Part ll - Dr. Nora Farraj, Director, Community Relations for Chaffey Joint Unified School District

This is part two of an interview with Dr. Nora Farraj,  Director of Community Relations for Chaffey Joint Unified School District, and the Assistant Principal for Chaffey Adult School.  Nora  comes with much experience, expertise and love for the work in family and community engagement.

Follow us on social media X and Instagram @sbcss_FamEngage
Music by prazkhanal from Pixabay: Whip

Transcript

 Mars  00:04

Hello, everybody, welcome to another episode of our Family and Community Engagement podcast. My name is Mars Serna, and I am your host, and I'm co hosting today with Marissa Lazo-Necco. And so we're gonna be having a great discussion today with a guest. This is actually part two of our podcast we had Nora earlier in a previous podcast. And she's here again with us today, on part two of this discussion around the importance of family and community engagement, and all the nuances that go into the work of family and community engagement. So Marissa, take it away and introduce our guest today.

Marissa  00:43

I am excited, Mars, this is gonna be a great dialogue. Part one was exciting. Dr. Farraj came in and really just lifted a lot of real street data and practices that really can support the work that we're doing as we are learning we are here to learn together on how do we engage our families? How do we engage our community, how to keep student voice at the center and student outcome at the center of this work. And so I am excited to welcome once again, our wonderful friend, Mars. Dr. Nora Farage, the Director for Community Relations for Chaffey, Joint Unified School District. And not to say the least she has a second hat. She is the assistant principal for Chaffey adult school. How do you do it, Nora?

Nora  01:33

Wow. Thank you, Mars. And Marissa, for bringing me back here. I'm so happy to be back. So how do I do it? I think when we look at what family engagement is about, it's about engaging your community, bringing them into your school community. And at the adult school, we serve adults who are 18 and above, and we also serve concurrent high school students. So 16 and above. So your district parent can also be taking GED, ESL citizenship. So being able to know again, who our community is, is how I'm able to have this dual position.

Marissa  02:13

Wow, well, it's a very powerful position that can impact the community. Like you said, now we have a lot of students who graduate and they go on to college. But then we have students who go into a career and then they say, You know what, I want to go back and finish my degree, finish my schooling. And so thank you for doing that dual role at Chaffey Joint that we know that is creating an impact in the community. So we want to talk a little bit more about that. And just to kind of set the stage, can you share your thoughts on why it's important to engage families, and not just engage them at a high school level, but be intentional at looking at the cultural linguistic backgrounds, and making sure that we build those powerful partnerships with families, to engage them in the work that we're doing? Understanding that we now live in a world of rich, cultural diversity and tapestry? So can you share a little bit more about that.

Nora  03:12

Of course, and you kind of said how the world and again, the last podcast, I had kind of explained how whatever happens in the world is going to happen in your school community. It's also going to happen in your community at large, and in your society. And so every time the demographics change, your culture shift happens, there's there's a paradigm shift, and what you're used to doing with a certain group based on, you know, their language and culture is not going to be the same with another group with a different language and culture. And so it's really important to be able to really, I love the word embrace that cultural diversity. And to really say that, you know, when we say we're creating a learning environment that's conducive to all learners, it's, you know, at the adult score, we lead lifelong learners. So we're all lifelong learners, we're always learning. And part of that learning is learning about our communities, getting to know them. So knowing what languages and the cultures and traditions that really enrich a school community is so important. Each culture that comes in and the language at the adult school, we have 38 languages that are being spoken. It's such a beautiful experience, that when I go and I speak to some of the students and you know, we have Ozbek, and we have Russian and we have, you know, those coming from the SWANA or the MENA region, it just enriches those conversations. And when we look at our students that are coming from these backgrounds, it's so important that when they're reading a story, or they're listening, you know, to a podcast or that there's they're feeling that they're represented So it's important to know what these cultures are and who these countries, you know, the countries and where our students rich ethnic backgrounds are. So that way we can meet them. So the protagonist is actually from their country, or from their cultural tradition. And it really allows that student to have a voice and to feel empowered, and to truly feel their self worth. And that's part of that personal development. That's, that's part of the journey of being in high school and trying to develop yourself as an adolescent. So trying to know who you are and where you stand. And as you develop, to know that, hey, that protagonist comes from my country or speaks my language, now you're empowered to have a voice. And so student voice is extremely important. And that student brings it home to the family. Now the family feels empowered, and feels like they are truly valued and part of the community

Marissa  05:56

And what powerful conversations, to have students ask questions at home. And Mom, can you tell me more about your country, I was just reading this in my history book or my science book, and for the parents to see themselves and the kids to see themselves in something that is relevant and that they're having a discussion not only in the classroom, but in the hallways, right? Kids move this information into the community. So what a powerful dialogue to make those connections with the families and for families to see that their culture is being discussed. And also not only being discussed as being seen, appreciated, and shared with their student and with the community, that's very powerful. What do you think Mars?

