Hosted by Roots of Inclusion
Facilitated by Adana Protonentis, MPA co-owner of Kindred Consulting

Series Overview

This series equips educators to recognize and disrupt the compounding effects of racism and ableism as they intersect with gender in students' educational experiences, with particular attention to the experiences of Black children with adultification and body-based misperception.

It is structured as three content focused trainings that build conceptual and practical foundation, interspersed with two follow-up sessions designed for discussion, dialogue, and application. The follow-up sessions give participants space to process, bring real examples from their own practice, and hold each other accountable to action.

A theme of family and community engagement runs throughout the series: educators will learn to partner more effectively with marginalized families and community members by applying an intersectional understanding of how race, disability, and gender jointly shape families' experiences with schools. Rather than treating family engagement as a stand-alone skill, the series frames it as a direct application of the intersectional analysis built into the trainings — families who have experienced adultification of their children, misperception of their child's body or behavior, or systemic bias in disability identification often arrive at school interactions already carrying that history. Understanding intersecting systems of oppression equips educators to recognize this history, rebuild trust, and engage families and community members as partners and experts on their own children.

Series Learning Objectives
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By the end of the full series, participants will be able to:

• Use shared vocabulary (intersectionality, adultification, positionality, systemic oppression, ableism) accurately and consistently.
• Recognize their own biases and reactions when presented with case studies or data involving students at these intersections.
• Demonstrate at least one concrete, measurable change in classroom practice, school policy, or personal conduct, along with a plan to sustain and evaluate it.
• Apply intersectional understanding to build more effective, trust-based partnerships with marginalized families and community members, recognizing them as experts on their own children and communities.

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Session Schedule

AT A GLANCE:
All sessions are held Live on Zoom from 4:00 to 5:30PM (PT)

• Training 1 - October 28, 2026
• Follow-Up Session 1 - November 18, 2026
• Training 2 - December 9, 2026
• Follow-Up Session 2 - January 13, 2027
• Training 3 - February 3, 2027

Detailed Session Schedule and Description:

Training 1 - Foundations: Intersectionality, Adultification, and Body-Based Bias
October 28, 2026
4:00–5:30PM (PT) | Virtual

Purpose: Build shared conceptual grounding and surface how these dynamics show up in how Black children with disabilities specifically, are seen and treated.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Define intersectionality as a framework and describe its value in identifying inequities.
• Explain how race, disability, and gender interact to produce experiences of bias that are qualitatively different from any single identity considered alone.
• Define adultification bias and analyze how adultification intersects with disability and disability-related behaviors.
• Explain how body-size stereotypes intersect with race, gender, and disability to shape adult assumptions about a student's maturity, competence, or behavior.
• Identify at least three common school practices where adultification or body-based bias currently operates.
• Examine how adultification and body-based bias toward students can extend to how their families are perceived and engaged by school staff.

Follow-Up Session 1
November 18, 2026
4:00 to 5:30PM (PT) | Virtual
A facilitated space for discussion, dialogue, application, and reflection on practice.



Training 2: Systems — Oppression in School Structures and Student Safety
December 9, 2026
4:00 to 5:30PM (PT) | Virtual

Purpose: Move from individual perceptions to institutional patterns — how policy, data, and safety systems reproduce these biases at scale.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish between individual bias and systemic/structural oppression, and identify where each shows up in their own school context.
• Define student safety — physical, psychological, and identity-affirming, and identify warning signs that a student's unmet safety and access needs are being misread as a behavioral or compliance problem.
• Explain how systemic bias in discipline, referral, and safety practices can erode marginalized families' trust in schools, and identify how this history shapes family-school interactions.

Follow-up Session 2
​January 13, 2027
4:00 to 5:30PM (PT) | Virtual
A facilitated space for discussion, dialogue, application, and reflection on practice.



Training 3: Positionality — The Role of Educators and Moving to Action
February 3, 2027
4:00 to 5:30PM (PT) | Virtual

Purpose: Turn the lens on adult practice and role — particularly educators' positionality — and translate the first two trainings into a concrete personal/team commitment.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Articulate the concept of positionality and reflect on their own role — intentional or unintentional — in reinforcing systems of racial and ableist oppression.Identify specific, real moments of intervention available to them (in meetings, classrooms, hallway interactions, policy conversations) to interrupt biased narratives about students.
• Build a personal or team action plan targeting at least one system, policy, or practice in their own school, and a measurement plan. 
• Apply an intersectional lens to family and community engagement: Identify at least one specific way they will change how they communicate with, involve, or seek input from marginalized families in their own practice.

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​Who Should Participate?

This series is designed for:

• General and special education teachers
• Paraeducators
• School and district administrators
• Related service providers
• Family members and caregivers
• Higher education faculty and students
• Community-based professionals
• State and regional education partners
• Anyone committed to advancing racial and disability justice in education

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Clock Hours:
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6 Washington State Clock Hours are available for this professional learning series at no cost to participants
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Roots of Inclusion is an approved clock hours provider. 6 clock hours are being offered for attending all sesssions. Information about attendance, participation, evaluation, and other requirements for receiving clock hours will be provided to registrants.

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Accessibility:​

Roots of Inclusion is committed to providing an accessible and welcoming learning experience.

• Live captioning provided
• Multiple ways to engage (chat, polls, reactions)​

Participants may request additional supports such as:

• ASL Interpretation
• Spoken-language interpretation​
• Other reasonable accommodations

Please share accommodation requests during registration. To allow time for coordination, requests should be submitted by October 7, 2026. ROI will also make every reasonable effort to respond to requests received after that date.

For questions about accessibility, contact Jennifer Karls at [email protected]

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About the Facilitator

Adana Protonentis, Kindred Consulting

Adana Protonentis, MPA 
Adana is a facilitator, an educator, an advocate, and an optimist. Moving through the world as a Black woman with a disability has taught Adana that connection is protection and that our safety is only as strong as our relationships. As a mama of two children with disabilities, she is committed to nurturing a world where every child feels known, seen, supported, challenged, and empowered. 

She has devoted her career to supporting public sector organizations in developing the imagination, skills, and strategies necessary to serve dynamic and diverse communities with care and dignity. To put it simply, she knows that our educators, nonprofit workers, and public servants do their best work when the workplace loves them back. Through her work as co-owner of Kindred Consulting, Adana helps organizations demonstrate that love in policy, practice, norms, and culture.
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Adana is also an adjunct professor at Seattle University in the Master of Public Administration program. She serves on the United Way of King County’s Community Advisory Council and is President of the Board of Trustees at Explorer West Middle School (Go Falcons!). She’s a member of the editorial board of Administrative Theory and Praxis and has been published in several academic journals.

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Ready to Join Us?

​Registration includes all of the sessions.
​You only have to register once.

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​This Professional Learning Series is Free to Attend with support from the
OSPI's Inclusionary Practices Technical Assistance Network (IPTN)