Children learned about the history and fundamentals of go-go and each child got a chance to play an improvised tune on Sweet Cherie’s bedazzled keyboard. They danced when they heard their name called by the talker, just like at a go-go.

Athena Kopsidas, art teacher at Seaton ES (DCPS), led students through projects that incorporated books and art during the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

A Week of Action. A Year of Purpose. A Lifetime Commitment. And all of this can start with just a few hours of planning. On Saturday, January 7th, all DCAESJ working groups joined together and invited fellow D.C. area educators to share advice, build on resources, begin planning their BLM at School Week of Action, and continue to participate in the Year of Purpose.

The third annualk Teach Central America Expo at Bruce-Monroe ES @ Park View (DCPS). remained an intentional, collaborative, and joyous expression of the importance of teaching about Central America!

Students at Cardozo EC — most of whom are newly arrived students from outside the United States — taught other students about the countries from which they migrated.

Hannah Halpern and Megan Burleigh welcomed Teaching Central America advisor Jeannette Noltenius and her colleague Flori Berrocal to their classes at Hearst ES (DCPS) for a reading of Mario Bencastro’s A Train Called Hope/Un Tren Llamado Esperanza.

Students from Roosevelt’s International Academy, which includes many students who are newcomers to the United States from Central America, kicked off Teach Central America Week 2022 with a visit from An Open Book Foundation, Shout Mouse Press, and Santos, one of the contributing authors of Voces Sin Fronteras: Our Stories, Our Truth.

On August 24, 2022 Teaching for Change’s Teach Central America program specialist Jonathan Peraza Campos and Vanessa Williams, D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice’s program manager, co-facilitated a professional development for D.C. public schools entitled “Central American Literature in the Classroom.”

By Kimberly Ellis

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously stated, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” This demand for a better world is doggedly pursued by students in Beth Barkley’s Human Rights and Social Justice class at Cardozo Education Campus (DCPS).

During the February D.C. State Board of Education (DCSBOE) meeting, Ceremonial Resolution CR22-3 was passed celebrating Black History Month and Black Lives Matter at School.

By Kimberly Ellis

At MacFarland Middle School (DCPS), Melanie Holmes’ students spent the week contemplating how to ensure all Black lives matter at their school.

By Kimberly Ellis

As a native Washingtonian, Beth Sewell, an Independence and Learning Support teacher at Calvin Coolidge Senior High School (DCPS), has been surrounded by go-go music her entire life.

By Kimberly Ellis

On August 17, 2021, DC educators joined the virtual workshop “Think Local, Crank Global” hosted by Teaching for Change’s Teach the Beat program and the DC Public School Office of Teaching and Learning, Music, and Arts.

By Kimberly Ellis

In 2017, students in Dr. Dianna Hall’s 12th-grade U.S. Government and African American History classes at Phelps ACE High School (DCPS) explored the historical and cultural significance of the Monday after the Easter holiday, known colloquially as Easter Monday, to Black Washingtonians.

Students in grades 9/10 English Language Arts classes in the International Academy (newly arrived immigrant students) and a grade 11/12 elective course at Cardozo Education Campus (DCPS) collaborated throughout the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. This followed a unit on the Civil Rights Movement.

Students and staff from Lafayette ES gathered virtually for a special “Wellness Wednesday” during the Black Lives Matter at School Week featuring an introduction to the Black Lives Matter Movement 13 guiding principles and a lesson on the history of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.

Dr. Shani King, children’s rights lawyer, professor, and children’s book author, joined first grade students at Garrison ES for a virtual read-aloud of his new book, Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter.

DC Public Schools has endorsed the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action and sent the following notice and video to all its staff: DCPS is proud to support DC Black Lives Matter at Schools Week of Action, taking place from February 1-5, 2021. This week is a national movement of educators organizing for racial justice in education. The goal is to collectively affirm the lives and uplift the voices of Black students.

Imagine a world rooted in justice. What would it look like? Zo Clement, special education teacher at Two Rivers Charter School in Washington, D.C., set out to answer this question with middle school students over the summer.

“How many Central Americans can you name?” an 8th-grade teacher at Hardy Middle School in Washington, D.C. asked her advisory. During Teach Central America Week, the teacher used the remote learning Central America mixer template to explore the lives and experiences of Central American figures with students.