jbonasera

Associate Director & Manager of Programs, October 2024

Greetings IRT Community!

Welcome to a new fall semester! I hope that the summer afforded you a balance of work and focus on your well-being.

I want to take this opportunity to offer my heartfelt appreciation to all who planned and participated in our summer planning and programming. It takes a vibrant and dynamic community to plan programming that offers a sense of belonging, is committed to having young people see reflections of themselves and their lived experiences in and out the classroom, and understands the need for centering one’s own wellness practices.

NCORE: May 28 – June 1, 2024

IRT Associate Director and Manager of Programs Catherine Wong attended the 36th Annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE®) held on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i. The IRT has attended NCORE® over the last few years, engaging in the five-day conference focusing on community engagement, exchanging knowledge and ideas as it relates to race and ethnicity on campus, and meeting up with IRT alumni and colleagues.

Do you have a conference whereby you feel that you can show up as your full scholar activist self without being second guessed, silenced or stereotyped? Do you have an annual conference or national forum that allows you to embrace your growing edges with other fellow changemakers?

NCORE® has been that conference for me since my entry into higher education more than 2 decades ago. I feel fortunate to have found a conference where critical dialogues are the norm, not the exception, where friendships grow from collegial relationships, and where creativity is a collective effort. Therefore having NCORE® select my home state of Hawai’i for its conference site for the first time in its 36 year history and during API month was wonderfully affirming and exciting.

NCORE Reflection

Juju Wong, IRT’15 discusses her experience at the conference

During my very first NCORE® experience this past May, I organized a panel discussion titled, “The Impact of the UCLA & UH Mānoa Hawaiʻi Program on the Next Generation of Social Justice Educators,” with my mentor, Dr. Rod Labrador (UH Mānoa), and scholar-friends, Miya Sommers (UC Berkeley) and Kirin Rajagopalan (UC Davis).

In 2014, we participated in the UCLA Asian American Studies x UH Mānoa Department of Ethnic Studies Travel Study Program as undergraduate students.

10 years later, we reunited to discuss the impact of ethnic studies pedagogy and curriculum – in practice – to our roles as educators within higher education institutions, public and independent schools, and community organizations.

A Personal Reflection on Walking

LaShawnda Brooks, Executive Director, IRT

When we advise our students, we often tell them to take things one step at a time. I am taking my advice by participating in this year’s Jimmy Fund Walk. When I worked at America Needs You, Robert Reffkin’s commitment to running marathons for our students inspired me. “He has lost his mind,” I would whisper as I focused on program reports.

Well, maybe I have lost my mind. After watching a cousin pass away from an aggressive cancer within five months, I began to walk to process his loss, my work, and what life is for. As an educator, the desire to put others first while knowing that our health and outcomes often come second can have dire consequences. We must take the time to care for ourselves while we care for our community.

Next year, please consider joining me on this walk! I would love to develop a #TeamIRT, as we have alumni and broader community members affected by cancer. Walking together can be a way for us to be there for each other and resist the burdens and stress we experience daily. Feel free to reach out and let us know if you are engaging in any community support!

Professional Development and a Learning Opportunity for Teachers

From time to time, I find myself reflecting on my career in the field of Education which spans some 30 years and includes teaching high school Spanish in inner city Nashville, a stint as the Coordinator of Minority Teacher Recruitment Center at Western Kentucky University, where I recruited BIPOC students into the College of Education, administrated and awarded the state’s teacher education scholarship, provided support services such as advising and Praxis I test preparation, and designed a residential week-long program for middle schoolers and a two week residential program for freshman education majors.

During my tenure at IRT over the last two decades, recruiting at universities across the country, and serving as a SOP and IRT Advisor, writing curriculum, and co-developing our robust advising program, among other duties, I have staunchly advocated for my own and colleagues’ professional development and personal growth. I welcome the challenge that learning something new can bring, the opportunity to interact with others, and the time to think about old problems in news ways. Moreover, as a perpetual teacher and learner, I find myself regularly contemplating the ways that I can become a more effective advisor by deepening my knowledge of the students IRT serves and, while simultaneously, developing my understanding of content knowledge across various fields, technology, the digital humanities, and place as it pertains to the geographic home countries of IRT Scholars’ families and the diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds that they and our scholars possess. For me, all that I learn informs the way that I show up to mentor and counsel students.