Newcomer Families and Winters in the Midwest
Please, please forgive me if this sounds obvious but I just want to say it and share it. In the Chicagoland area and across Illinois really, we are experiencing larger influxes of newcomer students and families. Our winters here are BRUTAL. I know a lot of us spend time ensuring that our students have access to coats, snow pants, snow boots, mittens, hats, and scarves- and I THANK YOU for this. This is so important!! A gentle note here to please be sure you are not the only one in your school checking these things out. You need a network - a team of allies and supporters. This may come in the form of social workers, the math teacher down the hall, teammates in the fine arts department, a PTA member, your student services administrator - possible allies are everywhere! Please also check to ensure that if families need shovels and salt (they may have no idea why we salt the ice), they know where to find them. If families you serve live in apartment complexes where ...