Let’s do lunch

Student artwork created at Desert View Learning Center in Phoenix

More than two dozen schools in Maricopa County are involved with a program with a simple premise — get kids to try a new seat during lunch and you’ll begin to break down barriers. They’re participating in a national campaign launched a decade ago by Teaching Tolerance, a program of the Southern Poverty Law Center. It’s called “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” and it’s scheduled for Oct. 30 this year. So far 1,659  schools have signed up.

More 3rd grade art from DVLC

Turns out Maricopa County takes third place for schools with the most “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” participants — after Los Angeles County and Illinois’ Cook County. Three schools in Arizona are considered model schools for the program — St. Gregory College Preparatory School in Tucson, Kyrene Akimela A-Al in Phoenix and Sunset Ridge in Glendale.

Several schools in other countries are participating in this year’s “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” — including Japan, Oman, Israel, Canada, Romania, the Dominican Republic, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Greece and the Russian Federation. There’s still plenty of time for schools in and beyond Arizona to get involved. The program was developed for P-12 students.

More lovely art from DVLC

Teaching Tolerance surveys show that divisions between groups are “most clearly drawn” in the cafeteria, and that “interactions across group lines can help reduce prejudice.” So educators and parents eager to reduce bias and misperceptions can help by encouraging students with differences to interact more often and in positive ways.

To participate, simply “ask students to move out of their comfort zones and connect with someone new over lunch.” Teaching Tolerance offers several free online resources “designed to help schools and classroom teachers explore the issue of social boundaries.”

Schools that register on the “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” map can enter a Teaching Tolerance contest (entry deadline is Oct. 8) for the chance to have a professional photographer take pictures of the school’s “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” event. Two schools will be selected and featured on the Teaching Tolerance website, blog and Facebook page.

Click here for details.

— Lynn

Note: Teachers can get free copies of Teaching Tolerance magazine

Coming up: Follow the money

Supporting LGBT youth

I stumbled on the book “Improving Emotional & Behavioral Outcomes for LGBT Youth” while researching a story on bullying for Raising Arizona Kids magazine. It’s well known that gay and transgender youth are bullied, but most of us know far less about effective strategies for helping these youth navigate the world of adolescence, a challenging time of life filled with questions of personal identity and place in the world.

The book, subtitled “A Guide for Professionals,” is edited by Sylvia K. Fisher, Ph.D., Jeffrey M. Poirier, M.A. and Gary M. Blau, Ph.D. It’s published by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., and is part of a series called “Systems of Care for Children’s Mental Health,” edited by Beth A. Stroud, M.Ed. and Robert M. Friedman, Ph.D. That’s a big bowl of alphabet soup.

Though written primarily for professionals who work with LGBT youth, “Improving Emotional and Behavioral Outcomes for LGBT Youth” is filled with insights that teachers, parents and others who care about children and teens can appreciate. The book couples scholarly insights with clear writing, making it accessible for general readers — and beneficial to those who work with youth in theater and other settings.

The book opens with chapters exploring public health perspectives and culturally and linguistically competent services for both LGBT youth and their families, sharing tools for organizations eager to assess their own cultural and linguistic competence. Several chapters exploring issues of sexual identity and development follow, each helpful in setting the unique challenges of LGBT youth within the broader context of adolescence.

Despite volunteering and working for many years in the field of mental health, I’ve been reading “Improving Emotional & Behavioral Outcomes for LGBT Youth” with an eye to its applications for those in other fields, and folks who simply want to learn more about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. I’d have appreciated the book’s many insights during my daughter’s time volunteering with a Phoenix organization uniting young gay and straight allies.

Living in the Southwest, I’m especially interested in learning about the unique challenges facing LGBT youth within Latino and Native American communities, and ways we can all better understand and support them. Hence I found the chapter titled “Becoming Who We Are Meant to Be: Native Americans with Two-Spirit, LGBT, and/or Related Tribal Identities” especially helpful. It’s the book’s best treatment of the incredible depth and breadth of youth who fall along the spectrum we term LGBT.

A chapter titled “The Resilience U-Turn” explores the shift away from risk-based characterizations of LGBT youth towards considerations of their assets and strengths. Another, titled “Fostering Welcoming, Safe, and Supportive Schools for LGBT Youth,” examines strategies for fostering systemwide change and more equitable outcomes for LGBT youth.

Additional topics covered include suicide and self-harm, addressing the needs of LGBT youth who are homeless and the role of social media in promoting social inclusion and help-seeking behavior. A chapter titled “Internet-Based Information and Reseources” describes more than 30 online resources, charting each one’s topics and target audience.

“Improving Emotional & Behavioral Outcomes for LGBT Youth” is an important resource for mental health professionals, educators and others seeking solutions supported by research and real-world applications. You might not read it in a single sitting, but keep it handy as a reference. There’s really no excuse for anyone working with youth to ignore or overlook the unique strengths and challenges of LGBT youth.

