ODE Sexuality Education Newsletter 

March 10, 2021 

Dearest colleagues, 

Welcome to March! It’s been one year since the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in Oregon and we’ve accomplished so much during this challenging time. We hold ongoing gratitude and respect for all the healthcare providers and essential workers who have served Oregon during this year. And to all the educators and school staff who have made this year a learning experience that is meaningful for Oregon students, while overcoming unprecedented obstacles. 

As we conclude Black History Month and enter into Women’s History Month, there is no dearth of examples of tenacity and perseverance through loss and struggle. Resources related to Black and Women’s History are provided below. 

In this newsletter, we will share with you some announcements, research, resources, and opportunities for training by ODE, as well as other offerings by statewide and national colleagues that may be of interest to you. Again, thank you for all you do, and please reach out if ODE can offer additional support.

ODE Sexuality Education & Equity Updates

Spotlight on Sex Ed Open Learning (SEOL) Project

Sheridan AllPrep Academy Each month we will be highlighting one of our amazing grantee teams and their SEOL project developing accessible, inclusive, comprehensive sexuality education curriculum for the Oregon learning community. This month we travel (in our minds) to Sheridan, Oregon in Yamhill County to highlight Rebecca Swindle, Director of Technology and Kale Budgeon, School Counselor from Sheridan AllPrep Academy, a hybrid public charter school.  Rebecca and Kale will be bringing their extensive knowledge of developing curriculum for the hybrid learning and teaching environment, as well as their passion for inclusive and medically-accurate sexuality education lessons to the K-5 grade band. Their project will focus on the areas of “Respecting Difference and Anti-Oppression” and “Growth and Development”, categories in the new Color-Coded Standards document.  Rebecca and Kale educate members of school districts, community groups, families, and university faculty and students about inclusivity and LGBTQ2SIA+ support. They value working with educators and community members as they seek to act inclusively with Oregon’s students. They believe that empowering educators in their classrooms, community members in their businesses, and family members in their homes to act with support and equity paves the way for all people to work, learn, and grow with dignity.  Their goal is to create lessons in collaboration with students from a variety of backgrounds, including students in a few local GSAs, LGBTQ2SIA+ students, Black students, students experiencing disability and Latinx students. We are excited to see the end product and how it will benefit our K-5 community throughout the state.  Ultimately, these lessons will be available to all on the Oregon Open Learning Hub -- a digital resource repository and collaboration space for educators, administrators, and other educational partners to curate, create, and remix open educational resources (OER). The Hub is a portal to over 50,000 openly licensed resources available on OER Commons, searchable by grade level, subject, and standard. There are ongoing training opportunities and workshops--including a symposium in May which we have in our upcoming training section, below. Check them out!

Oregon Educators Community Opportunity

Please join ODE for our upcoming Promising Practices Idea Exchanges, with our next session on Wednesday, March 3rd, from 4-5pm. Educators from around the state have been asking ODE to figure out a way to share promising practices and strategies that are engaging our students in learning. Whether you are teaching face-to-face, via hybrid or fully online in Comprehensive Distance Learning, the exchange of ideas is a way to collaborate with your peers, learn about and share new strategies, and inspire as well as be inspired.  We are all in this together!  We ask you to join us to learn together and bring ideas you would like to share. 

You will find a description of the topics that will be covered, dates, and registration link on this flyer. This is free and open to all Oregon educators! 

Please don't hesitate to send questions to Ken Greenbaum at ken.greenbaum@state.or.us or Carla Wade at carla.wade@state.or.us.

New Ethnic Studies Standards Adopted

Last month, the Oregon State Board of Education approved the adoption of the 2021 Social Science Standards with integrated Ethnic Studies Standards. These new standards highlight systems of power, intersections of identity and gaining understanding of non-dominant traditions, cultures, and religions. These standards are an exciting development in entrusting Oregon students with their ability to expand and absorb information in a way that unites through knowledge.

Social Justice Resources for Educators

• Seven tips on how to make Black History and Women’s History relevant to all students, a blog post with helpful questions that bring historical issues to the present; 
• Black History in the Making, Learning for Justice provides classroom resources, professional development and relevant publications online; 
• The 1619 Project is a powerful interactive art and literary history project provided through the NY Times; 
• The Center for Anti-Racist Education provides community and resources for anti-racist educators and learners; 
• Women’s History Month Resources for Educators has robust offerings for events, articles, curricula, and more on teaching Women’s history; 
• The Oregon Historical Society has curriculum available on Women’s Suffrage in Oregon and the intersections of race and gender as it pertains to voting rights. Explore their offerings in the program: Nevertheless, They Persisted. 

Sex Ed Data & Research 

Health and sexuality education holds an important responsibility to reflect the lived experiences of students and staff in Oregon and in the United States. Below, please find some local and national research and data that tell the stories of young people, especially as it pertains to experiences within educational environments. 

• Call to Challenge, a conference on March 18th presenting research findings on the urgency of the needs of girls and gender-expansive youth.
• The Intersection of menstruation, school and family: Experiences of girls growing up in urban areas in the U.S.A., International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, Vol. 26, Schmitt, Hagstrom, Nowara, Gruer, Adenu-Mensah, Keely and Sommer. 

Sex Ed News & Resources 

Teaching inclusive sexuality education is a critical piece in our equity work. While we know the Oregon Human Sexuality Education OAR 581-022-2050 requires the use of “inclusive materials, language, and strategies that recognizes different sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expression” that must also be “culturally inclusive,” this work cannot happen overnight. ODE is committed to supporting school districts to provide sexuality education that allows all students to feel safe, seen, and valued. 

