SCASD Equity and Inclusivity

🌍 Dive into culture at the 2024 Multicultural Children’s Festival, hosted by WPSU and State College Area School District!

🎉🗓️ Sat, April 6, 10:30am – 2:30pm
📍 State College Area High School South Building

Immerse in global arts, crafts, music, and flavors! Plus, the first 750 kids get a PBS KIDS Passport booklet. Admission FREE! Reg appreciated. Don't miss out! 🌟🎨🎶

The Social Justice Movie Night committee will be holding their second event at Delta (in the pit), Saturday April 6th from 2-4pm! To participate, please register using the QR code on the poster. We hope to see you there! 😃

We are to announce the return of Lift Every Voice! Lift Every Voice is a State High celebration of student culture & voice through performance! 🎭Dance, 🎤Vocals, 🎼Music, 🎙️ Spoken Word, 📖 Storytelling: ALL will comprise the show! School performances will take place on Friday, February 23, 2024 for students and staff.

Community members are welcomed to attend our show this Sunday, February 25, 2024 at 2:00 pm. We hope to see you there! 🎊

🌟 Join the SCASD Family! 🌟

Are you passionate about education? We're excited to share that SCASD is actively seeking staff and faculty members from diverse backgrounds to join our vibrant community! 📚✨

🔸 Explore countless educational opportunities
🔸 Make an impact on young minds
🔸 Embrace inclusivity

Here at the Office of Equity and Inclusion, we believe in celebrating and nurturing the rich tapestry of perspectives in our district. Together, we can create a brighter future for all. 💫

Learn more at our meet & greet and join us in making a difference.

When State High sophomore Kian Oziemblowsky visited Sri Lanka as a young child, his cousins invited him to their schools. His tours left a lasting impression.

“Despite the country’s beauty and the tourism, there’s a lack of resources,” he said. “Their schools are a very competitive environment. I saw the eagerness of the students to elevate themselves to a higher level of education, especially in rural schools. I made a mental note at the time that I would come back eventually and help the Sri Lankan youth.”

This summer, Kian fulfilled that promise.

He and his sister, Kayleen, a Mount Nittany Elementary third-grader, collected 1,000 books and sent them to rural elementary schools and orphanages in Sri Lanka. They organized the book drive as part of the Upakara Foundation, a charitable organization run by Kian and other youth of Sri Lankan descent. Foundation members then partnered with the nonprofit Sri Lanka-United Nations Friendship Organization (SUNFO) for a month-long youth delegation to Sri Lanka.

It was an unforgettable trip, one that validated both the book drive and his decision to join the foundation at the invitation of friends from his previous hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Sri Lanka’s recent crippling economic crisis, as well as its lasting damage from a 26-year civil war, spurred him to help his mother’s homeland.

“I have dual citizenship,” he said. “It’s my duty as a citizen. That’s my culture. I had an obligation to help them out in this time of need.”

During the trip, Kian and his companions read some of the donated books to children, as well as planted coconut trees, helped schools develop gardening programs and taught yogic breathing. The planting and yogic breathing related to the foundation’s goals of “Life on Land” and “Wellness,” while the books represented a third goal, “Quality Education.”

At a SUNFO award ceremony honoring their contributions, the delegates also met Sri Lanka’s president, Ranil Wickremasinghe, and the U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung.

“That was one of the most memorable days of my life,” Kian said. “The day of the award ceremony, my sister and I proudly represented SCASD by wearing school pins at the ceremonies and meetings with these world leaders.”

Not even a dislocated knee from slipping while visiting a stupa could diminish a month of thrilling experiences. For all of them, he expressed his gratitude to MNE librarian Dustin Brackbill, Director of Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Tonya Black, and others in the district for supporting him as he strove to keep his youthful pledge.

“I first came to Sri Lanka when I was 9,” he said. “I had seen people struggling since then. When I came back to America, I even told my Mom, ‘I want to be someone who can help these people.’ Now that I'm older, I have more opportunities in life. So, finally, I’m able to take that chance to really help my people for once.”

By Chris Rosenblum

SCASD Peer Advocates and the My Mental Health Matters Club joined forces for their first Homecoming Parade Float- A Garden of Diversity! Homecoming 2023 is in the books!

Great program tonight for Welcoming Week! Great collaboration between Penn State Law Center for Immigrants Rights Clinic, State College Area School District’s Office of Equity and Inclusivity, and Borough of State College. Thank you to Allayn Beck, Director of State College Food Bank, Alix Croswell, SCASD’s Bilingual Family Liaison, THRIVE, and many others for presenting the many services and supports available across State College and surrounding municipalities. Thank you to SCASD Peer Advocates for supporting the event as well. Thank you to all of those in attendance as well!

Join this upcoming event 'Refugees are Welcome Here: A Community Conversation' happening September 13th at the State College High School. This event is co-sponsored by Penn State Law Center for Immigrants' Rights Clinic, the State College Area School District, and the State College Borough. Register for the event here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=fPyNl-KIR0StAxI5l3igxh5_Ww6nGGpMqkJ6HF9010FUMTY0Q0hMUFJZUjBPTU40TVJDVkhWTVdYVC4u&wdLOR=cB3BCBDA0-DF79-3A4B-8DBC-8AC92166300C

Have a wonderful first day!!

Amazing opportunities this summer!!

Expanding Foreign Language Opportunities A new foreign languages program provided elementary students with academic enrichment and intervention. Fourth and fifth-graders explored a language with three or four weekly 2-hour classes, choosing ...

Recently, State High students participated in the school’s first day-long Student Problem Identification & Resolution of Issues Together (School-SPIRIT) program, a long-standing initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service. Read more: https://bit.ly/3Fdgb6q