Feel Good Friday - GLSEN

It’s the final Feel Good Friday of Pride month, perfect time to highlight the work of GLSEN. 

Founded by a group of teachers in 1990, GSLEN (pronounced glisten) is a national education organization, “working to create a safe and inclusive K-12 school environment for LGBTQ+ youth.” Their mission is “to ensure that every member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.” 

GLSEN coordinates a network of 43 chapters in 30 states across the nation and focuses on four major ways schools can cultivate a safe and supportive environment for all of their students: 

• Developing supportive educators – providing training and resources for educators so that students can have a visibly supportive educator in the classroom who can advocate on LGBTQ students’ behalf, implement LGBTQ content in the lessons, and address bullying and harassment issues. Join the educator network or use some of the many resources for educators.
• Passing and implementing comprehensive policies – advocating for policies that support LGBTQ students such as non-discrimination, facilities accessibility and affirming trans and gender non-conforming students’ participation in athletics. Join the advocacy network here.
• Advocating for an inclusive and affirming curriculum – the team at GLSEN authors developmentally appropriate resources for educators to use throughout their school community. Download this Inclusive Curriculum Guide.
• Supporting student Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) – GLSEN provides resources for student leaders to organize GSAs in their schools to help create community and push for change. Find GSA resources at this link.

In the 32 years since they began, GLSEN’s national network is now more than 1.5 million strong, with students, families, educators, and education advocates working to create safe schools. More than 500,000 GLSEN resources are downloaded by students and educators each year!

 

If you’d like to support the work of GLSEN you can make a donation, shop for merch and help spread the word on social media. Like the GLSEN Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @GLSEN and Instagram @glsen

 

 

Feel Good Friday - Crayon Collection

Did you know August is Crayon Collection Month? Yet another reason to keep up with Feel Good Friday as we delve into the details of Crayon Collection.

Founded in 2009 by Sheila Michail Morovati and based in Los Angeles, the mission of Crayon Collection is “to inspire a commitment to environmental consciousness and the infusion of art education in underfunded schools.” This 2-minute video gives a great overview of the organization.

 

One of their major programs is crayon recycling. Have you ever wondered what happens to the crayons that restaurants provide to kids to keep them busy? They get thrown away. And we’re talking about 150 million crayons a year! Meanwhile, teachers are spending their own money to provide supplies for underfunded schools. How can we connect these groups? Enter Crayon Collection.

 

In their own words, “Through our Crayon Recycling Program, we establish partnerships with national restaurant and hotel chains that distribute free crayons to children when they dine. Instead of throwing these crayons away after each meal, we establish a collection process for each location and ensure these gently used crayons are donated to a local school in need.” In addition, preschools and elementary schools throughout the country hold crayon drives then donate the crayons to neighboring schools. 

 

That leads us to the Color Kindness Program, which encourages children who have collected crayons to group a rainbow of 10-12 crayons into a bag and include a hand-written note of positivity. As Crayon Collection explains, “this gentle expression of care goes a long way and is a source of joy for both recipient and writer.”

 

Another focus of Crayon Collection is arts education. A partnership with The Getty Museum, provides studio sessions for children from kindergarten to 5^th grade, while volunteer artists working through the Boys and Girls Club provide after school art education programming.

 

Finally, Crayon Collection has launched a new venture called Habits of Waste which encourages people to rethink wasteful behavior and change their habits. That will require its own FGF post.

 

Since their founding in 2009, Crayon Collection has collected and donated over 20 million crayons! If you’d like to be part of this success, there are many ways to get involved. You can volunteer to run a crayon drive, teach an art program, and of course, make a donation. As always, help amplify the work Crayon Collection is doing by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @CrayonCollectio and Instagram@crayoncollection.