Peace and Justice Institute
Academy for Teachers
The Heart of a Teacher is within us all!
All educators are invited to attend!
teachers-administrators-social workers-professors-counselors
|
|
Introducing: PJI Academy Facilitators
|
|
 |
Rachel Allen
Director, Peace and Justice Institute
B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies
Northwestern University
M.A. in Theatre
University of Oregon
|
Rachel Allen is a life-long educator and practitioner who supports others to practice and educate for peace and justice in their work and personal lives. She brings thirty-three years of experience as a leader and educator at diverse institutions including Eagle’s Nest Foundation, Outward Bound, the University of Oregon and Valencia College. At Valencia College in Orlando, Florida, Rachel is a tenured Professor of Humanities and founding member and director of the Peace and Justice Institute.
In addition to her decades of teaching and facilitation experience, she has experience providing strategic planning and vision, program and curriculum design, fundraising and community building practices. Rachel has studied with leading peacebuilders from University of California, Berkeley, University of Notre Dame and Eastern Mennonite University, is a certified Safe Zone advocate for the LGBTQ community and a National SEED Project Facilitator. For the past ten years she has supported the founding and directed the work of the Peace and Justice Institute at Valencia College. Through the Institute she has led the development and implementation of a training for all 3,000 City of Orlando employees in inclusion and diversity, created Orlando Speaks for police and citizens to come together in dialogue to find common ground, and developed a strong interfaith program to build bridges of understanding within the community.
Allen’s community service includes work with the Coalition for the Homeless, Shepherd’s Hope, and Pine Hills Community Performing Arts Center. She serves on the board of ArtReach Orlando, and is a member of the League of Women Voters. Rachel is a proud parent of two young children; they live in Maitland, Florida.
|
|
|
|
Hank Van Putten
Lead Facilitator, Peace and Justice Institute
B.S. in Education
Northeastern University
M.Ed.
Cambridge College
|
A native of Jamaica, New York, Hank Van Putten earned his B.S. in Education from Northeastern University, and a M.Ed. from Cambridge College. Hank’s career of 35 years in the Newton Public Schools in Massachusetts began as an elementary physical education teacher, continued as a middle school physical education, and concluded with 12 years as an administrator, serving first as a Middle School Assistant Principal, then an Elementary Principal and lastly a Middle School Principal, a role he held until his retirement in June, 2009.
Hank is an anti-racist educator who has received training from internationally recognized scholars including Dr. Peggy McIntosh, Dr. Beverly Tatum, and renowned diversity trainer Lee Mun Wah. His interests have focused on the impact of race on the academic achievement of African American students. To this end he has taught a graduate course for educators entitled “Active Anti-Racism and Effective Classroom Practices for All Students”, and the Foundation Course in the Graduate Program of Conflict Resolution and Peaceable Schools at Lesley University.
Hank has been an invited panelist and speaker on many occasions, including the Harvard Law School’s "Passing the Torch: The Past, Present and Future of Inter District School Desegregation" in 2007, the ASCD National Convention in 2009, State Convention of the Florida African American Student Association in 2013 and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer’s Neighborhood Community Summit in 2015 and 2016.
Hank teaches a faculty professional development offering for the college’s Teaching and Learning Academy entitled The Danger of a Single Story,, which invites participants to examine their personal experiences and professional practices using a lens of race and ethnicity.
|
|
|
|
|
Melissa Johnson
Professor of Speech
Valencia College, West
B.A. in English
Oakwood University
Master of Arts in Teaching
with an Emphasis in Communication
Andrews University
|
Melissa Johnson is currently a professor of Speech Communication at Valencia College. However, her teaching experience includes time at both the elementary and high school levels. She began her career almost 20 years ago as a high school English teacher in a rural community where she sponsored several clubs and partnered with state universities to create opportunities for underprivileged students to travel. In addition, Melissa has served as a certified ESL instructor for adult learners form a variety of countries. These experiences helped Melissa to recognize more of the inequities among her students and facilitate meaningful ways for them to rise above their current situations.
