Queering Up Education

Subject: LGBTQ+ Inclusive Education

Speaker: Michael Norinskiy, queer activist, and educator 

Audience: School Board

Purpose: To convince school administrators to approve and encourage and LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum

            Have you ever felt lost in life? Not sure about what to do? Imagine the last time you had to make a major life decision. Remember how hard it was to make that decision? Think about making up your mind while everyone around you screams about how your decision is wrong. This is the daily pressure that queer[1] youth face. Queer youth are faced with daily issues of self-doubt, low self-esteem, and questions about their sexuality/gender. They feel othered and isolated. They can feel like they are the only ones that are facing these issues and that no one understands the way that they feel. Education including LGBTQ+ issues, examples, and role models can help students struggling with their gender/sexuality. By educating students, not just queer students, LGBTQ+ topics can be destigmatized and provide a safer environment for queer students.

            As someone who has faced, and is still facing many of these issues, I strongly believe that educating students can dramatically help queer students with any questions or issues they may encounter. For many, like myself, I learned much about the LGBTQ+ community from others that are older and have more connections within the community. Unfortunately, this can lead to misinformation. Due to lack of education and resources, there are been few places to go and obtain reliable information. Young people with false information can get hurt and have to live with the irreparable damage. By creating workshops, and other places where young people can ask professionals question can help improve the issue of lack of information. This change can be even applied to in the classrooms. Small things such as adding stories of LGBTQ+ people into the classroom could provide potentially life-saving changes.

            Information can be easily provided in classrooms throughout different content areas. History classes can educate students on LGBTQ+ historical figures, while English classes can provide texts with LGBTQ+ characters. While there may be a concern with the difficulty of changing lessons, there should be little more effort than the changes that educators should be making every year to improve upon their curriculum. Being that I also work as an educator, I understand that changing the curriculum may be a nuisance but with proper encouragement, this can be a flawless transition into a new era of LGBTQ+ inclusive studies. As educators, one of the most important things we can do it to help our students better understand the world around them and to create a safer environment for all. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 34% of LGBTQ+ students were bullied on school property, 28% were bullied electronically, and 10% were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. Implementing an LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum can help reduce the verbal, emotional, and physical abuse faced by queer youth. As educators, it is our job to provide our students with a safe space to learn, grow, and find themselves. I strongly encourage you, the school board, to encourage educators to include LGBTQ+ elements into their classroom to help students feel accepted and welcome in the wonderful environment that is our school.

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[1] queer- used as an umbrella term to describe people who identify as LGBTQ+

Introducing... Me!

        Hello! My name is Michael "Mike" Norinskiy. I'm 16 years old and prefer he/him pronouns. I am the son of two immigrant parents. My parents came to the US 23 years ago with my older sister. I enjoying watching cooking videos and taking Buzzfeed quizzes. My hobbies include talking to my friends, aimlessly scrolling through social media, and gardening. I like gardening because it helps clear my head and allows me to have time to think whilst being productive. I especially love it when I can bear the fruits of my labor (pun intended). Speaking of puns, I really enjoy puns and horrible dad jokes.

        Throughout the school, I participate in many extracurricular activities, including, research, Gardening Club, LGBTQA+/GSA Club and "Sing!". Doing these extracurricular allows me to meet many like-minded people with similar interests. My favorite extracurricular activity is "Sing!", a student-run theater competition in which students, separated into teams by grade level, create their own 20 minute show. "Sing!" spread my horizons in the theater world from a backstage director, to an actor, dancer, writer, and director. "Sing!" allowed my to build new bonds with new people and strengthen bonds with others. "Sing!" wasn't the only thing that allowed me to spread my horizons. Science research has taught me many critical skills and has brought me a great amount of stress and happiness. Not only did research teach me how to conduct an experiment and analyze data, it taught me how to communicate, present, and write scientifically. Science research taught me that a lot of hard work pays off when I won 3rd in Plant Sciences at NYCSEF. Although school is an important aspect of myself, one of my truly favorite things is my job.

        I work as a teacher's assistant the Game Builder's Academy (GBA). I started off as a camper at Hofstra summer camp and discovered GBA, an outside contractor hired by Hofstra. I began to take many classes with GBA, such as, video game design, video game art, 3D animation, fashion design, and. most importantly, robotics. After take robotics twice, I fell in love with the class. I found a true interest in the class and the way it worked. This made me want to intern for GBA, and so I did. I was an intern assistant for robotics in the summer of 2016. They company liked me enough to actually hire me, so, I worked during the fall and part of the spring as an assistant for robotics. This past summer, I worked as a head assistant for robotics. Working as head assistant provided me with a wealth of experience and great joy. For part of the summer, I worked as the teacher of the robotics class because the teacher could not come in. Although I know that I didn't want to be an engineer, teaching robotics confirmed that I want to become an educator. Teaching and expanding those students' horizons was one of the most fulfilling things that I have done in my life. I really enjoyed teaching, and definitely see it as my current career path. I plan on staying with GBA and working there for as long as I can. Only time will tell how else I will grow as an educator, student, and, most importantly, as an individual.