— Lynn

Note: Click here to read the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s “Facts for Families” on “Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Adolescents”

Coming up: Once upon a neighborhood, In defense of bloggers

Know when to fold ’em

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Ditch the boring card games and other indoor fare you’ve been settling for during the Valley’s latest heat wave. There’s more to fold, and behold, at the Phoenix Art Museum — which presents screenings of “Gerhard Richter Painting” plus a day of “Kid’s Paper Play” this weekend, plus lots of hands-on activities for kids, parents, teachers and other grown-ups in coming weeks and months.

Gerhard Richter Painting. Final screenings are Sat, Aug. 18 at 1pm and Sun, Aug. 19 at 3pm. At 1pm on Aug 19 they’re showing “I’m Carolyn Parker” (from the “POV Film Series”), which follows a civil rights activist as she works to rebuild her home and community in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Kid’s Paper Play. Sat, Aug. 18 from noon to 3pm. Features fun ways to paint and manipulate paper, view works in the “Paper!” exhibit and “play on your own using different techniques for children of all ages.”

Paper Making Workshop. Sat, Aug. 25 from 11am to 1pm. Features “hand-papermaking and a fun exploration of simple and elegant book forms” with Rachel Nore, (ASU graduate student in printmaking) and Gabriela Muñoz (local artist and curatorial assistant at the museum).

Passage on the Underground Railroad. Wed., Sept. 5 at 7pm. Features a lecture by ASU art professor Stephen Marc on “the creative process of interpreting the history of the Undergroud Railroad through the use of photography and digital compositing to bring together historic sites, period documents and artifacts, and contemporary references.”

Grandparent’s Day. Sun, Sept. 9 from noon to 3pm. Features hands-on activities for all ages, family-friendly tours with museum docents and the chance to enjoy a free child’s entrée with the purchase of an adult entrée at the museum’s cafe.

Paper Play: Know When to Fold. Wed, Sept. 12 from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Features the chace to fold mini or giant origami, paper airplanes and cootie catchers — plus explore the art of paper sculpting.

Educator Open House. Wed, Sept. 12 from 5-8pm. Features “mini workshops, preview tours and demonstrations exclusively for educators” plus free appetizers and information on using museum resources to support classroom teaching.

Finally, if you know someone living with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, share the news of Phoenix Art Museum’s six-week “Arts Engagement Program,” which runs Sept. 27-Dec. 13.

— Lynn

Note: Please click here to confirm program dates, times, costs and other details before attending.

Coming up: The fine art of conferences

Art, film and bullying prevention

Learn how you can be a part of "No Name-Calling Week" 2011

The Anti-Defamation League is partnering with Scottsdale Community College for the sixth year of a film series titled “The Many Faces of Hate.”

The film “Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History” will be presented at SCC on Wed, Jan 26, from 6:30-8:30pm in the Turquoise Room.

The film recounts the story of “a student who stood up to his anti-gay tormentors and filed a federal lawsuit against his high school district.”

It’s free and open to the public, and includes a moderated post-film discussion.

The film is being presented as part of “No Name-Calling Week” — a national initiative inspired by a young adult novel titled “The Misfits.” This year’s “No Name-Calling Week” takes place Jan 24-28.

The project is headed by the “No Name-Calling Week Coalition” — created by the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Publishing (a company I call to mind each time I hear a Carly Simon song).

The project includes “a week of educational and art activities aimed at stopping name calling and bullying in schools” — which leaves me wondering about grown-up plans to curtail their own bad behavior.

I’m not so sure we set the best example as we cut each other off in traffic, gossip about friends over dinner or hurl wild accusations during political discourse. I’d rather see folks armed with crayons than with guns.

Individual students in grades K-12 are invited to participate in the “No Name-Calling Week 2011 Creative Expression Contest” before the Mon, Feb 28 deadline. Grown-ups, of course, are always free to color on their own.

The contest is “an opportunity for students to submit essays, poetry, music, original artwork, or other pieces that convey their experiences and feelings about name-calling, and their ideas for putting a stop to verbal bullying in their schools and communities.”

James Howe's book has much to offer tweens, teens and adults

The statistics about bullying are sobering, according to Melissa Medvin, associate regional director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Arizona regional office.

Medvin points to GLSEN studies showing that 65% of LGBT teens or those perceived to be LGBT report being verbally or physically harassed.

About one-third of the general student population reports being bullied.

Often bullying is based on perceived differences in race, religion, sexual orientation or physical characteristics. 

Medvin notes that victims of bullying have increased rates of absenteeism, use of dangerous and illegal substances, and suicide/bullycide — as well as lower grades and lower graduation rates. We all have a stake in reducing bullying in our communities.

Additional films in the series will be shown at SCC on Feb 16, March 23 and April 27. All are documentaries dealing with the subject of hate, and all are free and open to the public.

In the meantime, banish bullying from your own behavior. You can’t expect your children to do the right thing if you’re not leading by example.

— Lynn

Note: Click here to learn about free “Bullied” kits available (one per school) from Teaching Tolerance — a program of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Click here to learn more about GLSEN in Phoenix.

Coming up: Puppetry with a purpose