TOWNSEND — The North Middlesex Regional School District is pleased to share that staff members and Assistant Superintendent Gary Burboa-Reese presented at the 2024 Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS) 30th Annual Paul J. Andrews Executive Institute.
The conference is held annually for superintendents throughout the Commonwealth to support the professional development needs of district leaders. This year’s conference theme was ‘Empowering Each Other: Sustaining Conditions for All to Thrive’.
On July 17, Becky Jackson, Lisa Comeau, and Assistant Superintendent Burboa-Reese presented at the conference.
The district received a grant two years ago from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to support the implementation of genocide education, as required under Massachusetts state legislation signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker in 2021. Under this act, all school districts in the Commonwealth are required to provide instruction in genocide education at the middle and high school level consistent with the Massachusetts History and Social Sciences Curriculum Framework.
For the past two years, a group of North Middlesex Regional High School teachers, under the direction of high school history teacher and department head Rebecca Jackson, have been meeting to increase their understanding of genocide topics, to improve their capacity to engage students in discourse about challenging topics, and to develop curriculum to integrate into current classes in both English and History. A major milestone of this work was the execution of a multi-district genocide education conference in the fall of 2023, which included representation from approximately twenty districts and 100 educators throughout the state.
As a result of this work, DESE reached out to North Middlesex to invite the district to co-present at the annual superintendent’s conference. During this presentation, attendees had the opportunity to hear the background of genocide education, learn about how districts across the Commonwealth are meeting this legal, educational requirement with case studies from Haverhill and North Middlesex, and to elevate the the importance of acknowledging student’s social and emotional needs when addressing these ‘tough’ historical events.
“We appreciate being recognized by DESE as a leader in implementing this work and the opportunity to share our experiences with educational leaders across the state of Massachusetts,” said Superintendent Morgan.