{"id":662,"date":"2022-06-30T16:50:46","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T20:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/?post_type=article&#038;p=662"},"modified":"2022-07-01T14:20:27","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T18:20:27","slug":"restorative-justice-rj-at-ems","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/article\/restorative-justice-rj-at-ems\/","title":{"rendered":"Restorative Justice \u201cRJ\u201d at EMS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Using restorative practices involves creating space\u00a0for people to listen fully. Sometimes that is a conversation between two or more students, facilitated by a teacher, counselor,\u00a0or principal. All parties involved agree to the process before starting.<\/p>\n<p>In larger groups, a circle process provides the opportunity for everyone to speak and listen. The speaker holds a \u201ctalking piece,\u201d such as a stone or a ball, and passes it to the next person when they are done. There\u2019s always the option to pass.<\/p>\n<p>Eastern Mennonite Elementary School was founded in 2005 with an RJ lens woven into the fabric\u00a0of this new school culture. That mindset has gained momentum in our school, spreading into the \u201cDNA\u201d\u00a0of our middle and high school. Currently, restorative practices are gaining momentum not only at EMS, but in schools nationwide.<\/p>\n<h2>RJ at EMES<\/h2>\n<p>Teachers Heidi Byler (grade 3), Bethany Gibbs (grade 4), and Erika Gascho (grade 5) created materials to explain restorative justice for school parents as part of an assignment in a Restorative Justice in Education class at Eastern Mennonite University.<\/p>\n<p>What does restorative mean?<br \/>\nIn students\u2019 words&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To fix things.<\/li>\n<li>To build trust back.<\/li>\n<li>To find a solution.<\/li>\n<li>To put the relationship back together.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How to build relationships<\/strong><br \/>\nTips from students&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Include others.<\/li>\n<li>Try to work things out.<\/li>\n<li>Have fun together.<\/li>\n<li>Be honest. Trust each other.<\/li>\n<li>Be able to share personal things.<\/li>\n<li>Help each other. Share and be kind.<\/li>\n<li>Spend time together.<\/li>\n<li>Talk; get to know each other.<\/li>\n<li>Learn each others\u2019 likes and dislikes.<\/li>\n<li>Be there for each other, and stand up for each other.<\/li>\n<li>Be patient; allow space when needed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Senior Class Culture Shift<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-670 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2022seniors-300x186.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"186\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2022seniors-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2022seniors-1024x635.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2022seniors-768x476.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2022seniors-1536x952.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/2022seniors.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Jodi Hertzler and Shannon Roth, senior class sponsors, looked at all of the traditions and practices of the class through an RJ lens, resulting in changes that built up the class culture and connections.<\/p>\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Students chose class officers\u00a0in a way that felt less like a popularity contest and focused more on the gifts of each prospective leader.<\/li>\n<li>The entire class did a community service project together.<\/li>\n<li>Class meetings used a circle process if there was a conflict or situation that needed space for everyone to share and be heard.<\/li>\n<li>During class meetings, several students heard affirmations written earlier in the week for them by classmates, teachers, and staff.<\/li>\n<li>The final senior chapel invited each student to share a favorite memory from their time at EMS, offer advice to returning students, and share something about future plans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Over the year, we saw the class grow closer,\u201d says Roth. \u201cWe have worked with the senior class for seven years together, and these RJ practices gave us new practical tools.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>See Ms. Hertzler and Ms. Roth\u2019s message for the class of \u201922 during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pkQxR8zhUTk\">final chapel of the year<\/a> on Youtube.<\/p>\n<h2>A 5th Grade Circle<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-669\" src=\"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5th_grade-300x193.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5th_grade-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5th_grade-1024x660.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5th_grade-768x495.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5th_grade-1536x990.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/5th_grade.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\u201cA class with a lot of drama.\u201d That\u2019s how the fifth grade class (pictured, left) described themselves earlier this year. But, during a class circle process \u2013 initiated and facilitated by the students \u2013 they passed a talking piece and listened carefully. At the end, they created a list of hurtful words they sometimes hear from classmates, and signed an agreement with alternative words, committing to do better and do less harm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Using restorative practices involves creating space\u00a0for people to listen fully. Sometimes that is a conversation between two or more students, facilitated by a teacher, counselor,\u00a0or principal. All parties involved agree to the process before starting. In larger groups, a circle process provides the opportunity for everyone to speak and listen. The speaker holds a \u201ctalking&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":671,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"issuem_issue":[32],"issuem_issue_categories":[],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"class_list":["post-662","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","issuem_issue-spring-summer-2022"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":694,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/662\/revisions\/694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=662"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=662"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}