As you have all heard, the EMID Board of Directors is soon going to be voting on whether or not to close Harambee and Crosswinds. Yesterday a group of parents met to discuss this situation and what we can do to protect our schools. Mary Hess sent an e-mail earlier today with reflections on this meeting and a call for everyone to come together to help with this effort.

At the meeting we developed a series of strategies we believe will help to save our schools. These strategies are listed below. Please continue to watch your e-mail and wp.clst.org/emidfamilies for updates on this situation. Also, please let us know if you would like to get involved in this effort. We need as many voices as possible. We will continue to post here as we have updates on what we’re doing, and how you can help. Thank you.

Save Crosswinds and Harambee — Strategies:

1. Develop a petition in support of EMID schools.
2. Get as many parents, students, and Harambee and Crosswinds community members to upcoming Board work sessions and meetings.
   • A handout explaining the situation and providing the dates, times, and locations of meetings will be available at back to schools nights at Crosswinds and Harambee.
   • Work with high school students to encourage them to attend Board meetings and serve as a voice for EMID.
   • A sign-in sheet will be available at back-to-school night to gather names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of interested families.
3. Develop talking points for parents and student to use as a guide when communicating with Board members.
4. Reach out to teachers and staff to let them know parents are doing all we can. Parents at back to school night will speak to teachers one-on-one and ask them how we can support them.
5. Develop a library of stories and pictures which will showcase the accomplishments of EMID students. These stories and photos will be shared with Board members prior to, or at, the September Board meetings and will include the following:
   • testimony about what EMID has meant for individuals
   • Photos from EMID successes such as the Orchestra trip to New York, “The Wiz,” World Affairs Challenge, etc.
6. Connect with constituents outside Crosswinds/Harambee community to gain their support as well as additional information. These include:
   • Board members
   • Education Commissioner’s office
   • WMEP families
   • Education Minnesota
7. Survey families to see where they would go if EMID schools closed. Some of the member districts think closing the schools would bring the students back to their districts and this survey will help to understand whether or not this would happen.
8. Share the story of the Board activities with media
   • Invite media to a future board meeting to showcase students and families and highlight the actions the Board is considering.
   • Encourage families to write letters to the editor and commentaries for newspapers.
9. Meet on Saturday, September 10 at 9:00 a.m. to discuss progress and prepare for September 14 work session. We will be meeting at 1993 Lincoln Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105. Call Mary Hess at 651-236-7592 or email mhess@luthersem.edu for directions. Teachers will be invited to join parents at this meeting.If you have any additional ideas please share them with the group by commenting on this post, or emailing the group at families@emidfamilies.org.Thank you for your help and support in this process.Susan Larson