Care and Connection
Care and Connection
Open Educational Resources - Oregon Arts
These resources are a collaboration of arts educators and the Oregon Department of Education. They are created by and for educators - including lesson and unit materials, review rubrics, and other useful links to support K-12 arts education.
Care, connection, and community are the heart of education.
Each is essential for promoting health, safety, and well-being, and creating the conditions where students can learn, and staff can teach and nurture our youth. We encourage all of Oregon’s schools and districts to focus on fostering healthy, supportive relationships and communities, and creating welcoming spaces for everyone. This means recognizing that each person will have different needs, and honoring, valuing, and respecting each individual’s ways of knowing and being.
Workshops and Professional Development
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Handle with Care
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The Handle with Care tool was made popular by two innovative fourth grade teachers in Festus, Missouri, who sent a note to parents titled “Handle with Care.” The note reads: “If your family is experiencing difficulties at home, I would like to provide additional support at school…If your child is coming to school after a difficult night, morning or weekend please text me ‘Handle with Care.’ Nothing else will be said or asked. This will let me know that your child may need extra time, patience or help during the day." A parent posted the letter on Facebook, and it has been shared more than 200,000 times.
The Oregon Department of Education developed several versions of this tool, which you can find below.
- Handle with Care Resources
- Handle with Care Guidance
- Handle with Care Translations (zip file) - available in Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese
- Handle with Care Printable Image (with ODE logo)
- Handle with Care Printable Image (without ODE logo)
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Care & Connection Tools
Building care, connection, and community takes time, but a wealth of research shows that it is a worthwhile investment. In addition to providing time to connect with students and families, we ask school administrators to provide staff and educators with permission and ample time to build care, connection, and community with each other and with students each day. ODE has designed a number of resources to help school leaders facilitate continued care and connection, which you can find below. -
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