Phoenix Charter Academy Network’s Post

3 campuses 🌎 17 alumni 🎓 1 community, inspired and ignited🔥 !!! Yesterday Phoenix alumni from across the state came together in Hudson, MA to connect with one another and with Phoenix staff. Whether they graduated in 2008 or 2023, these incredible graduates shared deep insights about how Phoenix was able to support them, and some of the ways the organization can continue to improve in the years to come. BIG shout out to all of our staff who were able to support this transformative event, and so much hope going forward as we continue to build bridges between our past, present, & future. Special note of gratitude to Angela Gonzalez J D. Fergus, Destiny Morton, and Marina Brochado for organizing this beautiful gathering, and of course, our thanks to Massachusetts Charter Public School Association for lending us their space! #provingitspossible #edthataddsup  Larissa Thornton-Garrafa, Rosa Maldonado, Christian Correa, Zandrina Atherley, Annaliz Lopez, Justin Zullo, Beth Anderson

This week is Charter Public School Advocacy Week! What does an #EdThatAddsUp look like here in Massachusetts? Check out this short video, and stay tuned this week for more reasons to support charter public education here in MA!

"Embracing our past, celebrating our present, and shaping our future!" Happy Black History Month from all of us at Phoenix Charter Academy! Here at Phoenix we are proud to celebrate and affirm the identities of our incredible Black students, staff, and families. From Black literature book clubs to Soul Food Lunch celebrations, from door decorations to mural painting, our schools are going above and beyond to honor Black heritage, and to ensure that we continue to celebrate Black excellence all year long. See below for a few examples from our Chelsea campus, and keep an eye out for more later this month! #edthataddsup #provingitspossible #blackhistorymonth

November is Native American Heritage Month! This year, we’d like to feature a new staff member, Olivia Larson-Locke. Olivia was born in Utah and was adopted shortly after her birth by a non-Native couple. Olivia’s birth mother, Leonna, was born to the Shoshone Tribe and was herself adopted by a non-Native family. As the adopted daughter of an adopted daughter, someone twice removed from her tribe and its land, Olivia still managed to find a connection to her roots...it just took some time. But then again, according to Olivia, "everything happens for a reason." “Before I graduated from high school, I had been enrolled in 13 different schools...that’s one per year! At one point I was getting in so much trouble that I was sent to a wilderness program for troubled young women and eventually to a therapeutic boarding school for long-term placement. The conditions at both were tough, but one of the things I loved about them was how grounded they were in nature and in indigenous traditions. We would sit in circle, spend evenings in sweat lodges, and take long hikes in the woods each day. We shared Native American sayings, and learned about indigenous spiritual practices. I’m not a religious person, but these experiences put me become in touch with my spiritual side, helping me to overcome some trouble and trauma as a teenager. That spirituality is also something I'm fortunate enough to share with my adopted mother, too.” For Olivia, nature has been an important way for her to feel connected to her birth mother’s heritage. “I’ve always felt a strong connection to animals (especially horses!) and to nature more generally. I know myself well enough to know that I couldn’t live in a city full time - I need to have space and fresh air. When the weather is nice enough, I’m always walking barefoot, so that I can feel connected to the earth. It’s something you can’t see, but can definitely feel.” “Being Native American is something that has brought me so much comfort, and a sense of belonging in a world where I didn’t always feel that. I’ve been in a lot of positions in my life where things have been taken away from me, including my physical freedom. But my Native American heritage is something which can never be taken away from me, and that has kept me going.” #provingitspossible #edthataddsup #nativeamericanheritagemonth

Phoenix news alert! Last Thursday, Phoenix Lawrence was featured by WCVB Channel 5 in a beautiful segment on our Makerspace. The Makerspace, a collaboration with La House, is dedicated to artistic expression and therapeutic healing at Phoenix Lawrence. Created in response to the tragedy of the Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions in 2018, the Makerspace is a powerful example of the resiliency, talent, and spirit of solidarity within the Lawrence community. If you've got a few moments and want to hear from some of the incredible staff and students who make this partnership possible, take a watch/listen below! https://lnkd.in/emBdPREw #provingitspossible #edthataddsup #lawrencema #arttherapy

Growing up in Winthrop, MA, Steph Guerra remembers being one of only two Latino students in her school. Born in Guatemala, Steph is able to fuse her personal and professional experiences to inspire young people, especially newcomers to the United States, to take risks at Phoenix. “I tell them my story of when I came as a newcomer and did not have so much support. It’s great when I get to meet with other newcomer students and tell them about the ways we help them here at Phoenix Chelsea. As a Latina, I am very proud of the job that I do. I think it is important to inspire others.” As a Community Engagement & Recruitment Specialist, one of the many ways Steph offers support to students is through diverse forms of communication: “I appreciate speaking a second language because the students who transfer here may not necessarily speak English comfortably, so I get to translate information back to them.” Steph credits her positive outlook to her family’s traditions and values. “I like to share the way that I was raised, including specific cultural traditions." As the eldest sibling, Steph holds on to certain values from Guatemala that her younger siblings may not adhere to as strongly. A loving wife and mother, she takes care to balance two worlds while supporting her own family. She explains, “Don’t get me wrong - I live in America and am an open-minded person, but I still feel like there is a very traditional Latina viewpoint that is important to me. Even when I refer to my parents, I use ‘usted’, which is a more formal term, instead of ‘tu’. Now that I have a little one, I still want to teach him to hold these values, like respect and the importance of family.” When asked what message Steph would like to share with her Latino students, she explains, “Be proud of who you are and the traditions that you have - don’t ever be ashamed. We should be proud of who we are and who we represent.” #hispanicheritagemonth #provingitspossible #edthataddsup #chelseama