Teaching for Change was pleased to partner with Filmfest DC in October of 2020 for the ninth year to bring filmmakers to DC classrooms. Through this partnership, students and educators gained access to the 34th Washington, D.C. International Film Festival documentaries to view at home, and ten classes hosted filmmakers, including two films in the Justice Matters series. Here are descriptions of the virtual classroom visits.

The second series of the D.C. Educators for Equity book club began in early January of this year. Classroom educators, librarians, media specialists, and school coordinators gathered at Tubman Elementary (DCPS) school to explore Cornelius Minor’s We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest To Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be.

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.”

What are some tough conversations that you’ve had with students about racism, history, activism, and different perspectives on current events? This is one of many questions Teaching for Change staff reflected on with District of Columbia Public Schools 3rd through 5th grade teachers in a professional development workshop on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.

Watkins Elementary School 4th grade teacher Monique Sullivan used Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence as a way to explore who is centered in history and what stories are left out.

I led students in a “See, Think, Wonder” routine of a photo of a Black man drinking out of a water fountain labeled “whites only” and then asked them why do they thought I was wearing this on a day where we would be talking about the Black Lives Matter Movement. Then students broke out into groups to discuss one of the 13 guiding principles of the Black Lives Matter movement.

William “Ju Ju” House led a class on the go-go pocket with second graders at Beers Elementary as part of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action and the and the Teach the Beat project to bring go-go to D.C. classrooms.

As part of the 2020 Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, Teaching for Change was able to donate children’s books to the school libraries at several schools in Wards 7 and 8 as part of a generous grant from the Horning Family Fund in coordination with the DCPS Partnerships team.

To honor Teach Central America Week, Marlena James used the Central America 101 mixer in her classes on Thursday, October 17th as an interactive activity for students to learn about significant figures in Central American history and current events.

On Thursday, May 9, high school students at Ballou High School celebrated the launch of their book, The Ballou We Know, a collection of essays and poems as part of The Ballou Story Project with Shout Mouse Press. Each student had a unique story and used their personal narrative to talk back to and counter negative and deficit conversations about their community in the media. Read more >>

Picture high school students filing into a school boundary town hall meeting for their local school district. They sit down amongst parents, community members, administrators, and teachers, waiting patiently for the opportunity for public comment. As the meeting breaks into small group discussion, students disperse and share their concerns about the racism and segregation they witness in their own community. They not only draw from their powerful and moving personal experiences, but tie in literature, examples from history, and data. Read more >>

On February 6, students at Francis L. Cardozo Education Campus (DCPS) hosted lunchtime events for Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

Over the course of two weeks, an early childhood teacher explores each of the 13 Black Lives Matter Movement guiding principles with her students through discussion and read alouds.

I knew exactly where to find it. It has been in the same place for years, top shelf sitting with the other influential books of my life. I reached for it, remembering that the cover is no longer attached to the well loved book. I blew the dust off and began to reminisce about the life changing moment when I first sat down with it.

Mark McCants, the math resource teacher at Stoddert Elementary School (DCPS), shared this description of the school’s activities.

As a part of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, students in Beth Barkley’s Human Rights and Social Action classes at Cardozo Education Campus (DCPS) created a tribute to the young Black men who have lost their lives to police brutality.

Teaching for Change partnered with Filmfest DC: The Washington, DC International Film Festival for an eighth year to spread the word about the international film festival and to bring filmmakers for several films into D.C. classrooms in April and May.

Students at Jefferson Middle School (DCPS) engaged in a social justice printmaking workshop.

Fifty seventh and eighth grade students at McKinley Middle School (DCPS) learned about the history of Black Muslims in the U.S. in a lesson led by Alison Kysia.

At Bruce-Monroe ES @ Parkview (DCPS), a dual language English/Spanish school, students explored the principles of the Black Lives Matter movement by reading and completing projects related to The Day You Begin / El día en que descubres quién eres, Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, and Milo’s Museum.