SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, June 3, 2020) – Players from Real Salt Lake, Utah Royals FC and Real Monarchs SLC have joined forces to announce their support for the Cultural Competency Support Program with the Salt Lake City School District. On Thursday, the RSL Foundation will match the first $5,000 donated to the progam.
Through this initiative, the Educational Equity and Student Support Department will provide training for administrators, teachers and school resource officers in the areas of cultural competency and creating cultures of dignity. This effort strives to ensure that the rich diversity that students bring to school is welcomed, honored, and respected with a commitment to creating opportunities for all students to access meaningful educational services.
Donate by clicking the link and selecting Cultural Competency Support Program : https://www.saltlakeeducationfoundation.org/get-involved/online-donation/
“What’s important to us as a foundation is that this is a teaching opportunity for our students, staff and administrators to learn from one another and be supportive of one another. It’s important that we all work together to mindful and respectful of each other’s unique backgrounds,” said James Yapias, Director of the Salt Lake Education Foundation. “We can all work together in support of our students. We value every student who walks through our doors. We have such a diverse population and all our teachers and administrators go through the training and it helps create an inclusive environment for children to learn.”
The Salt Lake City School District consists of 27 elementary schools, five middles schools, five high schools and three charter schools. Of the 23,410 students in the district, over 50 different languages are spoken and considered their native language. With that abundance of diversity, education programs that are inclusive are crucial. The Cultural Competency Support Program ensures that each of those students has access to the same educational resources to thrive in school.
“The Equity and Access Department will be facilitating a conversation with school administrators regarding equity and creating a culture of dignity in schools. We will be using the book, Belonging through a culture of dignity: The keys to successful equity implementation (Cobb & Krownapple, 2019) to deepen our understanding of dignity as innate and unconditional,” said Executive Director of Educational Equity and Student Support for the Salt Lake City School District Sandra Buendia. “The authors propose that schools and school districts create learning environments where a culture of dignity exists, where everyone belongs, and everyone is respected.”
