Students that attend Lawrence Township Public Schools have most of this week off due to a scheduled professional development day on Wednesday and the New Jersey Education Association Convention conference on Thursday and Friday. According to Superintendent Dr. Crystal Edwards, many teachers expressed relief that school wasn’t in session yesterday as they were struggling with questions of their own. In one of the professional development workshops, teachers strategized approaches in how to conduct conversations with students when classes resume Monday morning.
“Schools across the U.S. are counting on their teachers to help our kids make sense of what seems like confusion. Conversations [about the election] have to happen,” said Dr. Edwards. “Kids have lots of things that they want to know and we can’t say that we just aren’t going to talk about it.”
“As an educational institution, we tell our kids that anything is possible but the political climate is telling them otherwise. It’s disheartening to me, as a minority, as a woman, and as a leader. We need to make sure that Lawrence is a safe place for these kinds of conversations. It doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, hispanic, Muslim, poor, live in a big house, or in a car. We are all equal in this place and every voice matters.”
News idea for Lawrence Township and Lawrenceville? Email Angela Jacobs ([email protected]).
