“[My Students] are the Teachers of the Year”: DCAESJ Working Group Member Beth Barkley Named 2024 DC Teacher of the Year

Beth Barkley is principled. 
Beth Barkley is humble.
Beth Barkley is caring.
Beth Barkley is D.C.’s 2024 Teacher of the Year, or, by her words, her students are. 

Barkley has a long history with Teaching for Change and DCAESJ. She interned with Teaching for Change while she was in undergrad, and we’ve worked with her since she began her teaching career. She’s an active member of the secondary working group and has invited us to her and her students’ classrooms several times.

Read teaching stories we’ve documented with Barkley and her students:

• Demands for Justice: Cardozo Students Pursue Equity and Justice in D.C. Public Schools 

• Students Teach About Central America at Cardozo EC 

• OCT 4: JUJU HOUSE AND BO BEEDY AT CARDOZO EC

• Rest in Power: Tributes to the Lives of Young Black Men

• Cardozo High School Students Lead Equity Presentations for Their School Community

• Outline for the BLM Week of Action in a High School ELA Class

Barkley shared:

I will continue to create platforms to amplify students’ voices, raise awareness, find creative solutions to our mental health crisis, and ensure equitable access for immigrant youth. This is for students. They are the Teachers of the Year.

Read the news release from the mayor’s office.