April 14, 2022

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Volume 48, Number 32

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THURSDAY, April 14, 2022

Inclusive Easter egg hunt is designed for children with all abilities

BY TEVIN STINSON THE CHRONICLE

This weekend the Easter Bunny will make appearances at Easter egg hunts across the Triad, but it made an early appearance last weekend at the Village Inn Event Center in Clemmons for One Love Strong’s first Easter Egg Hunt for special needs children. One Love Strong is a local nonprofit that focuses its efforts toward empowering and supporting families with urgent needs due to their child or children being born premature. Founder Ellen Leak-Forbes started the nonprofit to provide an outlet for families like hers. Leak-Forbes’ daughter, Love, was born three months premature and has special needs. Around this time last year, the Easter egg hunt was just an idea, but with help from several different volunteers and the generosity of others, LeaksForbes said everything started to fall into place. “We get invited to events with children my daughter’s age but with different abilities,” LeakForbes added. “The peo-

Photos by Tevin Stinson and Orlando Davis

Last weekend the One Love Strong, a local non-profit, held an Easter Egg Hunt for special needs children. ple who were inviting her weren’t sensitive to her needs and I cried, but it made me turn that energy into creating something where all children with all abilities could enjoy.” On the day of the egg

hunt, children and their families had several different opportunities to search for eggs with sensory friendly activities. There were kiddie pools filled with balloons and packing peanuts that children

had to sift through, tubs of water beads with eggs at the bottom, and eggs that made noise for children who are visually impaired. Each of the eggs were filled with tickets that they could redeem for prizes.

The event also included free food, face painting, balloon animals, games, and more. The goal was to have 50 children at the event, but nearly 90 pre-registered and even more than

that attended. Several parents and children talked about how much their children enjoyed the event. While getting her face painted, Valentina PerezArriola, who is a fourth grader at Meadowlark Middle School said, “This has been a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed myself.” “Our three-year-old daughter said she was excited to be with kids like her and she was smiling and having fun,” said one parent during the event. Moving forward, LeakForbes said she would love to see the event grow in participation and volunteers. “We would love to see this grow but we want to keep it where it’s manageable and we need more volunteers, but I can’t wait ‘til next year … I’m already excited about next year,” Leak-Forbes continued. Throughout the year, One Love Strong hosts several other events for families with children born premature, including a NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) Family Ball scheduled for June 5. For more information, visit “One Love Strong” on Facebook.

#IAmAkua: Racism complaint filed against Davidson County Schools, rally planned next month When D’Shean Smith moved near the ForsythDavidson County line before the start of the 20212022 school year, she was worried about enrolling her daughter in the Davidson County School System. “We basically live right on the county line but it’s in the Davison County School District. I moved to give my family a better life but I had concerns about changing districts, but I wanted to do things the right way,” Smith said. Doing things the right way has turned into a nightmare for Smith and her daughter, who attends Oak Grove High School. “I should‘ve just not changed my address and took her to school because this has been a nightmare,” Smith added.

According to a complaint filed by Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Right to Education Project (REP), which focuses on protecting the rights of children in public schools, over the course of three months Smith’s 14-year-old daughter, “Akua” (not her real name), has been a victim of racial harassment and discrimination while at school. The complaint cites several different incidents including one where a group of white students were openly discussing how to pronounce “n*gger” and calling Smith’s daughter, who is Black, the racial slur, while the teacher was out of the classroom. Smith also recalled a separate incident where her daughter’s hair was pulled by a white student. But it was “Akua,” who got in trouble for cursing, while nothing happened to the other student for their role in the incident. When she took her daughter’s complaints to the administrative staff at Oak Grove and district leaders, Smith said little was done to fix the problem. “Every time I brought it to the principal, he was combative with me and told me that nothing happened … that it’s not geared towards her,” Smith said. “Basically, he made it seem like it wasn’t impor-

tant … it wasn’t a big deal because it wasn’t happening.” The complaint also mentions incidents where “Akua” was detained and put in ISS (In School Suspension) for minor infractions, and included specific dates where “Akua” believes she was the victim of racial discrimination. As a result of what she has endured, Smith said her daughter’s pre-existing challenges dealing with anxiety and depression have increased and she is now finishing the school year virtually. “It got to a point where it was like us against them and she didn’t want to go to school and I was determined to do what I had to do to get her out of that school,” Smith continued. “She really hasn’t been herself since this happened … she’s tried, but it’s just a lot to deal with mentally.” This isn’t the first time a school in the Davidson County School District has been called out for racism and discrimination, and that was one of the main reasons Smith had concerns about the district to begin with. In 2019, South Davidson High School made national news when “Kill N*ggers” was painted on the school’s spirit rock and countless other horror stories have been passed around through word of mouth over the years.

In a press release issued on March 22, Crystal S. Ingram, staff attorney for the Right to Education Project, said when administrators don’t take complaints like this seriously, essentially they’re promoting a cycle of racism and discrimination. To restore justice in the matter, the Rights to Education Project is seek-

ing a comprehensive investigation by the Office for Civil Rights of all the incidents documented in the complaint, appropriate and timely discipline of all DCS administrators, faculty and staff members who violated the student’s rights, and DCS policies, and payments of costs associated with therapeutic counseling and transfer-

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ring to another school district. “Students’ reports of racial discrimination must be taken seriously and investigated. When school leaders fail to properly investigate the reports of Black students, they thereby fail to effectively address and eliminate racism in schools. This results in maintaining a hostile and toxic school environment created by the misconduct of white students and teachers at the expense of the mental well-being of Black students.” To show “Akua” that the community is behind her, Hope Dealers, a local nonprofit organization, is hosting the “Stand With Akua Rally for Racial Justice” on May 2 at StonerThomas School in Lexington. Smith said she wants the rally to be an opportunity for every family who has experienced discrimination to come together and demand change. “I know my daughter isn’t the only one; I know it’s probably just been swept under the rug and they think they just have to tolerate it. But I want to stand up for not only my family, but other families who have gone through it. “My baby is supposed to feel safe when she goes to school … it’s 2022. She should not have to go to school under those conditions where she doesn’t feel safe.” 6 89076 32439 7

BY TEVIN STINSON THE CHRONICLE


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April 14, 2022 by The Chronicle of Winston-Salem - Issuu