We are deeply grateful for all that Vanessa has done to build a robust network of educators and to help shape the growing initiatives that have become cornerstones of Teaching for Change’s work.

On Saturday, August 17, D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice (DCAESJ) hosted the third annual Social Justice Curriculum Fair at Inspired Teaching Demonstration School.

2024 is Teaching for Change’s 35th anniversary. Over the last 10 years alone, more than 24,000 teachers have participated in our programs and learned ways to teach for change. In the next five years, we aim to reach teachers at 10,000 schools in the United States. We want your help to do it.

The DCAESJ hosted multiple events as part of the national Teach Truth days of action, with a "get out the vote" focus for the 2024 elections. 

DCAESJ’s early childhood working group facilitator, Makai Kellogg, co-wrote a new book, Reflection, Perspective-Taking, and Social Justice: Stories of Empathy and Kindness in the Early Childhood Classroom.

By Vanessa Williams
On Thursday, April 11th, Capital City PCS juniors took over teaching duties and facilitated workshops for their peers via the annual Capital City Youth Justice Summit. More than thirty workshops were presented on a variety of topics, including gun violence, outdoor education, and the climate crisis.

In April 2024, Teaching for Change partnered with Filmfest DC: The Washington, DC, International Film Festival for a thirteenth year to bring filmmakers into D.C. classrooms to share some of their films. 

DCAESJ Working Group Meeting

The May working group meeting was held at the Teaching for Change office, and it was a reflective time for educators across all three groups to connect over a collaborative art project.

Four dozen plus local trailblazers, hundreds of students, and Eleanor Holmes Norton all gather in an auditorium. . . This may sound like the beginning of a cheesy joke, but the 4th annual Sisterhood Summit at Girls’ Global Academy couldn’t have been more moving. This year’s summit was themed “Our Stories, Our Legacies: Together, We Blaze Trails, Ignite Change, & Build Futures.” From the early morning and throughout the early afternoon, the summit captivated all who attended and participated. Read on for a glimpse into this powerful annual event!

By Marcy Campos
On Friday, May 3rd, Salvadoran author Mario Bencastro visited Houston Elementary School to share his 2021 bilingual book, Un tren llamado Esperanza, or A Train Called Hope, illustrated by Robert Casilla.

D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice (DCAESJ) is always looking to lift up the incredible work preK-12 social justice educators are doing in the D.C. area.

Anti-Bias Early Childhood Working Group Meeting

The meeting kicked off with a welcome and land acknowledgement. For the icebreaker, working group members shared how they have cultivated a sense of respect for and responsibility to the earth in their classrooms and the ways their schools support or undermine environmental justice.

Students in Ariel Alford’s African American history class at Hayfield Secondary School (FCPS) learned from two artists-turned-educators based in the United Kingdom who shared their stories and curriculum modules designed to champion people of African and African diaspora heritage.

Elementary and Secondary Working Group Meeting

The April elementary and secondary working group meeting centered on a problem of practice that was raised by a working group member: how to find strategies for teaching about Black history that recognize both resistance and joy. Additionally, how to find ways to involve caregivers in that learning. 

On April 9, 2024, 17 students and their teachers took a field trip to the beautiful early 20th-century building on 16th Street in Washington, D.C. The visit was part of a partnership with the school through the DCPS Embassy Adoption Program. Tubman teachers Susannah Schantz and Suzannah Danforth, along with their students, have collaborated throughout the year with embassy staff to bring lessons on Cuban culture and geography to the fifth-grade class. 

Bruce-Monroe @ Park View Elementary School (DCPS) devotes six weeks to in-depth study of Black Lives Matter principles.

Award-winning author and poet Roxana Mendez read her new book at DCPS Tubman Elementary School.

Elementary and Secondary Working Group Meeting

All three working groups met at the Phillips Collection for the March meeting. They kicked it off with group trivia, composed by the education team at the museum.

By Vanessa Williams
DCAESJ and EmpowerEd DC’s third annual Unapologetically Black Educator Story Lounge was just as powerful, moving, and joyous as the previously held events.

Teaching for Change is partnering with Filmfest DC: The Washington, D.C. International Film Festival (April 18-24) for a thirteenth year to spread the word about the festival and to bring films and filmmakers into D.C. classrooms.