"When people are in your space, do they feel like they can be fully human? -Rudy Bankston |
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Fall Circle and Haiku Event To all of our supporters and collaborators:
We invite you to experience the work we do by joining us for a special circle and haiku workshop led by Rudy Bankston and Tina Hogle. We'd love to have you there! Register by clicking the button below and we'll send details. Register soon as this event will be capped at 25! Date: October 8th Time: 3:00-5:00 pm |
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Where do you feel you belong? |
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ARISE/LEAP Forward Interns Explore Belonging
ARISE and LEAP Forward interns at UW-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health reflected on their sense of belonging through haiku writing with i am We Global Village on August 11th. Led by i am We Global Village founder, Rudy Bankston, students were moved to share that which weighed on their hearts and celebrated the internship program as a space of belonging and community.
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In a dark tunnel Struggling just to find the light At last I find you ~Ashley It all changed that day Wish you had never attempted I thank God you failed ~Bailey Seven summer weeks Lab time and enrichment time ARISE number one ~Eshai |
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The B in DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging) Rudy and Neda Varner engaged in a deep conversation about belonging on the podcast Learning in Mind | | |
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Building Restorative
Communities of Care |
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School districts and community organizations with wellness grants are funding community building conversations on equity and restorative practices. Each community identifies their priorities, we listen, provide resources, and hold space for and help guide the conversation and emergent action steps that follow. |
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Stoughton and DeForest Area School Districts In Stoughton and Deforest, students, staff, administrators, school board members and parents are gathering for community building centering on restorative practice. These spaces break down the silos that often prohibit communal conversations that allow us to center human dignity. Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) Latinx Family Circles Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Dane County Mental Health grants supported Community Building Circles for Latinx Families to come together around common concerns. These sessions were planned and made possible by outreach from Jannyce Rodriguez-Duverge, Alejandra Adame Barcenas, and Laura Taveras-Geneo, Bilingual Student and Family Engagement Specialists (SAFE) in the middle schools and high schools and facilitated by YWCA Circle keepers, Eugenia Highland-Granados and Asly Warren. |
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How and Why We Do What We Do |
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Any student may experience traumatic family events such as divorce, death, illness, homelessness, drug/alcohol dependency, or violence. Culturally and linguistically diverse students additionally face the trauma of systemic racism and bias in schools.1 |
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Informed by Research Research about the effect of trauma on the brain tells us that children, teenagers, and young adults who have survived and continue to be exposed to the trauma of adverse childhood experiences (ACES) are often caught in a cycle that forces their focus to be centered in the limbic brain (survival mode). The focus of the brain can only move into the cerebral cortex, where higher functioning and learning occurs, if the child/young person |
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perceives they are in a safe place. We use a trauma-informed approach to learning through restorative practices that build trust and a sense of safety. Our approach is guided by the lived experiences of our founder, Rudy Bankston and supported by brain research and Dr. Donna Hart-Tervalon’s 40-year career specializing in special education. |
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Safe Spaces and Proven Practices Our projects provide safe spaces and opportunities for children’s overprotective brains to become regulated through the use of proven practices and activities such as art, music, body |
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movement, and intentional community-building. These activities actually help retrain the brain to be able to move from protective mode to regulated mode. And when repeated over time, these experiences of moving through brain states can become a part of everyday experiences that make it natural for the brain to move from protective mode into learning mode. A grounding in community-building circles builds the foundation of trust needed to engage in cognitive development and rigor. |
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Open to New Learning Our work is specifically designed to help children access the parts of their brains where learning occurs. Our students explore music, art, poetry, and chess and as they do so, also experience relationship-building, collaboration, and problem solving–all critical skills for success in their adult lives. They begin to explore identity, social skills, |
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and emotional resilience as they discover more about themselves and others and learn to advocate for their needs. As they build confidence in creative areas, their minds are open to new learning as they begin to see themselves as competent. Their newly experienced competence as writers, musicians, and artists translates to other learning. We connect with students through our culturally relevant and responsive curriculum. Not only does this engage students, but connecting to music, poetry, and movement they are familiar with outside of school piques their interest and affirms they are seen and they matter. 1 Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Hammond, Zaretta. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA 2015 |
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We're grateful for the support of hundreds of individuals and these organizations: |
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i am We Global Village is a program under fiscal sponsorship of the Center for Community Stewardship, which is a Madison-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization. This sponsorship enables donations to be tax deductible. You may also mail support checks to: Center for Community Stewardship, Inc.
116 North Few St, Madison, WI 53703 Memo line: i am We Global Village |
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