Thursday April 29, 2021 @ 8:00 - 9:30 PM EST | Online via Zoom | Free. Suggested Donation of $10
In this 1.5 hr workshop with Taryn Kitchen (they/them), educators and other youth-serving professionals were given concrete strategies for supporting gender expansive youth and talking about gender with children ages 3-10. We gave an overview of gender neutral language, practiced using they/them pronouns, and discuss activities and strategies for normalizing gender diversity in your classroom and youth spaces.
Taryn Kitchen (they/them) is a nonbinary educator, youth worker, camp counselor, and queer advocate. They currently serve as the Community Engagement and Youth Leadership Manager at SMYAL, where they lead regular trainings for youth-serving professionals and support leadership opportunities for LGBTQ+ youth. Their favorite part of the month though is working with Little SMYALs, a group for youth ages 6-12. Ty is a certified elementary educator (Connecticut College ‘16), Fulbright scholar, and amateur gardener. After having explained their identity and pronouns to many family members, friends, coworkers, and students over the years, Ty is eager to bring more people into the conversation and share strategies for making empowering space for youth to explore their gender identities.
SMYAL is a nonprofit organization that supports and empowers LGBTQ+ youth in the Washington DC metro area. SMYAL offers drop-in afterschool programming (now fully virtual), leadership opportunities, community education trainings, a youth housing program, and more. Learn more about SMYAL’s work and current offerings at www.smyal.org or on Instagram at @smyal_dmv.
Resources
Workshop Presentation Slides
By Taryn Kitchen
These slides include information presented in the workshop: Terms and Spectrums, Talking About Gender with Young Kids, Active Allyship, Practicing Affirming Language, and Bonus Activities and Resources.
List of Resources
By Taryn Kitchen
This document includes links to informational resources, materials for kids/curriculum planning, classroom environment resources, training for schools, and other resources.