#TakesAVillageMedford is gathering community members, school administrators, city departments, childcare providers, parents and elected officials to respond to the childcare and learning crisis we are all facing as a result of the Pandemic of 2020. Independent Education Consultant and Medford Mom, Thérèse McKinney-Wood developed a Call to Action for all of us to work together on behalf of ALL of Medford’s Children; and since then over 60 people have signed on to help through action teams (below). You are strongly encouraged to read the Call to Action – it will inspire you, encourage you, and give you a picture of what we hope to accomplish!
Structure: #ittakesavillageMedford will help Medford become an anti-racist city, by focusing on equity in education and child care during COVID-19”. We propose utilizing (a) a listening project to include the voices and perspectives of marginalized families and communities; (b) small-group facilitated conversations to build relationships across difference and inspire action to address inequities; and (c) city-wide gatherings to share information, coordinate efforts, and develop accountability measures.
Mission & Vision: We envision a city-wide, cross-sector effort that centers the needs of children and families as we re-knit our social fabric, reimagine our post-pandemic economy, and recreate ourselves as an anti-racist community. It Takes a Village: Medford includes families, schools (including school board members, district administrators, school administrators, teachers, and support staff), city departments, nonprofits, youth, faith-based organizations, businesses, and others. It Takes A Village: Medford is committed to convening community stakeholders to work together to ensure that ALL Medford’s children, and especially those who are most vulnerable, will have the opportunity to safely learn and thrive, even in the midst of this pandemic. For more details about how and who is involved see the Draft Team Charter (working document).
#ittakesavillageMedford will meet virtually to coordinate, collaborate, share and multiply resources, limit duplication of effort, and keep the action moving, weekly on Wednesdays (11:30 am – 12:30 pm). Come to the Table! Sign up below to join the team and get access to zoom invites!
(5) Action Teams (more details here) are forming immediately as follows and you are invited to join the team in one or more ways:
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- Safe Physical Space for Learning If school buildings cannot serve as the primary physical space for students to learn this fall, and some children do not have the option of safely learning at home, what alternative spaces could we make available for learning?
- Supervision/Learning Support – Tutors, Teachers, Childcare: If schools are physically closed and parents are not able to provide adequate supervision and/or facilitation for their children’s learning because of other responsibilities (e.g., work, caring for small children/elderly/etc), what other caring, qualified adults can be deployed to support learning and keep kids safe?
- Outreach and Listening to Stakeholders How can we go-out-to, create brave space for, listen to, and center the experience of BIPOC and other historically marginalized voices on behalf of this moment of disruption in childcare and learning to insure antiracist accountability, the development of an antiracist response, and culturally responsive solutions.
- Funding the response: What funding streams/resources can we access to ensure ALL students have access to resources (people, $$, space, etc) that ensure a safe space for learning and a caring, adult facilitator?
- Communication How can we engage the community to help take action on this challenge?
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Please go to this form to sign up/join the team.
We will implement Slack across the teams: To reduce the challenge of following email threads and organizing communication and access to project content – we will communicate via “Slack.com”. Once you sign-up here to join the #TakesAVillage Project Team – you will receive an invitation to join the #TakesAVillage Slack Workspace and will automatically become part of the #General channel. You should then go and join the committee channel(s) that interests you.
