Email and Phone Outreach
Parents,
This week, it is critical that the ADW hears from individual parents and parishioners. Don't forget how much grandparents like to be involved in advocating for their grandchildren. Send this to all of those relatives and friends of yours.
Our Ask:
Starting Monday, February 14th,
1. Send an email every day
2. Make phone calls every day
Email Template and Instructions:
TO: archbishop@adw.org; carsond@adw.org; farrellt@adw.org; schools@adw.org; branamank@adw.org; buchleitnerc@adw.org; development@adw.org
CC: [YOUR PARISH PASTOR email] [YOUR SCHOOL PRINCIPAL]
For reference, here’s who these ADW emails below to:
Archbishop Wilton Gregory
Fr. Daniel Carson, Vicar General & Moderator of the Curia
Terrence Farrell, Chancellor & Executive Secretary of the Curia
Kelly Branaman, Superintendent of Catholic Schools
Chris Buchleitner, Assistant Superintendent of Schools
SUBJECT: Mask Choice in Our ADW Schools
BODY:
Dear All,
I write as a concerned parent of Catholic school child[ren] at [ENTER PARISH/SCHOOL]. Next month marks two years of our children’s childhood being massively disrupted by Covid-19 restrictions, including masking. We are requesting a return to normalcy for our children. We are requesting the mask mandate in ADW schools be lifted without condition – immediately and for good.
While ADW Catholic School Secretary and Superintendent Kelly Branaman has publicly announced that the ADW is taking action to explore lifting the mask mandates, the promise for future action is simply not enough. There is no reason to delay for another day, another week, another month. The time is now! A recent barrage of literature, news articles, and experts document the detrimental effects these restrictions have had on our children, resulting in bi-partisan, urgent calls from all sides for normalcy. The science simply no longer supports mask mandates for children.
While some argue that masking is a trivial inconvenience, we as parents have seen the detrimental effects of masking on our children. For example, [ADD PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE FOR EXAMPLE at St. Bernadette, the students cannot talk during lunch, have to eat in silence, and have to wear masks outside at recess and during exercise.] The effects of masking and the social, emotional, developmental scars of the pandemic will impact our children for the rest of their lives.
And yet, the ADW continues to require it. It is within your purview, however, to protect our children, give parents the choice, and end the mask mandates within our Catholic Schools immediately.
There are thousands of parents who are requesting this directive. In an effort for you to hear from some of these parents, we invite members of your staff and the Office of Catholic Schools to join us for a discussion with parents, students, educators, and interested parishioners on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, at the Knights of Columbus, Rock Creek Council, 5417 W. Cedar Lane, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. We are excited to provide a forum for such critical discussion and look forward to hearing from you. Please RSVP at email@adwparents.org.
Sincerely,
[Your Name(s)]
Telephone Talking Points and Instructions
CONTACT INFORMATION OF KEY ADW LEADERSHIP
You will find many of these lines do not lead to a human, just a voicemail. Guaranteed human is main number: 301-853-4500
ne
His Eminence Wilton Cardinal Gregory, Archbishop of Washington
301-853-5350
Kelly Branaman, Secretary for Catholic Schools and Superintendent of Schools
301-853-4518 ext. 508
Chris Buchleitner, Assistant Superintendent for School Operations & Student Services
301-853-5353
Fr. Daniel Carson, Vicar General
301-853-4523 OR
301-853-4500 ask to be transferred to Tracy Rich or Chancellor Terry Farrell’s office
Wendy Anderson, Associate Superintendent for Academics and School Leadership
301-853-4588
TALKING POINTS
If you get a voicemail:
Hello, this is ___________. I am a parent of students at ______________. I am calling to request that the ADW adopt a mask optional policy for our Catholic school students immediately. As parents, we have seen firsthand the adverse effects of masking on children, including social and emotional issues, cognitive delays in learning, speech and hearing issues, breathing issues, and more. Masking our children causes more harm than good. We ask the ADW follow the lead of other dioceses - like Baltimore – and allow the parents to decide whether to mask their children. Thank you.
If you get a live person:
Hello, this is ___________. I am a parent of students at ______________. I am calling to request that the ADW adopt a mask optional policy for our Catholic school students immediately.
● As a parent I have seen first hand the adverse effects of masking on my children, including _____________.
● Masking our children causes more harm than good.
○ Recent studies found evidence that masking is a barrier to speech recognition, hearing, and communication, and that masks impede children’s ability to understand facial expressions,.
○ Research has also suggested that hearing-impaired children have difficulty discerning individual sounds; opaque masks, of course, prevent lip-reading.
○ Masks can make learning difficult for some of America’s most vulnerable children, including those with cognitive delays, speech and hearing issues, and autism.
○ Masks hinder language and speech development—especially important for students who do not speak English at home. Masks may impede emotion recognition.
● The World Health Organization guidelines do not recommend masking our children.
○ WHO recommends against masking children ages 5 and younger, because this age group is at low risk of illness, because masks are not “in the overall interest of the child,” and because many children are unable to wear masks properly.
○ The WHO does not routinely recommend masks, because of the “potential impact of wearing a mask on learning and psychosocial development.”
○ The WHO also explicitly counsels against masking children during physical activities, including running and jumping at the playground, so as not to compromise breathing.
● Yet, ADW continues to require masking policies. And, individual schools have taken draconian approaches to their masking rules.
○ Some require masking of pre-school children, masking outside and masking during physical activity.
● Two years into this pandemic, keeping unproven measures in place is no longer justifiable.
● We are asking the ADW follow the lead of other dioceses - like Baltimore –and make masking our children optional. We ask that a mask-optional policy be implemented immediately.
● Thank you.