Mr. Villegas Goes to Washington
Hello, Inclusionists!
I’m Tim Villegas, and you are reading or listening to my bi-weekly (or whenever we get around to it) newsletter, where I break down what is happening in the field of inclusive education and whatever else is going on in my brain concerning inclusion.
This edition is going to be short and sweet. Because I’m actually headed to Seattle, Washington, tomorrow to visit three Inclusionary Practices Project (IPP) demonstration sites. You may remember that I briefly mentioned IPP in an edition of the Weeklyish in December. But just in case you missed it.
There are currently 16 inclusionary practices model demonstration sites across Washington State. In the Fall of 2019, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction launched the inclusionary practices professional development project in collaboration with The Haring Center for Inclusive Education at the University of Washington. The goal of the project is to create learning communities as sites for research, professional development, teacher preparation, and model demonstration sites to replicate these inclusive best practices. And what is so cool is that they are making more deliberate plans with school and districts to prioritize the inclusion of students with significant disabilities to truly realize their goal of including each and every student.
So, stay tuned for more about that.
I’m going to be recording some interviews for our upcoming podcast series, Inclusion Stories, which if you didn’t know, you can preview our pilot episode on Patreon right now! All you have to do is become a Think Inclusive patron.
A huge thanks to all our sponsors for Inclusion Stories: Communication First, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Roots of Inclusion, iSecurePrivacy, and the Thompson Policy Institute on Disability.
A couple more things for you to know.
Thursday, March 23 from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET, please join us for a 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 special preview of the award-winning documentary FORGET ME NOT: INCLUSION IN THE CLASSROOM, in which parents and filmmakers Olivier and Hilda Bernier share their personal battle with NYC’s segregated education system as they fight for their son Emilio’s right to be educated alongside his peers.
Here is a quick synopsis. As 3-year-old Emilio prepares to start school, his family finds itself embroiled in a challenge all too common for children with disabilities - to secure the right to an inclusive education. Cornered in one of the most segregated education systems, New York City public schools, filmmaker Olivier and his wife Hilda turn the camera on themselves and their child with Down syndrome, as they navigate a byzantine system originally designed to silo children with disabilities. Emilio's parents learn from other families who have fought against the injustices built into the educational system while they continue their own battle for their son's future.
During the preview, we will play clips of the film and have a Q&A session with the filmmaker Olivier Bernier.
All the film clips will have open captions, and the live portions of the webinar will be auto-captioned.
𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗕𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘
And finally, the inclusive stories for kids' podcast, Dorktales Storytime, released a new episode starring two autistic voice actors—Jonathan Cormur, a seasoned professional (and the show’s host), and Langston Sardella, a 13-year-old at the beginning of his career. The two actors bring ‘Redge’s K.N.I.G.H.T. School’ story to life, speaking to the value of sharing our unique gifts and what it means to be hero worthy.
The episode was timed in support of Neurodiversity Celebration Week (March 13 – 19), a worldwide initiative that values and celebrates the talents of neurodiverse minds.
Preview: Redge’s K.N.I.G.H.T. School, a Dorktales Lore Story
Sign up for Dorktales mailing list for access to their resource library of screen-free activities: https://dorktalesstorytime.aweb.page/DorktalesPortalSignUp
That’s it for this edition of The Weeklyish. I’ll be back in a couple (or a few) weeks with more inclusion stories and ideas to ponder.
Thanks for your time and attention. Have a great week everyone!
Tim
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The Weeklyish is written, edited, and sound designed by Tim Villegas and is a production of MCIE.
Our intro stinger is by Miles Kredich.
Additional music by REDProductions.
For information about inclusive education, visit mcie.org and check out our flagship podcast, Think Inclusive, on your favorite podcast app.