Melissa made the switch to higher education 12 years ago and has taught in both private and public colleges in multiple states. She has done this both in the traditional classroom and in the online modality. Her courses have included Freshman Composition, Voice and Diction, Interpersonal Communication and Fundamentals of Public Speaking. These courses help students to find their voice and communicate their messages clearly in order to make positive impact in the world. In addition to her work in the classroom, Melissa also works with the Peace and Justice Institute in planning and facilitating workshops for Global Peace Week and Conversations on Justice Week.
|
|
|
|
Aida Diaz
Campus Coordinator, West
Peace and Justice Institute
B.A. in Mundelein College Spanish; Minor in Education
M.Ed. Educational Therapy & Supervision
National College of Education
|
Aida Diaz is a professor and has been teaching at Valencia College for 29 plus years. She has a Master’s Degree in Education with a concentration on Educational Therapy and Supervision from National College of Education in Evanston, Illinois. She teaches Spanish, and Latin American Humanities and has taught Student Success/New Student Experience, Survey of Exceptional Children, and Introduction to Teaching.
In conjunction with her teaching, Aida also is the PJI Coordinator for West Campus. As the West Campus PJI Coordinator, Aida works with faculty in planning and supporting Global Peace Week and Conversation on Justice Week. Aida also promotes the many Peace and Justice initiatives presented at the college and the community throughout the year. As one of the founding members of PJI, Aida is passionate about the work of the Institute, building an inclusive and understanding community with students, colleagues, and with those outside the college.
During her tenure, Aida has completed Valencia’s Digital Certification, Blended Learning Mastery Certification from the Sloan Online Consortium, training on Conflict Resolution at Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication. Aida has participated in college-wide initiatives such as Foundation of Excellence, Title III projects, and Achieve the Dream. Aida is still a work in progress.
|
|
|
|
PJI Academy for Teachers Information
|
|
As we navigate through our current global crisis, the PJI Academy for Teachers extends an invitation to all educators who are leading the way for our students and teachers to become resilient, lifelong learners. We realize that many of us have added the role of a teacher to our diverse set of responsibilities. With that understanding we open the PJI Academy for Teachers to all educators from Pre-K through higher education who wish to create more inclusive, respectful, compassionate and loving classrooms and citizens. The teacher academy model is based upon ten years of collaboration with leading scholars including Dr. Peggy McIntosh, Dr. Beverly Tatum, Dr. George Lopez, Dr. Michael Nagler, Elaine Sullivan, Emily Style, Dr. Alma Abdul-Hadi Jadallah and Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg. The academy pairs their insights and practices with local PJI experts to create professional development opportunities for all to build resilient communities in our schools, institutions, and families.
|
|
|
PJI Academy
Summer 2020 Virtual
Professional Development Workshops
|
This summer we will host virtual live sessions beginning with a Prelude on Sunday evening from 7:00pm-8:30pm and then daily sessions in two 3-hour blocks between 9:00am-4:00pm. These sessions will be both synchronous (live session via Zoom with your facilitators and fellow participants) and asynchronous (activities that can be done on your own with access to materials on our online learning management platform Canvas).
Part of our PJI model is connecting face-to-face through a shared purpose during learning sessions, coffee breaks, and lunch. Although we are unable to connect in this way, we are creating authentic and supportive learning through our experience with virtual mindfulness, music, art, and breakout rooms that have proven to be quite effective in uniting participants around our shared goals.
We invite you to experience
PJI Academy for Teachers 2020: The Heart of a Teacher is within us all.
Location:
online via Zoom
Registration:
$800/person
|
In order to build capacity in our institutions and organizations, we encourage you to send teams of at least three participants, as individuals trying to implement change is a lonely place and oftentimes a challenging space to be.
|
|
|
Session 1:
June 21-26, 2020
Prelude Date:
June 21, 2020
7:00-8:30pm
(EST)
Daily Session Dates:
June 22-26, 2020
9:00am-4:00pm (EST)
1 hour lunch break
|
|
|
|
Session 2:
July 12-17, 2020
Prelude Date:
July 12, 2020
7:00-8:30pm
(EST)
Daily Session Dates:
July 13-17, 2020
9:00am-4:00pm (EST)
1 hour lunch break
|
|
|
|
|
|
We encourage all participants to first identify potential financial resources through their institution or other avenues to cover registration costs. If not available, please fill out this application form. Accepted applicants will receive a 50% off code to register for their session. Please contact us if you have a greater need that this scholarship will not cover. Our goal is to accommodate all who want to participate in an equitable way. All Scholarship applicants will be notified of their eligibility within 48 hours of completing this form.
This scholarship has been made possible by one of our gracious donors.
|
|
PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR CIRCLES OF INFLUENCE!
PJI offers many programs that can be customized for any organization.
For more information:
Lauri Lott, PJI Academy Coordinator
LLott1@valenciacollege.edu
|
|
|
|
Peace and Justice Institute
850 West Morse Boulevard
Winter Park, FL 32789
407-582-2291
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
