THE HUMAN RELATIONS COMMITTEE ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET JUNE 16, 2017 FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON NORWOOD

Transcription

1 THE HUMAN RELATIONS COMMITTEE ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET JUNE 16, 2017 FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON NORWOOD

2 MTA HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS AWARDS 2017 Since 1983, MTA s Human Relations Committee has hosted an annual Human and Civil Rights Awards banquet to honor those who have shown extraordinary dedication to civil rights and human relations. The awards are: Kathleen Roberts Creative Leadership Award: The award is named for former MTA President Kathleen Roberts, a leader whose extraordinary commitment to service has made her a tireless advocate for public education, communities and the education profession. Recipients exemplify the volunteerism and leadership that characterize Kay Roberts selfless contributions through political action, community organizing and mentoring. Louise Gaskins Lifetime Civil Rights Award: The award is named for Louise Gaskins, a pioneer for the involvement of women and people of color in education, the MTA and the NEA. Recipients embody the qualities of humility, leadership and tenacity that Louise Gaskins has brought wherever she has served. COMMITTEE MEMBERS The Human Relations Committee promotes the advancement of women in education and addresses issues of civil and human rights. Dale Forest (co-chair) Ruth Allen Jean Fay Kelly Henderson Denise LaPolla (co-chair) Stacey Duffy Gina Garro Shirley Peaks Mary Porter

3 THE LOUISE GASKINS LIFETIME CIVIL RIGHTS AWARD MARY E. CUSTARD As dean of students and former athletic director at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School, Mary E. Custard has and makes opportunities to impact the lives of her students whether that be inspiring them as an adviser of People of Color United and the Minority Student Achievement Network, attending their games and performances, or organizing field trips including a service trip to New Orleans to rebuild homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and renovating homes with Revitalize CDC in Springfield. Custard is involved in so many school- and community-centered activities, it would be impossible to list them all. It is due to her involvement that many students have found their comfort zone within the high school and have had the opportunity to expand their world view. As a member of the Northwestern District Attorney s Citizen Advisory Board, Custard brings her experience and knowledge working with students to help drive conversations about eliminating discrimination in schools and making them safer places in which to learn. She also serves as a member of the UMass Amherst Chancellor s Diversity Advisory Council, as a volunteer for the UMass Amherst Alumni Association, and as a Saturday morning reading hour volunteer at the Springfield Boys and Girls Club Family Center. She is also a member of the Amherst Community Emergency Response Team, trained to respond to mass casualty incidents. Custard is a past recipient of the Norma Jean Anderson Civil Rights and Academic Achievement Award and the Amherst Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Citizen Award. In 2015 she received the Fresh Anointing Ministries COGIC Celebrating the Brilliance of Black Women Award, Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things; the Big Will Fruits of Labor Award for Commitment to Community Service and Education; and the 100 Women of Color Award for Commitment to Education and Social Justice.

4 THE LOUISE GASKINS LIFETIME CIVIL RIGHTS AWARD MARGARET COSTELLO Before there were laws on the books protecting LGBTQ youth in Massachusetts, culinary arts teacher Meg Costello was a force to be reckoned with at Shawsheen Valley Technical High School in Billerica, where she made sure that students had the right to wear the uniform of the gender with which they identified. Costello has long been known as a fierce defender of the civil and human rights of her students. She is also known for compassion. After Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans in 2005, Costello traveled to the city to provide food for the displaced and the volunteers helping them. After making connections with some families, Costello returned in 2007, and again in 2008, each time bringing along students to help. After the 2007 trip, Costello returned to Shawsheen with a photo album that seemed to have been destroyed. Graphic arts students retouched the photos. In 2008, Costello returned to New Orleans, this time with 11 students. The students presented the album to the family, which had given up hope that their photographs could be salvaged. Through her work as a member of the Board of Directors of SkillsUSA Massachusetts, Costello has extended her advocacy for the LGBTQ community. Additionally, she has developed the curriculum for adult culinary arts students at the Billerica House of Correction to help them find jobs when they are released. Costello supports Wilderness Heals, a three-day hike in the White Mountains that raises money for the Elizabeth Stone House in Boston. The house supports individuals and their children rebuilding their lives after domestic violence, homelessness, mental illness or substance abuse. In January, Costello joined the Women s March for America in Washington, D.C. She followed in the footsteps of her mother, who had participated in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. s March on Washington in 1963.

5 KATHLEEN ROBERTS CREATIVE LEADERSHIP AWARD KEVIN DUA, AMBER JACKSON AND CYNTHIA MASSILLON During the school year, three Somerville High School educators math teacher Amber Jackson and social studies teachers Cynthia Massillon and Kevin Dua discussed what, initially, they saw as a need within the school for more dialogue on race. KEVIN DUA They envisioned a place where students and staff could gather, share feelings and experiences, and problem-solve. Their brainstorming resulted in the Matter Speaks series, which launched in February 2016 with Black History Month Matters. Nearly 100 people gathered after the school day to hear Jackson, Massillon, Dua and other staff members in part to model the format for students share their personal experiences. Over the course of the year, discussions with empowered students and invested colleagues helped to expand the series to include conversations on sexuality, ethnicity and other important issues. Since the series began, students have taken the lead, hosting one event a month on subjects such as women s history, immigrant voices, the 2016 election and Hispanic heritage. By February 2017, the event had become an all-school assembly, with the auditorium and balcony filled nearly to capacity, and more students on the stage. continued on next page AMBER JACKSON