• K-12 Sexual Health Education Standards Crosswalk, is a newly released comprehensive report on the crosswalk analysis between the 2016 Oregon Health Ed Standards and the 2020 National Sex Ed Standards; created by Ngozi Olemgbe, through Portland Public Schools and the H.E.A.L.T.H. for K-5 grant, a State Opioid Response Grant through the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). 
• Linking Families and Teens (LiFT) is a new evidence-informed program to help families share their values, build the family bond, and talk about the tough stuff – including sexual health and healthy relationships. LiFT (available in English and Spanish), includes an engaging and interactive 5-hour workshop (6-hours including breaks), one follow-up phone call, and 12 weekly text messages for both teens between the ages of 13-19 and their supportive adult(s). Free curriculum and program guide available. 
• The Youth Resource App is a free resource for all Portland area youth, funded by PPS and created by the PPS mental health advisory team along with 100+ PPS students. PPS does not specifically endorse any of the listed agencies. Each organization has their own independent mission and vision. We know the app is likely missing some information. Consider this the 1.0 version. If a student does not have a phone, they can access the same information on their chromebook at this URL. 
• Virtual Healthy Sexuality Series for Youth: Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon offers this virtual classroom opportunity for students. Sign up here for 5th and 6th graders/10-11 year olds. Sign up here for 7th and 8th graders/aged 12-13. 

Upcoming Training Opportunities 

• OER Symposium: Connections with Higher Education, Oregon Open Learning is partnering with Open Oregon to include K-12 educators at the Oregon Virtual Statewide OER Symposium, which will be held on May 14th from 9 am to 3 pm. There will be opportunities for both synchronous and asynchronous engagement. This is the first year that this event will be marketed to K-12 educators and teachers of dual-credit courses, and there is no cost to register. For more information, check out the event page: https://openoregon.org/events/event/symposium-2021/. 
• H.E.A.L.T.H. for K-5: Skills-based Health Education Institute, a state-wide training by Portland Public Schools recorded and available for all 
• Sessions 1-4 were recorded as one recording, and can be accessed here. 
• The session documents are located here. Folders are organized as "Part 1, 2, 3 and 4", and contain the respective documents and presentation slides for that session. 
• Latino Health Equity Conference, June 24th/25th, The conference provides a forum to focus on individual and community issues addressing health equity through research, programs, and policies.  

• Transgender Training Institute (TTI) Trainings 
• Getting Comfortable with Pronouns, TTI (March 15: 12-12:30PM ET/9-9:30AM PT)
• Non-Binary Basics, TTI (March 15: 1-1:30PM ET/10-10:30AM PT)
• BIPOC Only Ally/Advocate Training Camp, TTI (March 31-Apr 2: 12-5 PM ET / 9AM-2 PM PT)
• Training for therapists, counselors and other mental health providers: 
  • Foundations of Awareness Part 1, April 29th 
  • Integrating Therapeutic Models of Care for Trans Clients Part 2, May 19th 
  • Beyond Clinical Interventions for Trans and Non-binary Clients, June 10-11
• Certificate in Adolescent Sex Education Basics by Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, paid certificate program
• Facilitating Sex Education, by Spark ED (March 30-May 5) A six session, 18-hour virtual instructor-led course on using a social justice and racial equity lens. 
• Facilitation Skills, by Spark ED (March 31-April 30) A five session, 12-hour virtual instructor-led course on growing your sex education skills. 

Note: Unless hosted or facilitated by The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), these training opportunities have not been endorsed by ODE, but are being shared as relevant and high quality opportunities for sexuality education professionals to consider. 

Grants, Job Openings, and Youth Opportunities

Sex Ed Conference Opportunity for Youth--Paid 

S.L.A.M. (Sexuality Liberators and Movers) announced the creation of S.L.A.M. by Youth which will be a conference taking place in 2022. The speakers and facilitators will be youth chosen through this application process. “S.L.A.M. firmly believes in the autonomy and expertise of our young people…[w]e offer the conference platform for young people to teach us.” Please share the opportunity with any youth who may be interested. Apply through this link! Deadline: October 31, 2021.

My Future My Choice is seeking Teen Advisory Board applicants!

The Teen Advisory Board (TAB) is a statewide leadership opportunity for teens wanting to develop leadership skills and act as the youth voice of the program. TAB members work with a local mentor to carry out a leadership project over the school year as well as provide program feedback. Check out their flyer and application process here!

Job opportunities 

• Raphael House of Portland, Primary Advocate (bilingual Spanish/English) 
• Clackamas Women’s Services is hiring for the following positions:
  • Latina Advocate (bilingual English/Spanish) 
  • Latina Counselor (bilingual English/Spanish) 

Listserv Submission Process

We welcome your submissions to ODE's Sexuality Education ListServ! If you have announcements, job postings, or general questions for your colleagues, you can submit them to Sasha Grenier at sasha.grenier@state.or.us or to Andrea Bibee at andrea.bibee@ode.state.or.us.

In an effort to streamline Listserv messages, we are now planning to send out ListServ messages once a month, during the first week of the month. To accommodate this change and to ensure that we can equitably share announcements from everyone, we're now asking that you submit your Listserv posts no later than the 25th of each month.

Questions? Connections? Please reach out to us: 

Sasha Grenier, MPH, CHES (she/her/hers) Sexuality Education and School Health SpecialistOregon Department of Education | Office of Teaching, Learning, and Assessmentsasha.grenier@state.or.us | www.oregon.gov/ode 

Angie Foster-Lawson, MEd (she/her/hers) Sexuality Education Analyst Oregon Department of Education | Office of Teaching, Learning, & Assessment angie.foster-lawson@state.or.us | www.oregon.gov/ode 

Andrea Bibee, JD, MA (she/her/hers) Temporary Program Analyst Oregon Department of Education | Office of Teaching, Learning, & Assessment andrea.bibee@state.or.us | www.oregon.gov/ode