Latino Night #EstoEsNosotros
Middletown City School District understands the importance of building our educator’s ability to teach in an ever-growing diverse urban environment. This focus area demonstrates the district’s plan to redefine staffing practices to better recruit and retain strong educators who thrive in an urban setting. We plan to build every employee’s awareness of our diversity, which will create an appreciation for our differences as well as impact our ability to introduce a greater deal of relevance in our classrooms. To ensure our efforts to value and celebrate the diversity of our district, we will form a Valuing Diversity committee to oversee all efforts in this area.
All Middletown employees actively engaged in COPE (Cost of Poverty Experience) during the October and November professional development days. COPE was the kick off to the 2018-2019 poverty awareness focus identified in the MCSD Strategic Plan. As a follow up to COPE, monthly videos will be shared that highlight Middletown agencies that directly address the challenges of poverty. The videos highlight issues which people in poverty could possibly face during that month. Each video will be followed by a poverty awareness challenge. We hope that you will take part in the poverty awareness challenge and share your experiences using #DiversityRising.
Gail Drexler, S.E.L.F. Program Director
The first video highlights SELF, Supports to Encourage Low-Income Families, and their Emergency Home Energy Assistance Program. SELF helps low-income families being threatened with heat shutoff in the winter. Please take a minute to learn about SELF in this short video. Look for the HEAP, Home Energy Assistance Program, poster displayed in your staff lounge and Energy Assistance Programs Applications in the main district office.
Church Women United at Ascension Middletown
Access Counseling Services
The January Poverty Video features Access Counseling and Mental Health. Look for the Crisis Text Line posters in your buildings with the text line information 741-741.
People Working Cooperatively
Coalition for a Healthy Middletown, Safety Council of SWOH
The April #DiversityRising poverty video focuses on summer programs for Middletown youth offered by Healthy Middletown Coalition. Keeping students active and engaged over the summer months is crucial to student well being. Be on the look out for Healthy Middletown flyers with summer program information. The flyers will be delivered to schools in early May.
Maj. Andrew Murray, Salvation Army
