Stories From 2019 Black Lives Matter Week of Action

On February 6, students at Francis L. Cardozo Education Campus (DCPS) hosted lunchtime events for Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

On March 20th, 2019 the District of Columbia State Board of Education ceremonial resolution was officially passed, recognizing the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, CR19-6. The resolution proposed by Ward 8 member and Vice President of the State Board of Education, Markus Batchelor, received unanimous consent for the resolution.

Over the course of two weeks, an early childhood teacher explores each of the 13 Black Lives Matter Movement guiding principles with her students through discussion and read alouds.

In my 5th grade ELA class at Munda Verde Bilingual PCS, each day during the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, a family member from our class came in and described what Black Lives Matter means to them. With gallery walks and dialogues, students became experts on the 13 guiding principles of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Mark McCants, the math resource teacher at Stoddert Elementary School (DCPS), shared this description of the school’s activities.

As a part of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, students in Beth Barkley’s Human Rights and Social Action classes at Cardozo Education Campus (DCPS) created a tribute to the young Black men who have lost their lives to police brutality.

Third grade art students read Milo’s Museum as they prepare to be “curators” of their own shadow box projects.

While we try to make decisions that elevate our students of color all year long, the focus on Black Lives Matter Week of Action at School presents a unique opportunity to concentrate our efforts in order to create the best “soil” to help our students grow.

Students at Jefferson Middle School (DCPS) engaged in a social justice printmaking workshop.

Fifty seventh and eighth grade students at McKinley Middle School (DCPS) learned about the history of Black Muslims in the U.S. in a lesson led by Alison Kysia.

To continue the momentum of Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, Teaching for Change coordinated visits by two Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) veterans to high school classrooms.

Middle school students at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, a D.C. school serving deaf and hard of hearing students from birth through grade 8, created a video outlining the 13 Principles of the Black Lives Matter movement in their own words.

Georgian Forest Pre-K-5 staff development teacher Asashia Martin shares her experience of going to multiple classrooms to support and/or co-teach lessons during the Week of Action.

At Bruce-Monroe ES @ Parkview (DCPS), a dual language English/Spanish school, students explored the principles of the Black Lives Matter movement by reading and completing projects related to The Day You Begin / El día en que descubres quién eres, Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, and Milo’s Museum.

Brian Stark, a fifth grade teacher at Lowell School led his students through the lesson Introduction to the Principles of the Black Lives Matter Movement. They then created a “wordle” word cloud based on the Principles.

Tenth graders in Christy Gill’s English class at HB Woodlawn Secondary Program (APSVA), learned about the 13 guiding principles as a part of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

First graders in Melissa Somerville’s and Jessica Jones’ classrooms at Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS read the book Milo’s Museum by Zetta Elliott in preparation for the Black Lives Matter Week of Action.

On February 8, 2019, fifth graders in Ashli Wilson’s class at DC Edgewood Prep in Washington, D.C. read Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March as a part of the Black Lives Matter in Schools Week of Action.

Jamila Felton, librarian at St. Patrick's Episcopal Day School in Washington, D.C., read What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?: The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan to her kindergarten classes for Black Lives Matter Week at School of Action. 

Anacostia High School (DCPS) psychologist Dr. Bryon McClure and librarian Nia Nicholas, along with Teaching for Change representative Nqobile Mthethwa, were interviewed on We Act Radio's Education Town Hall on Feb. 14, 2019.

Students read articles and discuss the media portrayal of black victims of racial violence versus white perpetrators of mass shooting as well as articles about "missing white women syndrome."

Middle school students at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, a school serving deaf and hard of hearing students from birth through grade 8 on Gallaudet University’s campus, learned about the thirteen principals of the Black Lives Matter movement throughout the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

Students from Kendall Demonstration Elementary School and Model Secondary School for the Deaf wrapped up their observation and celebration of Black History Month on March 27, with a biographical performance and arts program.

On Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019, teacher artist Alex Huttinger offered a workshop for 20 D.C. area teachers as part of Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. Read more >>

At Thurgood Marshall Academy in D.C, eleventh grade students explore how laws and policies are created and evaluate the impact on different communities through a legal lens in an Introduction to Law class. Their teacher, Sam Chiron, used the Resistance 101 lesson.

Ashley Chu read This Is the Rope by Jacqueline Woodson in her Kindergarten class in D.C. for Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

Preschool students in Makai Kellogg's class at School for Friends explored the guiding principles of queer and trans-affirming during a story-time reading of Jessica Love’s Julian is a Mermaid .

Every grade participated in the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action at Inspired Teaching Demonstration School.

On Thursday, Feb. 7th, Center for Inspired Teaching held their second annual Intergenerational Speak Truth for the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. Students and community members from across the DC metro area gathered at Dunbar High School (DCPS) to engage in conversation focused on current social justice issues. 

All students and staff at Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS were invited to contribute to a Black Lives Matter mural as part of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. Each grade level responded to a different prompt on colored post-its that were then placed on the banner.