Dr. Nadirah Nayo is a member of PUSD’s Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development (CIPD) Department. After the Eaton Fire, Dr. Nayo began looking for ways to help teachers and students give shape to emotions that can be difficult to put into words. Using her PEF Teacher Grant, Dr. Nayo set up a collaborative art gallery event for teachers and students. This event had members of PUSD teaching staff and students sitting down together to draw their emotions and experiences about the fire. Afterwards, attendees went around viewing and discussing the art created that day. The work on display helped open the door to candid conversations about what community members were feeling and how to process those feelings in a healthy way.
CIPD is dedicated to the continued development of PUSD’s teachers, and group activities like this offer hands-on experience with new approaches to student support. Dr. Nayo anticipates teachers bringing this into their classrooms, where students can work through hard emotions together and find comfort in knowing their peers are experiencing similar feelings.