Mars  06:41

You know, everything that Nora has spoken about in the last podcast, and here has just been dynamic. And I just appreciate the wisdom that you're bringing to these conversations. You know, one of the things that I think about is how do you all work together to overcome things like language barriers, you talked about the many languages that are being spoken at Chaffey? What are some things that you're all doing to overcome language barriers over in Chaffey?

Nora  07:09

So we as I had mentioned, in the previous podcasts, we partnered with language line services, which is an interpreting company that allows us to meet the needs of our families, from a spoken perspective, for the written. Again, once we survey and we find out who our families are and what languages they speak, we try to provide written translations. So some of our surveys are in Mandarin, Spanish, and Arabic, those are the top three languages spoken for our district trailing behind Spanish, so we would have four different surveys of the four different languages, sorry, the same survey for different languages. So the families feel like that their language is actually being represented. And at the same time, it's conversations in the classroom, when the staff knows that these are students coming from a certain country, allowing the students to be able to express themselves where they're not feeling belittled, they're not feeling threatened, you know, whatever they see on the TV is not what's happening actually in the classroom. So it's actually a life learning experience for our staff as well, to know about our students and the families and the traditions. And so when you're reading something in a history book, how wonderful is it that you're reading about this village, you know, that's in China, and to have a student from that village, and then can the family member can come into the classroom and bring in some artifact or some something from that culture. Now, you've brought that against relevancy of the curriculum, but relevancy also for the students that don't know about this culture. And it enriches then, you know, the school and being able, it's a learning process of maybe we don't have that language, maybe we're not able, so okay, what do we need to do in order to meet the needs, so all truly means all.

Mars  09:06

That's amazing, you know, thinking about overcoming language barriers and all the things that you're doing, you know, it looks like diversity, equity, and inclusion is at the very top of the list of the work that you're doing for the families that you serve. And decision making is a big piece to improving academic success for all our students. And also school improvement right? Back in 2012. Many people will remember that the local control funding formula came into play in California, which did required us to put together a local control accountability plan. And in that LCAP, as it's called, it requires for parents for decision making stakeholders, those that are working, and have touchpoints in education to be included in the decision making process. And so I'm wondering, how does Chaffey How do you and the work that you do engage families from different cultural backgrounds in the decision making process to ensure that their voices are heard, and their perspectives are considered. You know, that's

Nora  10:10

it's wonderful that you say that I always look at also the student, when they see their family member is part of that decision making. They feel this sense also of kind of pride, that they see that their family is there, their culture is being represented. So not only are they reading about it, and they're discussing it in the classroom, but we talk about governance, and we talk about that decision making where those programs are being placed. Or, you know, these, the funding is being allocated for a specific category or specific program or specific service, and that the child or the student gets to see their parent or their family member engaged. That really is the goal overall. Because when we invite these families to be a part of it's not just we need you just to sit here and take the information and go home. It's where do you see yourself? So you know, when we're asking the families about their participation, we're actually serving them? What is it that you want? Do you want to be? When can you meet with us? Is it you know, through zoom only? Is it through a Saturday school? Is it in the evening? Is it in the morning, again, when we know our families, and we know their schedules and what their responsibilities are? It can't be that the school or the district is providing? OK, here are all the opportunities, whether you come or you don't this is what we offer. It's your part of the decision making you tell us? When do you when can you meet with us? And what are the topics that you want to discuss. So you know, your ELAC is an opportune time to get the English language learner parents to be involved in, you know, the school improvement plan, or it could be the school wide, you know, what objectives, again, that LCAP, we talk about those priorities. So we involve those families. When we look at school site Council, that's an opportunity also, that our families, our parents are elected to be part of that council, again, empowering our families not in a negative, you know, when we say Empower, it's a positive way to how they can help their own children and their community at large and help themselves. You know, I again, I'm at the adult school, we look at personal development, personal enrichment, your academic and your personal goals, how can you meet them, so you can also help yourself and help your family? So I know I talk a lot, but most and foremost, it's important to have those families at the table and asking them, what is it that they want to see, we have them for four years, really capitalizing on that as much as possible, and bringing in those ethnic, cultural rich heritage to the table.

