Education Series

Filmed over five years in Kansas City, Transhood chronicles the lives of four young people (aged 4, 7, 12, and 15 at the start of filming) and their families as they navigate growing up transgender in America’s heartland. By sharing personal realities of how gender expression is reshaping their lives, the film explores how these families struggle and stumble through parenting, and how the kids are challenged and transformed as they experience the complexity of their identities.

​Directed by Sharon Liese, produced by Sasha Alpert (Autism: The Musical), and executive-produced by Kimberly Reed, Transhood offers a long-range understanding of transgender youth through the nuanced and authentic stories of Jay, Avery, Leena, and Phoenix.

While every journey is different, these families share their honest and varied experiences as the young people display incredible resilience, facing rejection from their peers and escalating political rhetoric that strives to invalidate LGBTQ+ lives. All the while, the older kids navigate the minefield of adolescence. Sharing their most vulnerable moments, the parents reveal their ambivalence, doubts, and missteps as they themselves transform over time.

Our panel discussion with feature film director Sharon Liese and film subjects and parents Bryce Ford and Debi Jackson. They will all join us via Zoom. The screening is in person.

Visit hbo.com/documentaries/transhood for more information.

We are thrilled to partner with Central Oregon Community College and the Nancy Chandler Visiting Scholar Program on their Season of Nonviolence events again this school year. Please visit their website to register for their upcoming programming.

Workshop: The Courage of Compassion—an Interactive Evening of Exploration and Connection with Ruth Williamson

Courage and compassion are essential skills as we navigate the complexity of our fast-paced world. Listening with an open heart builds trust, and connects us, seeing each other as whole and unique human beings. Join leadership consultant, coach and community builder Ruth Williamson for a collective exploration of what it feels like to connect with the courage of compassion.

Encouraged reading ahead of event: Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown

Documentary Film Screening & Discussion
Blend: On Being Black in Bend

Documentary filmed & edited in Central Oregon that asks 10 Black Central Oregonians about their experiences living, working and playing in the High Desert. This film was shot, edited and produced by Kenny Adams, Executive Director of The Father's Group. Kenny will be joining us for the post-screening discussion.

Thursday, February 23, 2023
6:00pm - 8:00pm
In partnership with BendFilm

Challenge Success

Challenge Success partners with schools, families, and communities to embrace a broad definition of success and to implement research-based strategies that promote student well-bring and engagement with learning. 

Join us for this informative, eye opening workshop with Jennifer Cote to discuss a healthy approach to the sometimes daunting college admissions process. 

About Jennifer Coté

Jennifer Coté, M.A., is a School Program Director.  She facilitates professional development and parent education workshops and supports Challenge Success schools across the country.  Jen is a passionate educator with over 25 years of experience in schools – teaching, coaching, developing curriculum, and empowering both students and teachers alike. Most recently, she worked as a classroom teacher inspiring young minds with her love of mathematics at Marin Academy. Her graduate work in curriculum studies and teacher education fueled her desire to help teachers and schools look at ways they can marry curriculum and pedagogy to create more equitable, engaging, and effective classrooms.

Expanding Gender Understanding

Join us for an evening of learning led by Bex Mui, M.Ed. of LGBTQ+ & Equity Consulting. Bex taught in the elementary classroom for ten years before moving to national LGBTQ+ school-based advocacy with a focus on adult learning in 2016. In this presentation, she will provide context for the gender binary and the ways that it continues to show up in our society, including our schools. Participants will learn gender terminology, have chances to reflect on their own experiences, and find out why those little words (pronouns) can make such a big difference. 

October 5, 2022 | 6:00 - 7:30 PM 
 

About Bex Mui

Bex Mui, M.Ed, (she/her) is a biracial, first generation, queer femme and founder of LGBTQ+ & Equity Consulting, LLC. Bex is committed to the work of LGBTQ+ affirmation at the intersections of education, spirituality, and wellness. She created the online class, Decolonzing Gender, for the Institute for Anti-Racist Education. 

Bex started her journey studying systems of oppression with a queer feminist lens at the College of New Rochelle where she received a B.A. in English and a certification for Elementary Education.  Dedicated to progressive education and facilitated learning, Bex chose Bank Street College to receive her Master’s in Education with a specialization in Literacy.  She worked for ten years as an elementary classroom teacher, Equity and Inclusion Director, and LGBTQ coordinator. Bex has worked on national LGBTQ+ -affirmation since 2016. Learn more on her website: BexMui.com. 

