Throughout last week, Peninsula Union School District teachers listened as students in third through eighth grade classes there expressed feeling scared and confused about the police killing of George Floyd and the wave of protests that had subsequently swept the nation.

"I imagine many children around our county and country are feeling similarly," said Superintendent-principal Lark Doolan, adding that his team tried to help students learn about the events in a large context of the history of protest and social change.

So students spent the week studying the Boston Tea Party, the March on Washington in 1963 and the Stonewall riots, then put together a list of questions about this week's events. On Friday, a fifth grader at the school compiled those questions and interviewed a local protest leader, Rosemary Grady, who also works at the school.

"We are sharing this video so that all of the youth in our larger community, as well as their parents and educators, have access to this student centered resource for understanding current events in the context of long standing racial inequities in our society," Doolan said.


Those looking for other tools to help talk to their children about racism can also check out the Anti-Racism Reading Guide put together by the Humboldt County Library, which includes curated book lists for adults, teens and kids.