By Emily Erickson and Anthony Tamez
In high school classrooms across the country, teachers and students navigate conversations about students’ individual futures at the same time as they try to resist end of year fatigue. Zack Wilson’s class of sophomore English students at Columbia Heights Educational Campus (CHEC) in Washington, D.C., is no different.

Join us for the annual Social Justice Curriculum Fair on Saturday, August 29, 2026 from 9:15AM–12:45PM in person at Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS (200 Douglas Street NE).

In late April 2026, Teaching for Change partnered with Filmfest DC: The Washington, DC International Film Festival for a 15th year to bring filmmakers into D.C. classrooms to share some of their films.

On April 9, 2026, Capital City Public Charter School juniors took over teaching duties and facilitated interactive workshops for their peers at the annual Capital City Youth Justice Summit.

On March 21, 2026, Teaching for Change’s D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice, along with the Coalition for DC Public Schools and Communities (C4DC) and Ward 6 Public School Parent Organization (W6PSPO) held a screening of the film Counted Out by Vicki Abeles.

Teaching for Change is partnering with Filmfest DC: The Washington, D.C. International Film Festival for a fourteenth year to spread the word about the international film festival and to bring films and filmmakers for some films into D.C. classrooms. Students gain a lot from viewing the documentaries, preparing questions, and discussing the film with the visitors. Filmfest DC is offering a limited number of opportunities for filmmakers to visit a class after the class has viewed their film April 20-24. 

Students, educators, and families at Bruce Monroe @ Park View Elementary School are invited to the Bruce Monroe Celebration of Learning on March 26 (4:00–6:00 PM) and March 27 (9:00 AM–2:00 PM), a showcase of their 6-week study of Black Lives Matter principles. This is part of a nationwide effort by educators and school communities to ensure that schools are places where Black history, culture, and lives are affirmed and uplifted.

On December 13th, the DCAESJ working groups came together at the Teaching for Change office for our final convening of the 2025 calendar year. The theme for the session, American Exceptionalism was aligned with our preparations for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026.

On a rainy Saturday, 35 educators from across the DMV area gathered for a morning of activities, resource and lesson planning, and community at the historic Thurgood Marshall Center.

DCAESJ Elementary Working Group co-facilitator Raphael Bonhomme shared a blog post on AFT’s Share My Lesson challenging teachers to move beyond seasonal lessons and to embed Black history into the full American narrative. Through personal reflection and practical classroom examples — from Harlem Renaissance projects to lessons on Black Wall Street — he invites educators to rethink what students learn about history, identity and possibility.

By Tamyka Morant, Ph.D.
Our school’s participation in the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action began in 2018, when a small group of teachers first engaged students in learning around the principles. By 2019, the work expanded into a schoolwide effort. During that year, we attempted to address all of the principles within a single week. While the experience was meaningful, we quickly realized that the depth of inquiry required for students to truly understand the principles could not be achieved within such a short period of time.

By Zeinab Dembele
Do you remember your first time in a library? Did you ever stop to appreciate the glory around you while walking down the rows of thousands of pages filled with pure magic, knowledge, and the quiet promise of finding yourself somewhere within those pages?

By Tamyka Morant
At Bruce-Monroe at Park View Elementary School in Washington, D.C., mathematics is not only about solving problems, it is about building community. During Matemanidad, a quarter-long interdisciplinary mathematics experience, students in grades pre-K–5 worked collaboratively to design original math games and participate in a school-wide tournament centered on performance assessment tasks.