 ODE Sexuality Education Newsletter
April 7, 2021
Dearest colleagues,
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and an important reminder of how critical sexuality education is for our K-12 students; it can teach our youth about how to be good friends, helping students to build empathy and compassion, communicate and navigate boundaries and big feelings, and access resources and trusted adults when needed. These critical skills build safer, stronger, and healthier communities.
We applaud and give immense gratitude to all of the educators, school counselors, and allies who actively work to build safer worlds through our classrooms. This month, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center highlights ways to make each other safer online as we continue our CDL supports with the exciting addition of in-person school across the state. More sexual violence awareness resources are available, below.
As a State and the Department of Education, we condemn the hate crime committed in Georgia last month along with the ongoing violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside the grief for our country in this moment, we are filled with hope knowing that comprehensive sexuality education is a vehicle for social change. Please take care of yourselves and reach out if we may help support through sexuality education, or as an agency, in any way.
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.
ODE Sexuality Education Updates
Spotlight on Sex Ed Open Learning Project (SEOL)
Linn County Public Health
This month we are excited to share about our grantee team from Linn County! Community Health Educators from Linn County Public Health are working to support students with the medically accurate, not fear- or shame- based, comprehensive sexuality education that they need to make decisions that will keep them healthy, happy, and safe in relationships. Linn County Public Health’s focus is on good communication, respect, and empathy. Adaline, the Community Health Educator leading this project, believes that those topics are going to have the biggest impact on how students treat themselves and each other.
Linn County Public Health's project began with the creation of an intern position to focus on their sexual health initiatives, including the lessons being developed for this project. Last month, the team welcomed Cade, a Public Health & Queer Studies student from Oregon State, to the team. Cade has spent years as an LGBTQ+ community advocate and health equity educator, working at the OSU Pride Center and facilitating Out-n-About, a Willamette Valley LGBTQ+ youth support group. Both Adaline and Cade bring a vast amount of education experience, and a passion for helping youth build health skills, confidence, and knowledge.
The team from Linn County Public Health hope that after engaging with the new lessons, students will gain an understanding of how their bodies work, what consent is, and how to keep themselves and others safe. Their team will be developing 12 lessons for 9th-12th graders over the next few months and are also in the process of creating a Youth Advisory Board, which will utilize youth insight in the curriculum creation. These lessons will be available for all on the Oregon Open Learning Hub.
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Oregon’s K-12 OER Hub
The Oregon Open Learning Hub is 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.
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Here are a few suggestions to get started with OER Commons:
Please feel free to contact the Oregon Open Learning Team at: OregonOpenLearning@state.or.us.
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.
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Queer People Have Always Existed—Teach Like It, Learning for Justice, 3/15/2021
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After Atlanta: Teaching About Asian American Identity and History, Learning for Justice, 3/17/2021
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The History of Sex Education, SIECUS, 3/17/2021
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Books About Consent And Bodily Autonomy For Kids And Teens, HuffPost, 3/18/2021
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Comprehensive Sex Education for Youth with Disabilities, SIECUS, 3/24/2021
Sexual Assault Prevention Resources
Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition--Nominees Requested!
OSSCC invites you to nominate a person, a school, a district or an organization that has been doing great things to make schools a safe and nurturing place for students, especially LGBTQ+ students. The Mission of OSSCC is to make Oregon schools safe for all students, teachers and families, and we want to honor those who are working to support this Mission. Nominate here!
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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.
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The Bully-Sexual Violence Pathway in Early Adolescence, an article published by the CDC emphasizing the importance of social emotional learning in early childhood development as one strategy to minimize sexual violence.
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Sexuality Education Legislation and Policy, a state by state comparison of health indicators, Rebekah Rollston, MD, MPH, Dave Grolling, MPSGIS, and Elizabeth Wilkinson, BA. August 20, 2020.
- Coulter RWS, Paglisotti T, Montano G, Bodnar K, Bersamin M, Russell ST, Hill AV, Mair C, Miller E. Intersectional differences in protective school assets by sexuality, gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. J Sch Health. 2021; 91:318-330. DOI: 10.1111/josh.13005
Upcoming Training Opportunities
Join our Waitlist: OTTI Spring 2021 Series (SOLD OUT)
Our Spring 2021 4-part training series on K-5 Comprehensive Sexuality Education by the Oregon Teacher Training Institute (OTTI), to be held Tuesdays from 1-4pm, April 27, May 4, May 11, & May 18th, 2021 is currently sold out. Please see our flyer and Eventbrite page for more information and to get added to our waitlist. Once on our waitlist, tickets will be released in the order you’re added as cancellations come up, and you will be first to be notified of future OTTI series.
Need alternate times and/or formats for professional development in your district? Please fill out our interest gauging form to let us know how we can support you during the 2020-21 school year.
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Additional Related Training Opportunities
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TransActive Gender Project Virtual Summit, Monday-Wednesday, April 12-14, 2021 (for K-12 educators & school staff outside the Portland metro area) From Policy to Practice is a free, three-day online professional development summit that will provide educators in smaller communities and rural areas with evidence-based information to better meet the needs of PK-12 gender diverse and transgender students, colleagues, family and friends.
- Oregon My Future My Choice Spring Workshop Series, April 15-May 13, 2021 (free, PDUs available). See flyer for details and registration info.
- Justice in Sex Ed, Stephanie Speaks Here, April 15, 3:30-5pm PDT
- Restorative Practices, Center for Dialogue & Resolution, April 22, 3:30-5pm PDT
- Teaching Sex Ed Online, Un|Hushed, April 29, 3:30-5pm PDT
- LGBTQ2S+ Identities, My Future, My Choice, May 6, 3:30-5pm PDT
- Educating for Everyone, The Uprise Collective, May 13, 3:30-5pm PDT
- Transgender Training Institute Webinars (pay what you can)
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Hollaback! Bystander Intervention Trainings, free virtual training, including bystander intervention focused on: youth 5-8th grades; gender-based harassment, anti-LGBTQ+ harassment; anti-Black violence; anti-Asian/American harassment; stigma around learning differences; & more.
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
Mental Health & Equity Funding Opportunity for High School Students
Active Minds is proud to launch the Your Voice is Your Power Student Ambassador program. This spring, Active Minds is calling on high school mental health advocates to help establish a school culture of caring and support for Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ students nationwide. Through the Your Voice is Your Power (YVYP) program they will gain invaluable mentorship, guidance, support, resources, and funding from Active Minds to develop coalitions of students, teachers, administrators, staff, and community members working towards a common goal of proactive mental wellness for all students.
Active Minds is offering funds to up to 100 student advocates at 50 high schools nationwide (1-2 student advocates per school) to create their coalitions and receive close support from the National Office this spring! To be eligible, students should attend high school and identify as BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ or have a commitment from a BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ student to co-lead the coalition.
More details are available at activeminds.org/highschools. If you have questions about eligibility or project details, please reach out to tanya@activeminds.org.
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!
Catalyst Leadership Program for 18+ Transgender* Oregonians
The 2021 Catalyst Cohort is now accepting applications through April 15, 2021 at 11:59pm. Catalyst is a year-long program for a selected cohort of 15-20 transgender*, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming (TGNC) Oregonians, who are aged 18+. Includes monthly retreats, community building, and more. 100% free of charge and includes funding to cover materials, travel, and lodging as needed. Learn more and apply now!
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 Angie Foster-Lawson at angie.foster-lawson@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
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