Date: Thu, 07 Oct 1999 17:41:34 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 10/7/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news 1. GLSEN seeking input on curriculum initiatives 2. Transcript from 20/20 segment on homeless gay teens posted to web site 3. TX: District cancels field trips to Francis Bacon art exhibit =========================================================================== From: SARATOGANY@aol.com Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 07:14:04 EDT Subject: Message from GLSEN's New Education Director Msg fwd: by: The Coalition for Safer Schools of NYS "The Actual or Perceived GLBT Student Protection Project" Msg from: Scott Hirschfeld Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 1999 9:19 PM Subject: Greetings from the GLSEN Ed. Dept. Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network, GLSEN http://www.glsen.org please reply to: shirschfeld@glsen.org Dear GLSEN Folks, My name is Scott Hirschfeld and I am among the newest additions to the GLSEN staff. As Director of Education, I will be working with the GLSEN membership toward producing and centralizing educational resources that support our mission directly in schools and classrooms. Two projects that I will be working on this year are the development of a teacher training module and an elementary level curriculum guide. To ensure that these efforts are truly collaborative and reflective of the needs and ideas of a broad range of people and regions, I am counting on your input and participation. Please take a moment to read the requests below and share them with the relevant people in your chapter or community. If you are a chapter leader, please take a few minutes to discuss these items at your next steering committee meeting (or curriculum committee meeting if you have one). You can reach me via e-mail or phone (212-727-0135 x100) between 9:00 and 6:00 weekdays (Eastern Standard time). Please feel free to call at any time with questions or concerns that you may have. Thanks for your cooperation. I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully meeting you some time soon! Scott 212-727-0135 x100 shirschfeld@glsen.org a.. Collection of existing materials: In developing both the teacher training module and elementary curriculum, I want to gather and review as much existing material as possible. This will accomplish two ends: I can avoid reinventing the wheel and possibly incorporate great ideas that are only being used presently in a small region or by a small number of people. Please let me know of or send me relevant materials that you feel are worthwhile. Additionally, let others know that I am making a concerted effort to centralize our work and encourage them to contact me as well. (Naturally, no materials will be used without explicit consent by and full credit to the authors). b.. Formation of a curriculum team: Though geography presents a challenge, I would love to form a team of people who are interested in writing and/or reviewing curricula on the national level. Though it would be impossible for us to meet face to face, the commitment would include written input/feedback and occasional conference calls. If you are interested or know of a likely candidate, please contact me. 3.. Needs assessment: I will soon be sending out a needs assessment to determine exactly what you have, need, like, dislike, etc. with regard to curricula and educational resources. When you receive it, please take time to hand it out to your chapter, school, and/or community members for completion. Thanks! ================================================================================ I've posted the transcript from 20/20's recent segment on homeless gay teens to our web site at URL: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/Alerts/Current/20-20-2.html At over 28K, it's too long to post here, but if you can't access the web and would like to have it emailed to you, please let me know. ================================================================================ Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 10, 1999 P. O. Box 1870,Fort Worth,TX,76101 (Fax 817-390-7789 ) (E-MAIL: letters@star-telegram.com ) ( http://www.startext.net/ ) Schools cancel visits to art show in Fort Worth By Michelle Melendez, Star-Telegram Staff Writer FORT WORTH - The Fort Worth school district canceled field trips to the Modern Art Museum's show of the paintings of Francis Bacon yesterday after officials saw the exhibit and deemed it inappropriate for young students. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] Staff writers Rebeca Rodriguez and Mark Lowry contributed to this report. Michelle Melendez, (817) 390-7541 Send comments to mmelendez@star-telegram.com Letter: Inappropriate references? In your Sept. 10 article about the Fort Worth school district's cancellation of all school visits to view the art of Francis Bacon at the Modern, district art program director Beverly Fletcher was quoted as saying that the art was inappropriate because of "references to homosexuality." Presumably "references to heterosexuality" would have been perfectly acceptable. The public bigotry of people like Fletcher must make the many thousands of students who have gay or lesbian siblings, parents, neighbors and friends cringe - not to mention the many, many gay and lesbian teachers, administrators and support personnel who actually work hard every day for them. - Roy Wilson Treadway, Fort Worth ================================================================================== Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) These messages are archived by state on our information-loaded free web site: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/