News

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. 

A DCPS elementary school devotes six weeks to indepth study of Black Lives Matter principles.

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

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.

By Vanessa Williams
Within three minutes of entering Georgetown Day School, I noticed prospective students and their families were visiting the campus for the day. Then I ran into local historian and scholar Pat Scallen — who’s an advisor for Teach Central America and has penned lessons and stories for it — and I was warmly welcomed by Julia Tomasko, current teacher and alum of the school. While she might not have literally uttered “Come and join us” when we made our way up to her classroom, the spirit of that phrase was palpable and at the center of this school visit that day.

Teaching for Change’s Teach the Beat is honored to be a Capital City Go-Go (the NBA G-League affiliate of the Washington Wizards) partner for the 2023–2024 season. As a Go-Go partner, Teach the Beat is a featured host in the Capital City Go-Go’s Education Day Games on February 8 and March 5. Go-Go Education Day fuses a basketball game with the distinctive sound of go-go music. 

By Iysha Perkins
In recognition of BLM at School, a few students and I read two books, Hey Black Child and M is for Melanin, both of which focus on who you are as a Black child and how you can affirm and celebrate yourself.

By Vanessa Williams
There were no fresh baked, chocolate chip cookies in sight. No peppermints being discreetly offered and passed from big to little hands. All of the sweaters appeared to be store-bought, not hand knit. Yet everyone at Smothers Elementary School (DCPS) the morning of their Intergenerational Read Aloud were wrapped in the love, wisdom, and laughter only grandmas can give.

DCAESJ working group member and Prince George's County Public Schools high school teacher Amber Bennett Foote shared what the lesson her students are engaged in for Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

Bruce-Monroe ES @ Park View, a public elementary school in Washington, D.C., engages students, staff, and families in school-wide activities for Black Lives Matter at School. Each year it hosts a celebration of learning called the Marketplace of Knowledge. Assistant Principal Dr. Tamyka Morant explains…

By NaVonda Marshall
My kindergarten class went on an inspiring field trip to the Anacostia Community Museum in Southeast D.C. to experience their exhibit, “To Live and Breathe: Women and Environmental Justice in Washington, D.C.,” which was open from May 19th, 2023 - January 7th, 2024.

Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS’ 4th grade teaching team led students through a unit on book banning this fall, which culminated in a letter to Scholastic expressing concern about the way that books are categorized at their book fairs.

By Makai Kellogg and Sara Beshawred
On Saturday, November 18th, the Anti-Bias Early Childhood Working Group met at the Teaching for Change office. The group focused on addressing holidays in the classroom with an anti-bias lens.

Anna Lapera taught “Central America: An Introductory Lesson” in her middle school ESL and Spanish as a Heritage Language classes. The lesson prompted students to share their own family stories.

We were invited back to the strong-knit community at Bruce-Monroe at Parkview for their annual teach-in-style celebration of Central American history and culture.

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. 

Kimberly Ellis is a force, and we were thrilled to host her part-time as the Education Anew Fellow at Teaching for Change, in partnership with Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF), for the last two years.

Girls' Global Academy students were busy going out into the community and welcoming visitors to their school, all in recognition of their intergenerational service-learning day.

In April 2023, Teaching for Change partnered with Filmfest DC: The Washington, DC, International Film Festival for a twelfth year to bring filmmakers into D.C. classrooms to share some of their films. 

The anti-bias early childhood working group gathered virtually for their May meeting. After their standard land acknowledgement, the group dove into the meeting centered on gender identity in early childhood classrooms.

The annual Youth Justice Summit at Capital City PCS in Washington, D.C. included six sessions of youth-led workshops on a variety of social justice topics including book banning, the impacts of gentrification, gun violence, disability and policing, and climate justice. 

On March 24, the entire school community at Bruce-Monroe ES @ Park View (DCPS) was invited to participate in the Black Lives Matter at School Celebration of Learning. The school was transformed into a Marketplace of Knowledge that was the culmination of a six-week project that involved all grade levels in deep explorations of Black Lives Matter.

The D.C. Teaching for Black Lives study group, made up of 14 educators from Brent Elementary (ECE–5), meets once a month. According to Jon Berg, the study group’s coordinator, they started the group “to help educators reflect on their practice and to identify resources that center our Black students in our classrooms — with an emphasis on what is taught and how classrooms are set up to help students engage in civic life.”