2023 Summit UniServ Nakia Academy Application

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A collaborative mentorship program for BIPOC Educators by Summit UniServ Council While our state is working harder to attract educators of color, we know many newer BIPOC educators feel isolated, and frustrated and are departing their careers within the first few years. Building from a place of abundance, we have created the Nakia Academy, a mentoring and leadership academy by BIPOC educators and for BIPOC educators. The purpose of Nakia Academy is to keep newer educators in the field by identifying and training veteran BIPOC educators who can support, mentor, guide, and build with the next generation of BIPOC leaders. Do the following statements accurately describe you?

● We are passionate about guiding beginning educators and I wish I could have connected with people who looked like me as mentors when I was beginning my career.

● We are dedicated to making sure those who are beginning their education careers are going to practice their work through a lens of race, social and economic justice for all.

● We believe that healthy social/emotional support for all educators, but newer ones in particular, is one of the most important indicators of success.

If these descriptions resonate and you are highly motivated to build powerful mentorship skills that will greatly impact the field of education for years to come, then Nakia Academy is for you. Nakia Academy, named for a fictional unsung hero and a humanitarian whose philosophy includes lifting others up, is a new program bringing together educators of color over a five-month period for a total of 23 hours of thinking, learning, interacting, skill-building, and fun. (We have now graduated 180 educators.)

Click HERE to register for Nakia Academy

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Who can attend? Any BIPOC educator! 
There is a $500 stipend for your participation. Clock hours are available. Part of Nakia Academy will be sharing our work with other mentors who are going through OSPI’s Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST) program. We’ll be learning some of what they learn, and they will be learning, from us, ways to work with all members through a race and social justice equity lens. Eventually, our work will be part of the BEST program training.

Here is a clip of Nakia members discussing their experience with attending the Academy...

The Summit Nakia cadre will meet virtually on Saturdays from 9:00 am to 11:30 am

*All participants who successfully complete the academy receive 23 clock hours and a $500 stipend for their experience. 

** When registering, please use your home/personal email address only. Work/school email cannot be accepted. 

23 Clock Hours include assigned reading. Book: Coaching for Equity - Elea Aguilar (provided) 

Register HERE 

Planned Scope and Sequence: 

Session 1: Kickoff/Community Building

Session 2: Attending Fully and Listening with Grace 

Session 3: Turning Inward: Attending to the Mentor

Session 4: Mentoring in White Spaces

Session 5: Building the Mentoring Relationship

Session 6: Conversations Count

Session 7: Conversations Count Continued

Session 8: Celebrate! Show Them Who You Are