The email below from our PLC member Kevin Taylor was sent to Diana Noonan in Denver but could apply to any of our communities and prompt us to act if we can possibly do so. It is a bridge building email. It shows that what we are doing is important beyond the classroom.
I feel that as teachers we are bound to report all instances of abuse and human rights violations in our communities (beyond instances of abuse of children) if we are aware of them.
Kevin shares:
Hi Ben and Diana,
This last week a parent from our school who is very involved in the effort to fight human trafficking came to speak to our school’s Justice Club about some things that are taking place in Littleton and Denver. Basically, there is a network of massage parlors throughout the metro Denver area run by Chinese organized crime, in which trafficked victims (mostly Chinese women) have been coerced into prostitution. This parent asked our students and me to spread the word that her organization (Restore NY) is looking for people (especially women) who understand the cultural background of these women, who speak Mandarin, and who would like to work with this organization and Denver-area law enforcement to help women who have been rescued or who, sadly, are in jail on prostitution charges.
I know that there are teachers of Mandarin Chinese in the DPS system, and I thought I’d see if you could pass this message on to them in case any of them are interested in joining this fight. If any of them are, I can connect them with this parent, who can tell them more about training (which is sometime around the first part of May) and anything else it might involve.
Many thanks,
Kevin
Spanish Teacher and Director of the Veritas et Caritas Institute (VCI)
http://www.frcs.org