Ice Out of Schools

 The authors argue that... ICE has no place infiltrating schools and making students live in instability and fear. Educators now have an extra important responsibility to resist against ICE advocate for students so that they are safe. 

Three Talking Points:

Beginning:

At the beginning of the "Now is the Time to Defend Our Students" article, it was admirable how teachers in LA were not just aware of ICE and their presence but actively organized with the community to resist it. Towards the end of the article, this really struck me "With the new school year in full swing, showing up is no easy task. Patrols start before dawn, and the work it takes to keep a community advocacy group up and running takes many evening hours we might otherwise spend planning, grading, and recharging." It is so true that teachers have a very busy schedule and many tasks to do but the fact that these teachers showed up for their community shows how much love they have poured into their community which is truly inspiring. 

Middle:

One of the themes of these articles that really spoke to me was the ways in which they explained resistance and how it can be used by the community against the system. During the "Recipes for Resistance" article, the author explains that resistance is like salsa, simple and spicy. Because of the fear that students have with ICE in their neighborhoods and the increased surveillance of it all, school has naturally been more difficult to make a priority. Thus, it is really important for teachers to make their resistance efforts embedded in relationships and understanding. By doing this, it allows the partnership between families and teachers to be more homely so that students can feel safer going to school. 

End:

The final point I felt like was worth mentioning is this idea of imagination not needing to be solitary but it can be collective. I think with all of the uncertainty and negativity around ICE, this has caused students to harbor their own struggles and feel like these cannot be discussed at school. However, imagination can be a powerful tool that educators can put in their classroom as a way for students to think about a positive future. Obviously, educators do not have all the answers and we cannot snap our fingers and make this terrible situation stop. However, the author argued to "create the space in your classroom to have that one thing be something your students can engage in with you on a regular basis. It starts small. Maybe it’s to incorporate circle practice into your classroom and have your students get used to that way of being able to communicate and to be able to talk with each other, to listen to each other deeply." Allowing students to imagine together creates a new generation of hopefuls and advocates. 

Connection/Reflection:

When I was reading these articles, it reminded me of the documentary "Precious Knowledge" that we watched in class because of the ways in which teachers really became active members in the students' lives and instilled ways for them to be advocates of their communities. It was clear that the teachers in Arizona who were filmed were very present in their students' lives and cared about their safety and emotional stability. Many of the teachers mentioned in these articles did the same and took time out of their busy lives to show up for their students in powerful ways. This connects to the idea that being a teacher is so much more than content instruction. 

One day this school year, a staff member in my school received a notification that there was an ICE person or vehicle spotted within the same zip code / few block radius of our school. Of course, I was the only classroom outside when this happened, as it was the kind of weather that was on the fence whether it should be an outside recess or inside recess day (and I am always the advocate for my students to run around outside). When I tell you the panic that was shown with the admin that came outside and rushed to make our class go inside...haunting. I had no idea what was going on because we went into an internal lockdown and there are no speakers outside and I received no information via my phone about this happening. The few admin that came out ordered us to come inside and all of my students were like what's going on what's going on and I didn't have the answers for them. When we got inside I learned 10 minutes later the situation and that it was a false alarm anyways. PHEW. However, I started to go down a cycle of thoughts of like "what if that was real" "What if they came behind the school and took one of my kids" All of these negative thoughts just made me feel so sad... It took a few days for these thoughts to not enter when I was at the workplace but then I started to (and still feel) concerned about like what I would do in that scenario if that ever happened to my school. It's something I think there should be more professional development on so that educators are as prepared as possible in the event that ICE shows up. GROSS. UGH.