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January 2025
January marks the beginning of a fresh year, offering an opportunity to start anew, embrace new possibilities and reflect on what happened. This month encourages us to get acquainted with our aspirations, reconnect with our purpose and be present in each moment. Unlearning to relearn is part of building critical consciousness as outlined in the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion framework created by Assistant Commissioner Dr. Macarre Traynham.
January also serves as a time to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose commitment to justice, equality and love continues to inspire and challenge us. True progress is achieved when inclusion becomes not just a practice, but a core value embedded in our communities. Learn more about local events observing the holiday.
As we step into January, we are reminded of the power of circle, both within ourselves and in the world around us. As elder Black Elk shared, "everything the power of the world does, is done in circle."
Deepen Your Practice
Restorative Practices Circle Training, February 2025
Register for the Restorative Practices Trainings in person February 24-27, 2025 at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). Restorative practices (RP) are an approach schools can use to improve school climate and repair relationships, based in the knowledge and worldview of many Indigenous cultures. The trainings will be facilitated by restorative practices trainers who work in or with schools. Trainings include:
- Circle 1: Building Community, February 24-27, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fee: $330
- Restorative Chats, February 24-26, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fee: $250
- Circle to Repair Relationships, February 24-26, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fee: $250
- Circle to Teach—Elementary, February 24-25, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fee: $165
- Circle and Fun, February 26-27, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fee: $165
Registration is handled by Lakes Country Service Cooperative. All trainings must be pre-paid at the time of registration. Registration closes February 14, 2025. For more information and to register, please visit the Restorative Practices Circle Trainings, February 2025.
Retrieve Your Learnings
Last month, STOPit Solutions wrote about Transforming Your Classroom Through Restorative Practices. For generations, traditional punitive and exclusionary discipline has been the response for misbehaviors with students, but research has shown that those practices rarely create lasting positive change. Rather than building connections and relationships with youth, those practices often push them further away. In this article, STOPit Solutions covers a variety of ways restorative practices transforms classrooms, including:
- The promise of a fresh approach
- Understanding the long-term impact
- Creating a foundation for success
- The heart of restorative dialogue
- Building emotional skills through practice
- Navigating the challenges of change
- Where to begin
- Developing better communities
Read Transforming Your Classroom Through Restorative Practices to help create healthy communities of belonging.
Build Your Knowledge
Circle of Circle
As we step into a new year, we are reminded of the opportunity to start again. We ended 2024, and are returning to the beginning of another new year. The circle begins again.
Introduction Prompt: Share your name and what you think of when you hear the word circle.
Share: This is wisdom from elder Black Elk, "Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a person is a Circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves."
Prompt: What resonates with you from Black Elk's wisdom?
Prompt: What are you currently experiencing or have experienced in circle?
Prompt: As you think about where you are now, where are you in the circle?
Closing: Invite participants to a physical movement of a circle (e.g., neck roll, moving fist in a circle, etc.). Thank you all for sharing and reflecting on your circle. May we continually be reminded that "everything the power of the world does, is done in a circle."
Getting Acquainted with Restorative Practices Trainer: dr. raj sethuraju
raj (he/him/they) is a recovering criminologist, alcoholic, and survivor of sexual abuse, with more than 20 years of community-based activism as a researcher and educator. Inspired by our youth's resilience and the men in our prison systems, he trains school staff, probation agents, community members and justice personnel on restorative practices, trauma and healing, value-centered leadership, community building and unpacking implicit biases. He believes in raising consciousness using the restorative circle process. In his latest work, raj explores the depths of our justice system and creates a framework in which knowledge, critical consciousness and heart become the root of our practices. He is currently an associate professor at Metropolitan State University. Explore a few of the several work and events dr. raj has been a part of.
You can reach dr. raj at laylaraj@gmail.com, 651-270-2616.
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Resources
Restorative Practices Advisory Committee Planning Grants
This request for proposals seeks funding to establish the required Restorative Practices Advisory Committees (RPACs). RPACs, composed of community members and system partners, will meet regularly to use restorative practices in decision-making, and develop criteria and referral processes for restorative practices within their county or Tribal Nation. These committees will recommend grant funding to the Office of Restorative Practices (ORP) and can also request funding for RPAC operations and per diems for community members.
Up to $500,000 is available for planning grants to establish Restorative Practices Advisory Committees pursuant to Minnesota Statute 142A.76. Applicants may propose funding up to $40,000.
Grants will be awarded to private and public nonprofit agencies; local units of government, including cities, counties, and townships; local educational agencies and Tribal Nations.
To apply: All applications must be submitted via e-grants, the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) online grants management system.
UPDATED DATE: Application deadline: February 10, 2025, at noon
See the full Request for Proposals for more details.
For more information, contact Kendall Hughes, Office of Restorative Practices Director, at kendall.hughes@state.mn.us.
Restorative Practices Training
Save the dates for Restorative Practices training. Registration links will be sent when available.
- June 23-26 at Roseville Area Middle School (Twin Cities metro)
- Summer dates for Bemidji will be available soon
- Summer dates for Cloquet will be available soon
Further Information
For further information about Restorative Practices, visit MDE's RP webpage or contact Grace Yang, 651-582-8777, Restorative Practices Consultant with the Minnesota Department of Education.
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