Social Worker Speaks To Ocean City Teachers About LGBT Issues

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Dr. Alexandra Redcay, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a PhD in Social Work, recently spoke to teachers in the Ocean City Public School District about what it means to be transgender and what are the best practices to help children cope.

In addition to being a Social Worker, Redcay is a Professor at Millersville University, where her coursework focuses on social work research particularly in the areas of LGBT issues. Her interests include mental health, addiction, and Latino issues.

She travels to Guatemala every year to improve on her ability to speak Spanish and do charity work. She is also the executive director at the non-profit agency Serise. Redcay works as an expert witness, trainer, therapist, program evaluator, and consultant.

She opened her presentation on Wednesday, Jan. 24, by asking everyone in the room to raise their hand if they had ever interacted with a trans youth student in the school system. By the amount of hands raised in the auditorium, it was clear that more than half of the teachers had.

She went on to say that 1 in 3 transgender students attempt to commit suicide, and expressed the importance of being there for these students. Through her two-hour lecture, Redcay weaved in facts, correct terms, trans youth in pop culture, and even a pop quiz.

“The Ocean City School District is committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive learning environment for transgender students, whether or not we are aware of trans individuals in our schools,” Ocean City Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Taylor said. “Our commitment to an inclusive school environment enables questioning students to explore their gender and sends a message of acceptance to all students. It isalso important to provide our staff with tools and training needed to best serve all of our students as we did with Dr. Redcay’s presentation about transgender youth.”

The attached image was provided by the Ocean City Public School District