Mars  12:57

Nora, you don't talk too much. You're actually given a great tidbits of information and knowledge through your experience. And we so appreciate that from you. You know, cultural festivities celebrating diversity is an important piece in our work and education. You know, in the month of September, through October, we will celebrate things like hispanic heritage month, in February, we're on the heels of of celebrating Black History Month, in the month of March is Women's History Month, right? Like we have these thematic times in our in our school calendars. And so I wonder how does Chaffey how to you and your and your team successfully incorporate cultural festivities or celebrations to create a more inclusive and culturally rich educational environment and your work in your district so that the families feel supported? They feel included? And when and when you find that some are, you know, what are some things that you're doing to help grow those understandings of other cultures that we may not be celebrating throughout the year? What is Chaffey doing to incorporate that into the work?

Nora  14:06

I'm so happy that you brought up the different months? And I don't know Do you know, April? What?

Mars  14:12

I know it's child abuse prevention month in April, but I don't know any thing else that I can give you that one right now, right off the top of my head, 

Nora  14:18

Marissa?

Marissa  14:19

Well, I will be cheating because I think you share that with me. Yeah, I don't want to make Mars look bad. But I would like for you to expand on what we celebrate in April. And I know you you have done a lot of great work in one of our local high schools here.

Nora  14:33

Yes. So April is National Arab American Heritage Month. And so the 22 countries of the Arab region are covered that are basically part of that region are celebrated. All of the advancements and all of the all of the things that they've done these wonderful things that they've done to enrich the American lifestyle and American America in general. are celebrated. And so many say you brought that up. I have to say last year, Rancho Cucamonga High School had the first Arab cultural celebration. And we brought in

Marissa  15:11

 We did this before with Los Osos High School.

Nora  15:13

And before that, yes, so Los Osos  has through the choir. They call it a choir a heritage month. And what that entails is singing the different songs from different countries that represent the choir, the students of the choir program. And at the same time, families are invited to bring food items, and anything that represents their culture and their country and heritage and have a table outside. I had my traditional Jordanian dress and I brought food and we it was just a wonderful way for families, communities coming together, learning about different cultures. And then Rancho had the Arab cultural heritage celebration, we also had the black heritage, cultural celebration. So we kind of look at where our families are. And again, when we ask them what they want, they want to learn, they want to learn about other cultures that are out there. And so when it comes to the planning, we start with the students. We look at what clubs are available at the high school, those students in the club decide that, you know, we want to be able to hold a festival, what's it going to take? Okay, so now they it's the students so it's this organic planning that comes in is so beautiful, because the students and leadership work together, they create the posters, they put it together, they have an advisor, and then the families get to be a part of it. So when we look at last year, the Arab cultural, we actually had their called Fusion Zuffa. And they came in and they showed traditional folkloric dance, that's dance throughout, you know, the three, we talked about the Levant region, I don't want to go into this, but the North African region, and then we have the Gulf region, and these are all the 22 countries that encompass the the SWAN, a Southwest African, North African region, Southwest Asia, North Africa region, and, and to be able to see that, you know, we had students that are they got to try on I brought different clothing, because I also lived in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. So I brought the clothing they got to try it on. We had vendors of restaurants in Rancho that people didn't really know, and they got to bring the food. So you got to try authentic, you know, Arab cuisine. So it brought really, when we talk about community, it really brought the community together, staff got to see their students in a different light outside of the classroom. So when we talk about diversifying the narrative and the curriculum, that's in a classroom setting, but when you take that out, now, the communities involved, there's music, there's there, there are families that came and said, I want to hold the mic and I want to speak you know, a, say a poem, hold the mic and speak upon we want to dance together. It's just a way of breaking the barriers, those cultural barriers, and bringing the families together.

