Second graders at KIPP DC Lead Academy and their teacher Trisha Boyd, participated in Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action by reading Child of the Civil Rights Movement by Paula Young Shelton.

Langdon Elementary School (DCPS) kicked off Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action in DC with a Teach the Beat lesson from international go-go artist, William “Ju Ju” House on February 4, 2019. Thirty fifth graders took turns jamming on Ju Ju's rototom drum set, a hands-on experience that taught them all about the pocket, Chuck Brown, and go-go's wider influence. 

In observance of what would have been Trayvon Martin's 23rd birthday, the Inspired Teaching Demonstration School community wore hooded sweatshirts to school today — a student-initiated proposal. One eighth grade student shared, “It means a whole lot that our school is honoring black lives because I like to fight for justice.” 

One of the thirteen principles of the #BLM movement is Black Villages. The Inspired Teaching Demonstration School hosted "Voices of our Village," an event during which families, teachers, and school leaders had honest conversations about diversity and equity. They looked at student work, discussed implications of taking this on, and brainstormed next steps to keep this energy in their school.

Here are stories from DC area classrooms from Day Five of Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools.