As part of a recent
professional development opportunity offered by Clare-Gladwin RESD, educators
from local school districts participated in a poverty simulation provided by
Central Michigan University (CMU).
With the help of
trained staff and volunteers from CMU conducting and facilitating the workshop,
the 2.5 hour experience took place at Coleman Community Schools and was
designed to sensitize participants to the realities low-income people face on a
daily and monthly basis.
In the simulation, participants assumed the roles of
different “families” facing poverty with varying circumstances. “Participants
experienced four 15-minute weeks with five-minute weekends as they worked
through their month of poverty and tried to accomplish their objectives -
feeding their family, paying their bills on time, maintaining housing, and
maintaining safety,” said Clare-Gladwin RESD Assistant Superintendent for
General Education Deb Snyder. “The simulation was conducted in the gymnasium
with ‘families’ seated in groups in the center of the room. Around the
perimeter of the room were tables representing community resources and services
for the families.”
Snyder thanked CMU and
its staff for their work in providing the simulation to the region’s educators
for the second time this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment