
In
June
2020,
Dr.
Andrew
Buchheit,
principal
at
T.
Clay
Wood
Elementary
School,
started
the
Advisory
Board
on
Race
and
Equity.
Like
many
other
educators,
Buchheit
witnessed
a
climate
shift
after
the
death
of
George
Floyd,
and
he
felt
the
creation
of
the
advisory
board
as
a
step
toward
explicit
change.
Currently,
the
board
is
made
up
of
voluntary
members
of
the
T.
Clay
Wood
Elementary
staff
and
parents
who
received
an
invitation.
The
advisory
board
will
soon
be
open
to
any
community
member
who
wants
to
participate
in
these
important
conversations
working
toward
change.
Information
is
shared
at
the
monthly
Parent
Advisory
Council
meeting.
The
goal
of
this
advisory
board,
"Increasing
the
cultural
competency
of
Virginia's
educator
workforce,
eliminating
disproportionality
in
student
outcome
data,
and
closing
opportunity
gaps
among
marginalized
student
groups,"
are
aligned
closely
with
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education's
"5
C's
of
ed
equity,
"continuous
reflection,
culturally
responsive,
courageous
leadership,
curriculum
reframing,
and
compassionate
student
and
family
engagement."
When
asked
what
stage
the
advisory
board
is
in
now,
Buchheit
shared,
"We
are
in
the
stages
of
listening
and
increasing
our
own
awareness
and
understanding
while
we
are
examining
our
processes
and
beliefs.
We
are
asking
ourselves,
'does
the
educational
system
provide
equitable
opportunities
for
all
our
students
and
if
not,
how
can
we
ensure
equity
in
our
own
school.'
I
see
this
as
one
of
the
most
important
educational
(and
societal)
issues
at
this
time.
For
real
change,
we
need
to
be
involved
as
a
whole
school
community."
An
initiative
under
the
advisory
board
is
a
book
club
led
by
T.
Clay
Wood
teacher,
Kristen
Krueger.
The
book
club
is
comprised
of
voluntary
members
and
has
covered
books
such
as,
"How
to
Be
an
Antiracist,"
by
Ibram
Kendi
and
"Black
Wall
Street,"
by
Hannibal
Johnson.
The
next
book
they
plan
to
read
is
"The
Sun
Does
Shine,"
by
Anthony
Ray
Hinton.
Another
initiative,
led
by
assistant
principal,
Melissa
Yuditsky,
and
teacher,
Claire
Hannold,
is
a
weekly
"read-aloud,"
of
a
book
celebrating
diversity.
This
is
followed
by
a
discussion
with
students
using
Flipgrid.
In
addition
to
the
"read-alouds,"
Hannold
has
worked
to
diversify
the
literature
found
in
the
school
library
and
reached
out
to
the
community
to
donate
diverse
literature.
Similar
updates
to
include
more
diverse
titles
were
made
to
classroom
libraries
with
the
support
of
the
Parent
Teacher
Organization
(PTO).
On
a
recent
Zoom
call,
Buchheit
gave
an
update
of
another
goal
being
carried
out
by
himself
and
school
counselors,
Amy
Cunningham
and
Sandy
Robertson.
Under
the
Office
of
Professional
Learning's
Culturally
Aware
and
Responsive
(CARE)
program,
Buchheit
and
the
counselors
lead
staff
development
on
areas
of
equity
and
cultural
awareness.
The
CARE
program
is
separate
from
the
advisory
board
but
supports
their
goal
toward
change
as
a
school.
Buchheit
also
talked
about
an
activity
fifth
grade
teacher,
Renee
Watson,
planned
for
her
students
during
Black
History
Month.
Watson
took
the
Virginia
Standards
of
Learning
objectives
and
applied
them
to
an
activity
called
the
"Wax
Museum,"
where
each
student
researched
a
famous
African
American
and
gave
a
short
oral
presentation
to
their
classmates.
Buchheit
shared
that
Watson's
lesson,
"is
an
example
of
how
teachers
and
staff
can
use
the
current
curriculum
and
adapt
it,
so
it
is
more
inclusive
and
representative
of
our
school
community."
Starting
in
the
2021-22
school
year,
any
parent
or
family
member
who
is
interested
may
join
the
Advisory
Board
on
Race
and
Equity.
Further
information
will
be
shared
with
the
school
community
when
available.