The first full week of May is designated as Licensed Employee Appreciation Week. At Clackamas ESD alone, we have at least 20 types of licensed jobs, with many variations in those positions. These are people who have completed higher education and earned licenses to be certified to teach students, lead continuing education training for staff, serve as social skills specialists, and provide speech, physical and occupational therapy within Clackamas ESD programs and the school districts we serve.
This Licensed Employee Appreciation Week, we’re highlighting a few of our approximately 185 licensed staff members and contractors to provide a peek into the diverse ways this large group of employees lives our mission of service. We appreciate our entire licensed team and the meaningful work they do.
Kelsey Bowers is the culture and climate lead project manager on Clackamas Education Service District’s teaching and learning team and for the Multnomah-Clackamas Regional Educator Network, a regional partnership of Clackamas ESD and Multnomah Education Service District to improve systems that support educators. In this relatively new role, Kelsey helps improve school and classroom environments to better serve both adults and students.
“My job covers an umbrella of things, but essentially I’m overseeing projects that help create a culture of belonging in schools,” Kelsey says. “I have direct partnerships with schools and staff, and give them the tools to lead that work.”
She inherited several projects when she stepped into her present position in August 2023. One that she’s most proud of is a diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging group (called DEIB for short) that has brought job-alike people together.
“Most of the DEIB leaders work in smaller districts where they may be the only people doing those jobs,” Kelsey explains. “They come together and collaborate. It’s an opportunity to create a ‘team’ of people they wouldn’t have otherwise to support each other and share best practices. Currently, the group is learning how to do self-facilitation, a skill they can take back to their schools and districts to create a broader network of folks to help lead and engage in equity work.”
She’s particularly excited about leading two adult social emotional learning cohorts that launch in fall 2024. One group will be open to teachers who currently are delivering student curriculum. The other will be open to any other licensed and classified staff members who want SEL support.
“We forget our educators are humans, too, and need support in social emotional health,” Kelsey shares. “This type of support really hasn’t been offered to educators. I’m so excited to see where it goes.”
For Kelsey, her current role supporting educators is a natural progression in her career. She spent 10 years as a classroom teacher in the Salem-Keizer and Tigard-Tualatin school districts, primarily teaching middle school English and leadership. From that vantage point, she saw how shifting school cultures could help reduce opportunity gaps.
“I did a lot of school climate work with my students,” Kelsey recalls. “What I learned is that students of color and students facing disabilities and other life challenges are not highly represented in leadership programs.”
After earning her administrator’s license, Kelsey became a new educator mentor for Portland Public Schools.
“I helped new teachers with everything from lesson planning to classroom management, all centered around using an equity lens as a foundation for their work,” she says.
That job led to a stint as vice principal for alternative programs at PPS, where she continued focusing on equity, serving students “at the margins” who didn’t have their needs met through traditional learning models. She jumped at the chance to then take her work regional.
“This opportunity piqued my interest, because I could have more impact,” Kelsey explains. “I can serve a greater number of adults, which means I can help a greater number of students. I have more freedom to provide ways for educators to do equity work differently and include all of our students fully, so every student gets the right to an education and is not ‘othered.’”
Kelsey’s own experience as a student of color is never far from her mind as she is supporting educators in building more inclusive school cultures.
“I’m biracial and attended Portland public schools on the west side of the city, where not a lot of people looked like me,” Kelsey reflects. “Looking back, I had a lot of experiences where I had to explain who I was that I should not have had to have. We now call them microaggressions, but back then we didn’t have language and tools to deal with them.
“Teacher preparation programs aren’t preparing new teachers to deal with equity issues. Teachers aren’t coming in with the skills to do this work. We need more spaces where equitable practices are being taught. Unless we’re being intentional about it, it’s not going to happen.”
In addition to her day job, Kelsey serves on the adult board of the Oregon Association of Student Councils, helping build and support workshops and conferences that drive equity, climate and culture work. Her priority remains making sure adults are focused on thinking about students’ needs, first and foremost.
“I’m very direct and passionate. I push people. I’m always going to do what’s best for kids, to fight for kids,” Kelsey says. “In order for things to change with inclusivity of kids and adults at the margins, we have to get a little bit uncomfortable and do things differently.
“When teachers come to me to ask about a challenge they’re having, I always ask, ‘Is it not working for you, or is it not working for your students?’ I want to make the system better for kids like me.”