Mars  18:07

So I'm gonna say that I forgot to mention April is also my birthday. So celebration, culturing food in April, 

Marissa  18:18

We need a VIP list. And what I'm hearing is Mars and I are in it. And we're gonna invite our colleague, David here, we're gonna have a lot of celebrations. You know, I just, I need to say that I mean, in January, our kids, my son comes in and he says, Mom, we're celebrating Chinese New Year, kids love learning about other cultures, specially their best friends, their friends talk about it, right. So, and I just want to add, Mars, I know you were there. We were just there at CABE, the California Association for Bilingual Education and it's an annual just celebration of multicultural multi languages. This year, we had an amazing practice that I just want to put it out there for those of you who want to do it, because I saw just how families staff and students participated. And they loved it. They had their first annual multicultural fashion show. And it was just so powerful to see staff coming in you usually see staff you know, suited up we see Mars in his, you know, board members suit all the time. And I see you always well, on Fridays, I get to see you casual my friend, but you're always suited up, but how powerful it is for students to see administrators, families dressed in their cultural attire, and students themselves engaged in this. And I just I love the fact that we can have a celebration of multicultural fashion.

Nora  19:42

You know that you brought that up. So at the adult school, we do the multicultural fair. And that includes where we have a fashion show, we have food and all this is the students at the adult school who are actually many of them are parents of our adults of our district and they You have it by region and you get a passport and you get to go around and you get a stamp that you actually went and you asked questions. So there are posters. There's food that they make from home and they bring it. So you get to get that authentic flavor. We do a fashion show and they get to explain the parts. They we have entertainment where they get to sing. I, there was one one year where this is we did it for four years pre COVID. There was one year where we had an Indian who was dancing, and there was an Ecuadorian on a guitar, and you talk multicultural, they spoke to each other. She said, This is what I want you to do on the guitars, which you're going to play. And she did the Indian dance. And we're talking about you know, it's the Hindi dance. And she while she was dancing, he was on the guitar and you live that's the beauty of multiculture is to be able to really understand the cultures around you, which enrich a school community That's beautiful it's tapestry at its best. 100%

Mars  20:53

It reminds me of that parents Summit, we had the African dancers and the Aztec dancers. And the drummers got together. Both groups did a dance, they hadn't rehearsed it. And the crowd went wild

Marissa  21:12

They went on the stage, yeah, love it. We had cried on the stage, we jumped

Mars  21:16

on the stage to Just Dance and just feel good. And then when you add food, like you just said, right now, you got me.

Marissa  21:22

You know, I want to say that that's out of all the celebrations, you know, we have our open ceremony for the parents summit, I want to say that's my favorite one, people walked away feeling. So just enriched, and you could feel there was a different, just feeling.

Mars  21:40

Just a strong piece of unity. Yes, you bring all these different things together, and they learn from each other around food. And like you said, the fashion shows, it brings people to an understanding, and really into a commonality of norms, right understanding that we have commonalities more than differences. And I think that's what brings communities together more than anything.

Marissa  22:00

Absolutely. And I love that we're talking about community unity, diversity. And I want to go into a little bit deeper of all of this, because I know a lot of us don't pay attention to this, pieces that are so important. When we're talking about family and community engagement. You cannot do any of this without relationship building, celebration, cultural celebration, language, celebration and unity, right. And, and I want to say that because we all want families to be engaged. But if families don't feel seen, they don't feel invited, or they don't feel welcome. If they don't have that personal relationship, there may be a little fear on how to be engaged. And I just want to give you kudos Nora, because I know you as a professional as a doctorate student who's done a lot of research on this work. And I also know you as a parent, I'm a recipient of the services that you do at Chaffey joint. And I just want to give you kudos because I see families and how they are being engaged and invited through the different ways that you do it. And so I just want to say Mars, I was at my daughter's back to school event, and I'm running on it. It's a high school, and I should have worn tennis shoes, but I didn't. If you know me, I wear heels. And I was almost falling running from one end of the building to the other. And I run into Nora, and she's on a table welcoming families and I recognize your smile. I'm like, my friend how are you, I slow down, I give you a hug. And she gave me a hug. And then quickly she puts this QR code, I need you to take the survey. And I took the cert without actually I took the paper running late to my next class. I forgot to do the survey. What do I get the next day? I get a wonderful text from Nora. Hello, my dear friend, happy Friday. I hope you're doing good. Have you done that parents survey because I don't see your name here. So there was a level of accountability, right? But then she said, I'm texting it to you and please share with other families. And so we started this little chain reaction of different parents I sent to parents and said, Please send to your friends. And I took it. And I thought what a beautiful way to acknowledge families, because your survey had more than just do you want to participate in your child's education? It asked about me, where was I from? The language that I spoke, the food that I like to eat, the music that I like, and what of that I could bring and support my child school with at a high school level. I have never received that level of details at a high school level. And it asked me what time could I participate? And I called you up and I said this is wonderful. This is beautiful. Can you come and talk to us at the fan? You also talk at the San Diego Cafe fan. And so I want you to talk to us about that because it was it's a very intentional survey there you're using to not only get to to know the families, but you're also using it as a data tracker to see who's engaged. And I'm sure that's the same data tracker that you're using to see if you're moving the needle forward and succeeding at engaging those who are historically, perhaps not as engaged,