About Denise Pope, Ph.D.

Denise Pope, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, where she specializes in student engagement, curriculum studies, qualitative research methods, and service learning. She is co-founder of Challenge Success, a school reform nonprofit that partners with schools and families to embrace a broad definition of success and implement research-based strategies that promote student well-being and engagement with learning.

She is the author of, "Doing School": How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students (Yale University Press, 2001), which was awarded Notable Book in Education by the American School Board Journal, 2001, and lead author of Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids (Jossey-Bass, 2015). She also co-hosts the Stanford University SiriusXM radio show called “School’s In.”

Dr. Pope lectures nationally on parenting techniques and pedagogical strategies to increase student health, engagement with learning, and integrity. She is a 3-time recipient of the Stanford University School of Education Outstanding Teacher and Mentor Award and was honored with the 2012 Education Professor of the Year "Educators' Voice Award" from the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences. Prior to teaching at Stanford, Dr. Pope taught high school English in Fremont, CA and college composition and rhetoric courses at Santa Clara University.

We look forward to supporting our partners at World MUSE with their (un)Conference again this year. Registration opens February 1, 2022.

About Elizabeth Denevi

Elizabeth works with schools nationally to increase equity, promote diversity pedagogy, and implement strategic processes for growth and development. She is also an assistant professor at Lewis & Clark College in the Graduate School of Education and Counseling. Previously, she served as a director of studies and professional development and was responsible for the stewardship and integration of curriculum from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. She coordinated professional development and evaluation for all faculty and served as a co-leader of the school’s accreditation team. At Georgetown Day School (DC) she served as the co-director of diversity and a senior administrator for 10 years. Elizabeth also worked at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School (VA) to create a comprehensive professional development program. She has taught English and history at a number of schools, including Castilleja School (CA), San Francisco University High School (CA), and Vail Mountain School (CO). Elizabeth has published and presented extensively on diversity and academic excellence, social justice, and equity issues. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of London, Institute of Education, a master’s degree from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University. She also holds an Oregon Preliminary Administrative License and lives on the Ancestral and Traditional lands of the Chinook. 

About Randolph Carter

Randolph is the founder and associate director of the Eastern Educational Resource Collaborative (East Ed). As a member of the Black Panther Party, Randolph has devoted his career to promoting equity and diversity in education and communities. He was a Fellow in the Harvard University School Leadership Program, Graduate School of Education, where he received a master’s degree in education with a school leadership qualification. He is currently a doctoral student in the School of Education Leadership and Change at Fielding University. He was a middle school reading specialist, a school administrator, and while at the National Association of Independent Schools, he directed their equity programming and founded two of their signature projects: People of Color Conference and Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Randolph has also served on numerous school boards, including Fielding Graduate University and the Institute for Community Enrichment. He is a member of the Education Committee of the New Press. His publications include peer-reviewed articles and book reviews published in national journals.

Braiding Sweetgrass Two-Part Virtual Book Discussion

As part of COCC's Season of Nonviolence programming, we will be hosting a two-part book discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer:

January 26, 5:30-7:00pm

(Parts 1-3: Planting Sweetgrass, Tending Sweetgrass, Picking Sweetgrass)

February 24, 6:00-7:00pm

(Parts 4-5: Braiding Sweetgrass, Burning Sweetgrass)

About the Book and Author, from Milkweed Editions

As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert).

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

• A New York Times Bestseller
• A Washington Post Bestseller
• A Los Angeles Times Bestseller
• Named a “Best Essay Collection of the Decade” by Literary Hub
• A Washington Post “2020 Holiday Gift Guide” Recommendation
• A Minneapolis Star Tribune “2020 Holiday Book Recommendation”
• A Book Riot “Favorite Summer Read of 2020​”
• A Food Tank Reading Recommendation for Fall 2020

We are thrilled to partner with Central Oregon Community College and the Nancy Chandler Visiting Scholar Program on their Season of Nonviolence events again this school year. Please visit their website to register for their upcoming programming, including: 

• Braiding Sweetgrass Author Event, January 24, 2022
• The Green Path Ahead: Indigenous Teaching for the Next Economy, with Winona LaDuke, February 1, 2022
• Panel Discussion: Examining Inequities in Central Oregon, February 22, 2022
• Inequity in Healthcare: Seeking Mental Health Services after Experiencing Healthcare Discrimination
• Climate Justice as Freedom, March 10, 2022