By Damekia Morgan, Dignity in Schools Campaign-Louisiana

Community Circle of Hope: Creating Positive School Climates by Securing Dignity in Respect for Louisiana’s Students

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 6:00-8:30pm

Treme Center - New Orleans, LA

On October 4, 2011, Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC), Juvenile Justice of Louisiana (JJPL), Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools, Safe Schools Health Student Initiative, and Young Adults Striving for Success (YASS) hosted a call-to-action meeting to urge the citizens of the city of New Orleans to come together to end school push out.

There were approximately 60 community members present that evening at the Treme Center, including students, local school district representatives, parents, teachers, community members, and a member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. 

We began the circle with words from a John Mac High School Student, followed by an icebreaker, which was facilitated by members from YASS.  After the icebreaker concluded, we opened up the circle for discussion. Several young male students created a smaller inner-circle of chairs and were guided through a sensitive process by a well-known facilitator. 

Each student shared their personal tale of how he was suspended, expelled, and/or arrested while in school. One young man shared his story of the difficulties he experienced while trying to re-enroll in school after being arrested. Another student shared a similar story of being constantly suspended from school for “minor things” and feeling as though “they” were just out to get him. By the end of the discussion it was apparent that there was a theme emerging: students felt like they were being punished for “normal” childhood behavior. 

One of our young FFLIC members, who also shared his story that evening, was quoted in an online article stating, “It’s just like how the police profile people… They select the students that they see performing as their favorite. I see that as a problem because everyone should have the same disciplinary action.  I see the suspensions as a problem because if the point is to get an education and you are taking students away from their education, how are they learning?”

After listening to the student’s heartfelt stories, the circle broke into small-working groups to respond to the stories that were shared, and then to work collaboratively to help develop solutions to help address school push out.  Each small group was co-facilitated by a young person.  Upon the completion of the small group work, we reorganized ourselves into one large circle to report back on what had been shared during the small group discussions. Each group had 6 sheets of large flip chart paper with solutions to suspensions, expulsions, and school arrests, all of which were developed by the community. We closed the evening and our Community Circle of Hope with each participant sharing one word… Hope. Forward. Inspired. Encourage. Educated …and there were many more.

FFLIC has promised that we will do our best to incorporate the proposed solutions that were developed during the evening into our work and to continue to keep individuals updated through email and future meetings.

Photos from the Community Circle of Hope event can be seen here.