Dear Colleagues,

In honor of Indigenous People's Day (October 11th) & Native American Heritage Month (November), Italian-American Heritage Month (October), and LGBTQ+ History Month (October), we have curated digital, print, and video resources to share with your students and use in your classrooms. There are virtual reading rooms, as well as links to biographies found on the WOHS LMC digital databases.

It is our hope that these resources enlighten you and your students to the value of the Indigenous Peoples & Native Americans, the contribution of Italian-Americans, and the history of the LGBTQ+ community.

Sincerely,

Christina Binns & Julie Matz

Click on each image to access the virtual book displays.

"Through this heart-centered approach towards cultural inclusivity, I

ndigenous students will feel more acceptance and acknowledgment

in the classrooms that embrace and celebrate diversity."

Many Native American organizations and communities have adopted the Seven

Guiding Principles, in one form or another, as a moral stepping stone and cultural foundation. Tracing the origin of the Seven Sacred Teachings back to the earliest memory of tribal history, each community has adapted the teachings to suit their community values. Despite where the teachings may have originated, they share the same concepts of abiding by moral respect for all living things.

Click on the image below to explore each of the Seven Sacred Teachings with your students. What other cultures and religious groups have similar tenents for living?

We want to take back our education and teach our history, our language, and our culture. We have begun to tell our story – our history – and we want to tell it in our own words to the world so that this will never happen to any of the other nations in the world.

- Shirley Williams, Residential School Survivor

Click on each image to access the virtual book displays.

Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution.

Here are just a sampling of LGBTQ+ resources from the WOHS LMC's collection. In addition, the LMC contains a wide variety of fiction featuring LGBTQ+ characters and authors. The Reading Companion for this Virtual Reading Room will be posted later this week.

Christina Binns, cbinns@westorangeschools.org

Julie Matz, jmatz@westorangeschools.org

Nancy Mullin, nmullin@westorangeschools.org