6 continued from previous page Though the dialogue around identity can be difficult and emotional, the positive response to the Matter Speaks series has revealed the need to make each student and staff member feel like a valued member of the community. This dedicated team of educators stays after school almost every day to work with students. Jackson and Massillon serve on the school s Cultural Proficiency Committee, CYNTHIA MASSILLON Massillon serves as faculty adviser for the Women s Empowerment Club, and Dua served for the past four years as class adviser to the Class of To view a YouTube video of a Matter Speaks event, go to Past Human and Civil Rights Awards recipients 1983 Majorie Anderson, The Museum of Afro-American Ethnohistory, Inc.; Dr. Ronald R. Edmonds, Michigan State University; Honorable Harry J. Elam, Boston 1984 George W. Counter, Holyoke; The Council for Human Understanding, Inc.; Dr. Brunetta R. Wolfman, Boston 1985 Emma M. Barrow, Falmouth; Dr. Thelma Griffith- Johnson, Amherst; Norman C. Najimy, Pittsfield 1986 Charlotte Degan, North Adams State College: Facing History and Ourselves; Gerry E. Studds, U.S. Representative, 10th Congressional District 1987 Dr. Jose M. Figuerie, Cambridge; Hsiu-Lien Lu, Harvard Law School; Dr. Mary E. Cannon McLean, Springfield 1988 Rev. Dr. Robert L. Carter, Jr., New Bedford; Joceline E. Grant, UMass Boston; Prof. Meyer Weinberg, UMass Amherst 1989 Dr. Sonia Nieto, UMass Amherst; Sylvia Q. Simmons, Mass. Higher Education Assistance Corp.; Jack Williams, WBZ-TV News 1990 Dr. George S. Smith, Worcester; Griselda Gonsalez Wilson, Middlesex Community College; Newton North High School Human Rights Committee 1991 Ronald Adams and Eileen Sadof, Quincy; Robert Glover, WHDH-TV; Peter Nien-chu Kiang, UMass Boston; The Haymarket People s Fund, Boston 1992 Edmund G. Grogan, Quincy; Kathleen R. Roberts, former MTA President, NEA Director 1993 Josephine E. Bernard, Randolph; Christine E. Woods, Brockton; Mary L. Pottle, Braintree; John L. Reed, Barnstable; Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, Mount Holyoke College

7 Past Human and Civil Rights Awards recipients (continued) 1994 Kenneth F. Caulfield, Randolph; Edna P. Spencer, Worcester 1995 Al Ferriera, Cambridge; Mary Jo Mason and Joyce Rogean, Barnstable; Dr. Rosanne Perlmutter, Newton; Warren Emerson Priest, Newton; Virginius Bray Thornton, III, Mass. Bay Community College 1996 Dr. Lorna E. Chambers-Andrade, R.N., Mass. Bay Community College; William Dyson, Longmeadow; Joyce Freeman, Worcester 1997 Inez Dover, Newton; Dr. Maxine Elmont, Mass. Bay Community College; Susan Somner, R.N., Southbridge; Coalitions for Asian Pacific American Youth, Boston 1998 James Wilcox, Fall River; Louise Gaskins, Ayer; Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Harvard School of Public Health 1999 Dr. John W. Stuart, Manchester-by-the-Sea; Peter Vuno, Worcester; Edith Cannon, Randolph-Taunton; Rosanne Bacon Meade (First Louise Gaskins Lifetime Civil Rights Award) 2000 Alice Cormack, Somerville; Carmen Davila, Worcester; Robert Restuccia, Everett 2001 Dr. Alice Axelrod, Norwood; Lucy Myers, Belmont; Cambridge Youth Peace and Justice Corps; Fred Andelman, MTA, Director of Professional Development (posthumously) 2002 Maria D Arcangelo, Quincy; Steve Sinnott, National Union of Teachers, UK 2003 Dale Forest, Barnstable; Karen Horner, MTA Staff Organization 2004 Karen Swartwout, Thomas DeVito, Malden; Arline Isaacson and Gary Daffin, Co-Chairs, Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus; Paul and Carolyn Hebert, Champ Homes, Hyannis 2005 José Pinheiro, Brockton; Roger L. Rice, Multicultural Education, Training and Advocacy, Inc Sadiqa Basiri, Omid Project; Maria de Lourdes Serpa, Lesley University 2007 Genoveffa Grieci, Framingham; Joseph Petner, Cambridge 2008 Boston Gay Men s Chorus; Nantucket S.T.A.R Program 2009 Jacqueline M. Coogan, Everett; Horace Seldon, Community Change, Inc Anne Wass, MTA President; Mary Gilmore, MTA Retired 2011 Susan Mendoza Friedman, Barnstable; Ann Marie Dooley, Harwich; Caroline Hunter, Cambridge 2012 Zachary Galvin, Natick; Douglas Riebesehl (posthumously), Greg Gilbert, Falmouth; Julia Monteiro Johnson, Dennis-Yarmouth 2013 Sister Ann Fox, Boston; Mick Carlon, Barnstable 2014 George R. Spivey, Cape Cod; Kelvin Ing & Amy Lipkind, Cape Cod; Caitlin McCarthy, Worcester 2015 Alicia Lopez, Amherst-Pelham Education Association; Diane Turco, Harwich 2016 Ellen Story, State Representative; Lois Ahrens, Real Cost of Prisons Project; Rosemary Betsy Sawyer, Groton Dunstable Educators Association (posthumously); Frederik Bommer, Barnstable Public Schools Volunteer

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