we just came up at least I came up a high from last week of all of our graduations that we had uh we had 27 online and parer and o oh oio senior and maple gr vle a senior then the prior of the week we had oec um O A LC and c and a a b e like there's a macron for you but anyway so it's just beautiful see all the different Pathways in much over reach needs of our Scholars so it was just uplifting time so I just wanted to throw that out

I would say however the the end of the uh legislative session was far from smooth uh it was marked by uh things that I never imagined would have been happening towards the end of session including burglary charges against the sitting Senator um long C Busters in both the House and Senate and um not unexpectedly very heated debates on high-profile bills towards the end

school districts uh continued to tell their local legislators and education advocacy organizations continued to tell the legislature school districts need more time money and flexibility to implement the read act

It amounted to about $39 a pupil which I uh know districts need a lot more resources to implement the redc but given that flexibility uh we did not think we were going to get that until really kind of at the uh when the budget bills were coming together.

thank you for the opportunity to present an update on the implementation of the lgbtqi plus history and culture resolution

Prisma before being honest the first reason that I joined was because a lot of my friends that I had made participated in the club and so the thought of building upon and like creating a community of people that valued and respected me not only as a person but also for my identity really brought me into it

I went to prism and I was just like welcomed with open arms and I felt comfortable and I met so many great people so that's what drew me into prism

I'd say prism along with other Infinity spaces at Park Center and schools all over the district gave students like me and jwes the opportunity to feel seen valued and heard in areas that sometimes make that hard doors were really opened

I feel like throughout my time that I like at Park Center I definitely reached that goal I had a lot of people come up to me and express how they were my how I was their favorite cheerleader and how they were going to try out and things of that nature and so I really do just I get all the thanks to prism for encouraging me and showing me that you have to be the one to you know build that community and make that space that makes sense even if it's uncomfortable sometimes

being a black Trans woman I didn't necessarily know what to expect I didn't know if I was going to be judged I didn't know if they were going to welcome me as much as they did but again all I was like mad with was just open arms and everyone supporting me and it felt great to be out there on the court

I didn't feel like I was like a black Trans girl on the cheer team I felt like I was a part of the team I was just another regular girl doing my thing out there on the court so that's why I think it's just so important just to have different Affinity spaces for people so they know that they're not alone and that there are people out there who will look out for them and who can relate to them in similar ways

because my confidence now is at an all-time high um I've made multiple friends I've tried multiple different things that I never would have thought I would have done before and again now going back to prison prison just truly helped me find myself and it helped me you know gain confidence and make lifetime friendships

Affinity groups like prism give students the ability to meet new friends and create memories and spaces that L them as they are and that aspect is something like I said I really appreciate it and it's something that I will cherish for the rest of my life and carry with me as I continue to volunteer work and just go postsecondary education

every day before we would start talking about what was on our daily agenda we would do something called aose and a thorn and what a rose was it was like something positive that's going on in your life and then the thorn was something that wasn't so positive going on in your life and I feel like the reason why I wanted to like put significance on like you know the more simpler aspects of what prism provided was the fact that it allowed me to talk about it

I thought it would make it to one board meeting without getting emotional and then I'm listening and getting all choked up again

I've been in the district for 25 years and I witnessed firsthand our journey toward um Equity

because of the heightened awareness and the scrutiny surrounding uh that particular day in that lesson I did go into it feeling uh a height and Sun of nervousness but I will say that I was also super super confident and I held great comfort because I believe so passion