can Asian American Youth's Narratives Inform School Curriculum and Teaching Practices?

Oct. 13, Thursday @ Jack Abrams School, Administrative Office, 50 Tower Street, Room 201 Huntington Station, NY 11746
3:30pm - 6:30pm

Description: Research illustrates that minority students from immigrant and under-resourced communities are more prone to fail and drop out of school because of the cultural irrelevancy of academic teaching to their everyday lives. Many poor/low-income Chinese American youth attend schools in which their lived experiences, culture, and American history are omitted or distorted in the standard history and social studies curriculum. When educators develop culturally relevant curriculum for minority youth, it can actively engage young people in and out of school. This professional development workshop will explore the lived experiences and the engagement of four poor/low-income Chinese American youth in a Chinese American history program. We will explore the life stories of young Asian American youth and examine how their experiences can inform educators to design curriculum and teaching practices that is relevant for all students.

Presenter: Dr. Judy Yu, Founding Executive Director, REACH

Dr. Judy Yu is an Educational Researcher and the Founding Executive Director of REACH® a non-profit educational firm based in New York City. She currently serves as a Professional Developer at Bank Street College of Education where she provides professional development on Social Emotional Learning for New York City public school leaders and teachers. Dr. Yu received her Doctorate of Education in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University and her Masters of Education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Seminar III: The Civil Rights Movement on Long Island

Oct. 20, Thursday @ Jack Abrams School, Administrative Office, 50 Tower Street, Room 201 Huntington Station, NY 11746
3:30pm - 6:30pm

Description: During the 1960s, Long Island communities and schools responded to pressure for racial integration. There were heroic efforts in support of civil rights, but also intense resistance. Long Island today, both its diversity and its checkerboard of racially, ethnically, and economically separate communities and school districts is a reflection of the successes achieved and defeats suffered during civil rights campaigns. This workshop examines documents from the past useful in middle school and high school classrooms that examine national issues through a local lens.

Presenter: Dr. Alan Singer, Hofstra University

Dr. Alan Singer is a social studies educator and historian in the Department of Teacher Education Programs at Hofstra University on Long Island, New York and the editor of Social Science Docket (a joint publication of the New York and New Jersey Councils for Social Studies). He is a member of the New York State Council for the Social Studies, New Jersey Council for the Social Studies, Long Island Council for the Social Studies and the Association of Teachers of Social Studies (New York City). He is editor of a 268-page secondary school curriculum guide, New York and Slavery: Complicity and Resistance. Dr. Singer is a graduate of the City College of New York and has a Ph.D. in American history from Rutgers University. Dr. Singer has a regular blog on educational issues on Huffington Post.

Seminar IV: The Long Island Index: Resources and Data for Motivation and Relevant Instruction in the High School and Middle School Classroom

Oct. 27, Thursday @ Jack Abrams School, Administrative Office, 50 Tower Street, Room 201 Huntington Station, NY 11746
3:30pm - 6:30 pm

Description: Since 2004,The Long Island Index has been a source of valuable regional data presented in a neutral manner. The resources allow students to research, draw conclusions and present information relevant to their own experiences as residents of Long Island. This workshop will give participants an overview of the Index and explore one topic in-depth along with suggestions for classroom use.

Presenter: Olivia Ildefonso

Olivia Ildefonso is a part-time employee for ERASE Racism, as well as the organization's former Housing Coordinator and Communications Coordinator. Ms. Ildefonso is currently a Ph.D. candidate in human geography at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Her research explores forms of structural racism in the suburbs, with a particular focus on Long Island, NY. Ms. Ildefonso also teaches in the Urban Studies Department at Queens College. Her course, Poverty and Affluence, draws from different theories of urban poverty and inequality and examines the impact of such factors as immigration, racial segregation, suburbanization, environmentalism and social movements.

Seminar V: The Lessons of the Holocaust and Decisions We Make Today

Nov. 3, Thursday @ Jack Abrams School, Administrative Office, 50 Tower Street, Room 201 Huntington Station, NY 11746
3:30pm - 6:30 pm

Description: This workshop explores how educators can connect a particular historical experience to issues and events of today. Participants will recieve information about the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center's permanent museum exhibit and learn interactive cross-discipline strategies for field trip and classroom use. We will examine the lessons and legacies of the Holocaust and how these lessons relate to the choices young people and adults alike make every day to stand by or stand up to intolerance and indifference.

Presenter: Tracy Garrison-Feinberg, Director, The Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center

Tracy Garrison-Feinberg is the director of the Claire Friedlander Education Institute at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County. Tracy taught social studies in Austin, Texas and spent eighteen years with the professional development organization Facing History and Ourselves before coming to HMTC in September 2013. She is an experienced teacher and teacher trainer, specializing in the history of the Holocaust and other genocides, the US civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century, and interfaith/interreligious conversations.