The Cowan PTA Equity and Advocacy Committee is a group of parents, teachers, administrators, and counselors who commit to reduce harmful, racist, and oppressive practices on our campus and in our community. We take action to build authentic inclusivity with relationships, open dialogue, advocacy, and local, political awareness.
All are welcome and encouraged to join this brave space for individual and collective growth.
The Cowan Community Commitments
We commit to:
- Encourage a culture of dignity and belonging at all times and in all spaces.
- Amplify the voices and lived experiences of BIPOC and seek to redress harm.
- Interrogate, reject, and replace deficit and/or biased language in praxis.
- Build authentic inclusivity with relationships, shared agreements, brave spaces, affinity groups (racial caucuses), dialogue, and local, political awareness.
- Evaluate curriculum and pedagogy for equity regarding the multiple cultures, languages, knowledges, and experiences of our students and community.
- Continually grow our cultural proficiency and inclusiveness practices as individuals, educators, and as a collective organization.
- Put the physical health and wellness of all community members at the forefront of decision making.
- Speak up bravely and contribute what we can, when we can.
- Research who we do business with to ensure equitable practices, partner first with our community members (when possible), reject agreements with people or practices that do not adhere to our shared vision, and monitor who benefits from each purchase.
We believe:
- Black Lives Matter
- Inclusivity and Belonging are cultural practices we can cultivate.
- All voices have not been heard.
- Transforming the conditions that allow for harm begins with restorative and healing justice and a commitment to trauma-informed, culturally responsive, practices.
Invitation to Dialogue:
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What if I notice bias or racism at my campus? Do you feel safe reaching out personally to your child’s teacher(s), another trusted adult, or an equity member to express your concerns? → How did that make you feel? Are you feeling this was repaired? Reach out to the school counselor for guidance if that feels safe →
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*Please reach out with any questions or concerns.
We encourage and invite your communication.
“Inclusion is engagement with a community where the equal worth and inherent dignity of each person is honored. An inclusive community promotes and sustains a sense of belonging; it affirms the talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of living of its members” (Cobb & Krownapple, 2019, p. 33).
“We may not be intentionally harming students, yet we can’t deny our complicity with the system that is hurting them” (Cobb & Krownapple, 2019, p. 49).
