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Your Grandma Is Our Grandma: Smothers ES Uplifts Intergenerational Principle
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.
To Live and Breathe: Kindergartners Meet Local Environmental Activist
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.
The Fuller Story: Anti-Bias Working Group Shares Highlights from Their Classrooms and Interrogate Biographies in Early Childhood Education
By Bridget Fuller
On February 26, the Anti-Bias Early Childhood Educator working group met to connect as a community, discuss challenges and successes with the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, and share ideas on using biographies in early childhood classrooms.
Black Women Organize: From the International Council of the Women of the Darker Races of the World, to STAR, and the Combahee River Collective
By Lizzie McCord
Dr. Alana Murray and Tiferet Ani shared resources for teaching about Black women’s activism during the 2021 Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action Curriculum Fair. They began the session by sharing some historical context for Black women’s organizing, giving special consideration to the work of the Combahee River Collective and Marsha P. Johnson of STAR.
Black Women’s Activism and Leadership Workshop
By Lizzie McCord
During the 2021 Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action Curriculum Fair, Jaimee A. Swift led a workshop building on her work at Black Women Radicals, the organization she founded to uplift the stories of Black women and gender expansive people’s activism.
Teaching, Loving, and Believing Black Girls Workshop
By Lila Chafe
Almost one hundred participants attended Dr. Shari Berga’s workshop, co-facilitated by Akailah Jenkins McIntyre, titled “Teaching, Loving, and Believing Black Girls.” Both facilitators are part of the Wells Collective, a collaborative of diversity practitioners that focus their work on empowering women.
Honoring Black Women with Poetry
Ms. Corliss, a special education teacher at Jefferson Middle School Academy (DCPS), led a Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action lesson aligned to the guiding principle, “Black Women.”
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom
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.
Learning About the Power of Voice from the Story of Barbara Jordan
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.
Friday, February 9 (Day 5)
Here are stories from DC area classrooms from Day Five of Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools.
Love Poems to Black Women
The culmination of Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools was a powerful open mic poetry reading. Students of all ages and adults shared love poems to Black women with an enthusiastic audience. The evening was beautifully MC’ed by Joseph Green from Split This Rock and featured DJ BE. Wilson High School (DCPS) generously contributed the auditorium.