Public Programs Youth Camps Learning Gallery Second Saturday Let us ignite your family’s creativity! We offer a number of programs for all ages, including FREE art activities.
or physical abuse or having a family member attempt or die by suicide. The loss of parents’ jobs, a growing problem during this pandemic, or poverty in general can exacerbate ACEs. But there is a broader swath of indicators that will likely impact students returning to class. Children who experience isolation as a result of social distancing can be traumatized, as well as those who have experienced racial targeting or inequality. Ironically, while some students experience trauma from not going to school, others can suffer trauma from being forced to return to school during a pandemic. “The school that I’m currently at, we probably have 50 to 60 percent easily of our kids that are coming in with high scores,” said Michelle Lewis, principal of OKCPS Thelma Parks Elementary School. “But then I think the challenge to this year especially is even some of our students that didn’t have high scores may have some anxiety right now. They may have some trauma right now. This is something where it didn’t matter what neighborhood you lived in. This affected everybody.” Supporting students and teachers As part of its response to the continuing COVID-19 crisis, OKCPS’ board of education voted on July 21 to delay the beginning of school, pushing the date back from Aug. 10 to Aug. 31. In addition, the district voted to make all classes virtual for the first nine weeks of the school year. Whether students are learning from home or in the classroom, the need for compassion extends to everyone in a child’s orbit. U.S. Grant High School posted a message on its website asking that students be aware of “another student struggling to make friends, another student being picked on, a student who is shy or not with the ‘in’ crowd, a student who is eating lunch by themselves.” It encourages students to “be leaders” and include these classmates in activities because “you never know what that person is facing inside or outside of school.”
Learn more at okcontemp.org.
OklahomaContemporary.org 11 NW 11th St., OKC, OK 73103 405.951.0000 | @okcontemporary
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