That’s a Wrap! Celebrating the 2022-23 Oakland Early Learning Symposium

We’ve just completed the fourth year of the Oakland Early Learning Symposium! This year, we focused on our core value of upholding justice and every form of necessary inclusion. November’s Symposium topic was  “Partnering with Families of Children with Special Needs.” With over 100 participants in attendance, we heard updates from Theresa Lozach, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Special Education and Ben Braun, Regional Center of the East Bay and learned how to connect families to services through First 5 Alameda County’s Help Me Grow program and BANANAS, Inc. Plus, participants had the opportunity to break into small groups with peer facilitators to discuss specific strategies to support children and families.

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The first in-person Saturday Symposium Social event Books, Bags, and Breakfast, was then held at BANANAS, where over 75 early childhood educators attended despite the rain. One participant commented, “I learned about how these different agencies can help with children with special needs, and how parents and child care providers can reach out to them to get help.”  

After the November Symposium, questions related to inclusion in the classroom and in child care continued to come up in informal Let’s Talk sessions with educators. The Let’s Talk facilitators and OSSS teamed up with Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) Consultants and Inclusion Specialists Ramya Krishna from Learning Circle and Polly Yu from Designed for Young Minds to plan a follow-up session in February. The informal format allowed early educators to ask questions about inclusion practices in their classrooms, learn from each other, and get practical resources, such as sample child support plans, environmental checklists and conflict resolution steps.

In April, the second Symposium event focused on “Building Community with LGBTQ+ Families.”  Facilitators Nathanael Flynn, an early childhood educator and member of Gender Justice in Early Childhood, and Dawn Edwards, Director of Programs at Lotus Bloom and Board member of the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, discussed issues related to understanding LGBTQ+ identities, how to use inclusive language, and grounding principles for conversations about gender, love, and families in age-appropriate ways. Diveena Coopan from the City of Oakland Head Start and Drew Giles from OUSD shared why these two largest providers of preschool in Oakland are committed to supporting LGBTQ+ families, and their pride in the diversity of their programs. After attending the Symposium, a participant commented, “I still have so much to learn!! Thank you for putting all the work to make this possible, it was enriching, and empowering and I can’t wait to do more research!”

Also in April, we held a second Saturday Symposium Social: Books, Bags, and Breakfast at BANANAS.  Participants received children's books, a fanny pack, and a tote bag, plus had the opportunity to browse a resource table with wonderful materials from Tandem, BANANAS, Inc., and the Oakland LGBTQ Center. The event was attended by two Oakland school board members, Sam Davis and VanCedric Williams. 

We had a successful year! Both of the Symposium events had over 98% satisfaction rates from participants who filled out our post-event survey. You can find detailed information about each of those events on our symposium webpage, including the event recordings, resources, and book lists. Keep an eye out in the early fall for information about next year’s symposium events, and let us know (info@oaklandsmartandstrong.org) if you have thoughts on topics to cover!