Weekly Resource Email: April 16, 2020

April 16, 2020

 

ImpactTulsa Partners and Community Members,

Across Tulsa County, school districts, organizations, agencies, places of faith and restaurants are joining together to feed thousands of families each week. One family mentioned how school lunch pickup is a highlight of their day, and how that small time of consistency is making a difference for their children. Thank you for all you do!

 

We are continually working with partners to compile and align resources, and we sincerely thank all who contributed information and updates. If you have a resource to share or are releasing news updates, please email us at info@impacttulsa.com so we can add your information to next week’s resource round-up.

Community Partner Convening Tomorrow 

We recognize that there is an immediate need for services and support for families and students with critical needs amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Our next Community Partner Convening in collaboration with Tulsa Public Schools is scheduled for Friday, April 17th and will take place virtually from 9:30-11 a.m.

Tentative outcomes for this session include:

  • Learning from district leaders about TPS’ 5 different COVID-19 priorities
  • Collaborating on partner support opportunities around the 5 priorities’
  • Identifying where there might be blind spots in our approach and collectively problem solve

We are also working to create a comprehensive list of TPS community partners, which was a need that emerged from the last session. Please look over this partner list and update contact information and/or add additional partners and contact information to allow us to invite more partners to this meeting.

Tulsa County School Districts + Non-Profit Leaders Collaborative Sessions
To remain in contact and support each other with resources, ImpactTulsa has created Google Groups mailing lists for the four resource areas identified in our partner call last week. You can join a Google Group by clicking the links below. Click here for a step by step tutorial on how to join Google Groups without a Gmail address. Feel free to share this email and the links below to invite others to join the group(s) as well.

  • Education and Distance Learning
    • Virtual collaboration offered Thursdays at 8:30am – beginning April 9th
      • Themes that the group identified include: access to technology, teacher capacity, curriculum options, and delivery of services.
  • Food and Meal Options
    • Virtual collaboration offered Tuesdays at 10:00am – beginning April 7th
      • Themes that the group identified include: meal access & transportation, strengthening staff/organizational capacity, information access, and resource mobilization for children and families.
  • Family Resources
    • Virtual collaboration offered Tuesdays at 8:30am – beginning April 7th
      • Themes that the group identified include: mental health and domestic violence services, childcare, transportation, technology, basic needs, and supporting ELL families.
  • Communications
  • Virtual collaboration offered Thursdays at 10:00am – beginning April 9th
    • Themes that the group identified include: intentional planning of communication, access to tools and technology, and the ability to share the most relevant news in clear and concise ways to meet the needs of students and families. 

 

 

Oklahoma State Department of Education
For the latest Oklahoma State Department of Education updates, please visit their website. For their latest answers to frequently asked questions, please refer here. For information on how to engage families during this time, check out their resources here.



Opportunities for Action: WIC’s Role in Supporting Health, Food Security
Advocacy organizations, other partners, and WIC should widely disseminate information about WIC services and special policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is the latest document with opportunities for action.



Courts Respond as COVID-19 Fuels Rise in Domestic Violence
The news is filled with stories about a rise in domestic violence spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes as courts reduce operations to abide by public health restrictions. Yet practitioners in courts across the U.S. are committed to responding to—and reducing the incidence of—domestic violence.  



What Teaching Looks Like During Coronavirus
Educators are now shouldering an impossible task: to replicate the functions of school for months without an actual school building. And that means millions of teachers, now isolated at home, having to harness technologies new and old to reach and teach every student. America’s schools have never had to improvise like this.



Local Schools Tentatively Reschedule Graduation
Numerous school districts throughout the Tulsa metro have pushed back their graduation ceremonies in the hope that the COVID-19 threat subsides by summer.



Canceled Ceremonies Hit Different for First-Generation Graduates
The rapid pace of the pandemic has made it difficult for administrators to determine if they can postpone the ceremonies until later this year or if they will be forced to hold a virtual ceremony with no students or families physically present. For first-generation students, the cancellation can be an even harder pill to swallow



TPS Waives Some Requirements
The Tulsa school board on Friday voted to suspend many policies surrounding graduation requirements, academics and attendance to lessen the burden on students during distance learning.



Tulsa World 
The numbers of COVID-19 cases and recoveries are constantly changing–follow the latest updates from the Tulsa World here.



Equity-Based Frameworks for COVID-19
As we prepare for billions of dollars to flow into the homelessness response system, NIS is offering a preliminary framework for our partners on how to navigate the COVID-19 response while centering lived experience and racial equity. 



The Disparities in Remote Learning Under Coronavirus (in Charts)
The messy transition to remote learning in America’s K-12 education system as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been marked by glaring disparities among schools, according to nationally representative surveys of U.S. teachers and school district leaders administered by the EdWeek Research Center.



HARUV USA at OU Hosts Conferences
In order to cope with this unfamiliar situation, Haruv USA is offering free lectures via Zoom on professional topics, for a wide variety of professionalsHaruv From the Couch: Lecture Schedule and Registration is available now at this link.



Osage Nation WIC Program Expanded Services During COVID-19
The Osage Nation (ON) Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program is open for business for all Oklahoman’s who need service during the COVID-19 health crisis emergency. ON WIC offers an online application for both new and existing clients. You do not need to be Native American to apply.



Volunteers hand out around 400 meals, Easter bags to seniors in Tulsa
Around 400 seniors received a hot meal and Easter bag from volunteers of numerous groups Sunday, including the Terence Crutcher Foundation, Edurac Tulsa and local churches.



Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE)
CRPE is tracking what school districts are doing nationwide in response to COVID-19. Click to view their database, which currently presents information for numerous districts, aiming for a range in size and geography, and serving millions of students.

 

Click below to be directed to the following resource pages on our website:

 

If you have a resource to share or are releasing news updates, please email us at info@impacttulsa.com so we can add your information to next week’s resource round-up.