As part of the Portrait of an Oak Park 8th Grade Graduate design process, District 97 will be holding multiple listening sessions in the coming months to get feedback from staff, students, families and community members. These sessions will begin in November with affinity-based groups, and will expand to all stakeholders this winter.
What is an affinity group?
An affinity group is a group of people who are linked by a common identity, purpose or interest. For our Portrait engagement, we are focusing on groups who have been most impacted historically by systemic inequities, as specifically outlined in the district’s equity policy: Black families, multilingual families, families of students with disabilities and LGBTQ+ families.
We are also meeting with Oak Park senior residents to ensure that we are gathering perspectives from a variety of age groups.
Why should I participate?
Our design team has been intentional in centering and prioritizing groups who have historically been underserved in District 97 and other settings. Our affinity listening sessions will focus directly on the experiences and perspectives of these groups and will ensure that they are a key part of the Portrait design process.
Join Us!
To help us plan for these sessions, we are asking that interested community members fill out this brief form prior to the events. Dates and times are included below. Food and childcare will be provided.
- Multilingual families (Tuesday, Nov. 7, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
- Families of students with disabilities (Thursday, Nov. 9, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
- Black families (Monday, Nov. 13, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
- Oak Park senior residents (Wednesday, Nov. 15, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
- LGBTQ+ families (Tuesday, Nov. 28, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
Learn More about the Portrait
For more on Portrait of an Oak Park 8th Grade Graduate, visit www.op97.org/ourportrait. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Portrait Design Team via Let’s Talk.