• Cultural Calendar
Honoring the Quiet Courage of Rosa Parks

It only takes a spark to light a fire, and when it came to the Civil Rights movement, one major spark toward change took place on December 1, 1955. This was when Rosa Parks, a Black woman in Montgomery, Alabama, bravely refused to relinquish her seat on the bus to another white passenger, breaking the Alabama law that required Black passengers to do so.

Rosa was subsequently arrested, setting off a massive 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system by thousands — and directly leading to a 1956 Supreme Court decision that banned segregation on public transportation, and even more importantly, to the rise of an eloquent and passionate young preacher who joined in those boycotts and the outcry for justice — Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rosa Parks passed away at the age of ninety-two on October 24, 2005. On October 30, she became the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda.

As we honor her memory and achievements on the anniversary of her brave opposition, let us also use her inspiration to act and speak out whenever we encounter racism or hate.

Archive

Recognizing our Education Support Professionals

When it comes to education support, teachers are often the first people who come to mind, but education support professionals are just as vital in their dedication support, and their work too often goes unacknowledged. To salute these professionals, Education Support Professionals Day takes place on November 15 and gives us all at PSESD the chance to honor all of the incredible education support professionals who help and inspire our children each day.

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Celebrating October as National LGBTQ+ History Month—and National Coming Out Day on October 11!

October is LGBTQ+ History Month! Created in 1994, by a Missouri high school history teacher named Rodney Wilson who believed that a month should explore and celebrate LGBTQ+ history, LGBTQ+ History Month honors the history and courageous achievements across the years of LGBTQ+ people, including a spotlight on National Coming Out Day on October 11. Join us in celebrating our LGBTQ+ staff, students, and community members on this important day, and all month long!

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National School Lunch Week (October 9-13)

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) serves nearly 30 million children every school day, providing the essential basic nutrition that contributes to student success and teacher support, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and fat-free or lowfat milk with every school lunch. President John F. Kennedy created National School Lunch Week (NSLW) in 1962 to promote the importance of a healthy school lunch in a child’s life, as well as the impact a simple school lunch can have both inside and outside the classroom, and this year, National School Lunch Week takes place from October 9-13, 2023.

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Honoring and Commemorating Orange Shirt Day on September 30

September 30 is Orange Shirt Day—a day of remembrance honoring the hundreds of thousands of children who attended Canadian residence schools and United States Indigenous Boarding Schools, enduring abuse, neglect, disease, and worse. These schools were deliberately created to strip First Nations children of their culture,  language, and way of life, and their effects are still being felt today by those who survived, as well as their families.

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September is Suicide Awareness Month

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, offering an ideal opportunity to speak out and raise awareness—an awareness that is urgently required, with suicide the tenth leading cause of death among adults in the U.S.—and the second leading cause of death among children and young people aged 10-24. Unfortunately, these rates are increasing, and those who are young, LGBTQ, or BIPOC are especially vulnerable. LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide, while transgender adults, meanwhile, are almost 12 times more likely than the general population to attempt suicide.

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