MARCH 2021
Upcoming Events

Thursdays, 3:30pm

March 3rd, 6:00pm

(Asynchronous Mondays instead of Wednesdays)
March 8th

NO SCHOOL
March 19th - Staff Only

End of 3rd Quarter
March 26th

NO SCHOOL
March 29th - April 2nd
Spring Break
Greetings, East High Community! 

As February comes to a close, I want to acknowledge the students and staff who helped us to celebrate Black history and culture over the past month here at East. I also want to remind our community, as our students have often reminded us, that our school’s commitment to Black Excellence will not be measured by celebrations held in one month of the year but in the way that we honor and include our students and families at East everyday, all year long. The work of seeing that “diverse identities are celebrated and promoted,” as our EHS equity vision reads, is ongoing and there is much work to be done. 

I would like to share just one of the things that we are doing as a staff to further own personal learning around race, and therefore our capacity to meet the needs of our students. This Spring, staff are participating in a staff-wide equity read, in which each of us has chosen a text from a list of authors of color, centered around themes of race, equity and education, including but limited to the following:

  • Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy by Gholdy Muhammad
  • How Do I Begin? A Hmong American Anthology edited by Soul Vang
  • Yolqui, A Warrior Summoned from the Spirit World: Testimonios on Violence by Roberto Rodriguez
  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Black Appetite. White Food: Issues of Race, Voice, and Justice Within and Beyond the Classroom by Jamila Lysicott
  • A Pedagogy for Liberation: Dialogues on Transforming Education by Ira Shor and Paulo Freire
  • The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America by Tamara Winfrey Harris

On Wednesdays, when our staff gather for professional learning, we engage in critical, reflective discussion of what we are reading and what it means for our work at East. We do so with the intention of moving beyond conversations to actions, and creating the conditions at East in which all students can thrive. 

This is not the only equity “work” happening at East, but it is one thing we are doing right now and I would like to invite you to join us in this conversation. If any of you has read and or would like to read any of these texts, and join members of our staff in this conversation we will find a time to gather later this semester. We have several students joining us in our staff-wide read already and we know that, like them, our families bring a different but equally important perspective to our work around our common goals as a school community. 

Thank you for your partnership, and as always, for sending your students to East High School. 

Brendan Kearney 
Principal      
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Destiny Boone
We’re proud to announce that 11th grade student Destiny Boone has been awarded a 2021 NCWIT Aspirations in Computing (AiC) Award! According to the AiC website, this award recognizes students’ aptitude and aspirations “as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and plans for post-secondary education.” As a recipient of the Regional Affiliate Award, she will be getting an engraved award, recognition at their award event, scholarship and internship opportunities, and automatic induction into the AiC network of peers and professionals.

Destiny is an active member of Upward Bound. The program staff describer her as someone who seizes every chance to advance her passion for computing. She's is in the top of her class in the STEM Academy at Madison College, a partnership between MMSD High Schools and the college. Destiny is also involved in the Information Technology Academy at University of Wisconsin-Madison. There, she takes additional technology courses and has been completing internships in the field. Destiny isn’t sure which college to attend yet, but she’s already off to an amazing start in life.
FEATURED PROGRAM
Soulful Productions Academy
Check out this great article in the Wisconsin State Journal featuring East High School students Mai Chee Thao, Kao Nou Thao, Jordan Xiong and our East MSCR Recreation Specialist, Mayder Lor!

Amid frigid weekend temperatures and snow piled high outdoors, Hmong students and their adviser celebrated a rainforest culture in the humid Bolz Conservatory at Olbrich Botanical Gardens.

East 9th grader Mai Chee Thao and her sister, 10th grader Kao Nou Thao, wore traditional Hmong clothing as they danced to the song 'Hmoob Tsiab Peb Caug' by Leekong Xiong and Dalee Chang. Their synchronized movements reflected the words of the song about a Hmong New Year celebration where people dance and toss balls. The sisters said it feels great to perform a traditional song and to show it to others.

East 11th grader, Jordan Xiong, sang in Hmong and played the guitar while wearing traditional Hmong clothing. He was performing an original song he wrote about love, choosing a life partner and building a life together.

Lor wore a traditional Hmong necklace as she was filmed preparing a papaya salad called thum mak hoong. She is a performing artist and professional emcee who works around the country and created Soulful Productions Academy as an MSCR after-school club at East. Members of the group practice and then perform singing, rapping, dancing and other talents for special events at East and at other venues.

“Our kids have a gift that they want to tap into and I want it to become a reality for them,” Lor said. “It creates a lot of confidence in our students.”

Mai Chee Thao said Soulful Productions Academy helps students who want to show their talents to others people and get better at them.

“Soulful Productions Academy is (a place) where I can practice my dance with my friends and meet other students, too,” Kao Nou Thao said.

"It’s a good way to put yourself out there and put your culture out there," Xiong said about performing.

The Laos Rainforest Rhythms videos will be available for viewing on March 15th at olbrich.org/events/RainforestRhythms.cfm.

To get involved in East's Soulful Production Academy, contact Mayder Lor.
STAFF SHOUT OUTS
Cesar Martinez, Ebrahim Amara, Silvia Gomez
Shoutout to AVID and History teacher Cesar Martinez, MSC (Multicultural Services Coordinator) Ebrahim Amara, and Spanish BRS (Bilingual Resource Specialist) Silvia Gomez for their work during Black History Month. As the MSC, Ebrahim has worked hard with the BSU (Black Student Union) to share valuable Black history with students and the community through social media, including a live event, Unapologetically Black. Silvia and Cesar supported the student groups Raza United and NASA (Native American Student Association) in making content about the history of Afro-Latinos and Black- Native Americans. 

Thank you for educating our students and community on this important history! 
MADISON EAST HIGH SCHOOL
east.mmsd.org