Many educators recognize a need to (re)build community after the past couple years. We interviewed teacher Aaron Hackett, a MDEA (Mt Diablo Educators Association) site rep, one of the founders of Oak Grove Families and Educators United and part of the group that produces Solidarity News. Oak Grove is a Title I middle school in Concord, predominantly Hispanic or Latino, more than half English learners.

What inspired the founding of Oak Grove Families and Educators United? 

Last spring when it looked like our union MDEA was going to strike, community engagement committees were set up at school sites district-wide. However, these engagement teams had hardly gotten off the ground when a settlement was reached. At a union meeting after the contract was ratified I spoke out on behalf of the idea that we should still pursue engagement with families of MDUSD students. These community ties are crucial for making our schools stronger and more resilient and are crucial for union power, in a strike or in any other real fight. This recognition ultimately helped serve as the impetus for this project, with my site, Oak Grove Middle School, being a pilot, you could say. To its credit, MDEA leadership has supported this effort from the beginning.

How would you characterize the relationship between district parents and education workers? 

I can only speak for my site where apart from relatively frequent PTA-organized lunches for teachers and staff, which are much appreciated, the relationship between district parents and education workers is generally non-conflictual but distant. There is low attendance at Back to School Nights and Open Houses. There is very little in the way of ritual gatherings and none where discussion between teachers and staff and families occurs. 

How do you see your group improving and strengthening these relationships? 

We’d like the group to be a catalyst for a tighter-knit school community that can address issues and challenges collectively. That requires concerted effort because the pace and rhythm of life today, especially for working class people, doesn’t naturally allow, let alone foster, the interaction needed for that to occur. The idea is to have regular themed events at Oak Grove in the early evening, where dinner is served, that in addition to focusing on the topic of the evening–whether it be about use of technology, crisis services, academic support, or recruiting volunteers for the school garden–encourages discussion about any issues and topics of concern. The aim of our group is to increase parental involvement in the school, support academic achievement, make the school more responsive to the community, and fight for more resources for our public schools.

Who is involved in planning events?

So far most of the planning has been done by a fellow teacher at Oak Grove, myself, and the head of MDEA’s community engagement committee who is a middle school teacher at a different Mt. Diablo site. Oak Grove’s community coordinator/family liaison has also been key in getting out the word. And the MDEA president and executive director have been involved and attended our first event.

What was your group’s first event? How did it go?

The first event was an early evening social/picnic at Oak Grove in late August, two weeks into the new school year. It was catered by a taco vendor whose children went to Oak Grove. It was wildly successful, with more than 200 in attendance, including about ¾ of teachers, and also staff members and administrators. One of our music teachers pulled out a piano, a sax, and a trumpet and played jazz. One teacher’s assistant and her husband who had both worked in circuses did juggling and made animals with balloons for the little ones. The weather was great, the food was terrific, and the mood was happy. It was a great way to start!