Nora  25:18

You brought it up historically not engaged, you know, the underserved, underrepresented. And that really was the intention behind the Family and Community Engagement Survey. It's a very short survey. And that's extremely important, because families are busy, nobody really wants to fill another survey, right. But the approach is, we want to learn more about you, that's kind of been the right before you see that QR code. That's what we have on every flyer, we send it through parents square, we have it on our website, and I whoever I know, I text it to them like I did for you. I do the same thing with our teachers, I say, if you could send it out, you know, for your families, we really again, we want to know more about you and to know, is really what languages because again, that Home Language Survey that we do, we're gonna put English, even though maybe I speak another language at home, because maybe my child English is their language. But there is another language in that home. And maybe it's not spoken fluently, but it's there. And how can we bring that to the table, again to that decision making, understanding how to build our programs. So it asks for your language that spoken at home? It also asks, like you said, we want to look at the assets, we want to see how can we bring our families in, you know, my daughter's were both in marching band, and there was one time where they needed a welder? And they're asking around, and I thought, wouldn't it be cool to know if we had welders in our school district that we could just go to, you know, we need audiovisual, we need we need and they're paying people outside of our district. Well, we have families who are professionals and love to volunteer love to volunteer, don't know how to volunteer again, bringing that high school four year experience. And so having the survey it actually asks, Are you a welder? What are your skills or talents, and check all that apply. And it's so wonderful looking at you know, I'm a public speaker, I was a dermatologist in my country, all these different rich trades. So when we have at our high schools, mock interviews, I'm telling the principal's go to that survey, and these are the families you bring in to the table that will help do these mock interviews. You don't need to bring in other community partners, your partners are in your school community, your internal publics, and then on there also is, you know, do you have artifacts of poetry, tapestry, anything that you have of your country that you're willing to share? Do you you know, are you willing to translate? Because again, when Mars asked about, you know, a language, if we don't have it, now, we have a family member that's willing to translate, bring them to the table. So we could talk a lot about this. But that's the data that we're tracking is knowing again, our family, so we will be able to build programs for them.

Marissa  28:14

That's beautiful. 

Mars  28:15

It is awesome to hear that. Nora, you have brought such a wealth of information in the second episode of the podcast, we probably could do a third one.

Marissa  28:24

Are you free next month,

Mars  28:25

 there's so much information to bring to our professionals our families our community partners, but our time is limited. And so I just want to thank you, Nora, for being with us today. You know, you talked about this data, information and like around street data, and this is important street data that a lot of us in education don't even think about. So thank you for bringing that to us. As we close today, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening to us. We are just honored that we can bring you these podcasts from San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, our family and community engagement department. And you know, myself Mars and my co host Marissa, we're always so blessed to have you listening. If you want to continue to get information from us, please follow us on X formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram @sbcss_famengage that is @sbcss_famengage, to get the latest information on just activities, resources, things that we are doing to just improve the quality of family engagement across our 33 school districts in this great county of San Bernardino again, Nora, thank you. Marissa it's has been a pleasure being close with you today. Last words before we close today,

Marissa  29:43

Just that's it's an honor to work with you Mars. You're a colleague and your family, your friend. It's an honor to do this work together because this is really about learning together. And here in SBCSS, I'm just blessed to be able to work in a team that it's really a family, and we have extended family like Nora, like so many Michael, so many people that I can actually talk and just say that I admire you and respect you because you are true partners and family for us. So thank you for bringing that expertise to these familia this morning. And we need to have you back Dr. Farraj. So please keep your calendar a little open for us in the future because we want to continue to learn from you and the work that you're doing with Chaffey, Joint Unified, and in the community, any words that you want to share with our listeners,  Just thank you so much for taking the time to listen. And it's always enjoyable to come and see, of course, our wonderful partners here. And this was a very beautiful experience and so asked me again, not a problem. Thank you so much.

Mars  30:50

Thank you everyone for listening. We'll see you again soon. Take care