DCAESJ partnered with the African American Civil War Museum for a third year to host the #TeachTruth Day of Action rally at the memorial. The D.C. site was one of more than 60 sites across the country – plus more online events – each with a unique approach to uplifting educators in their commitment to teaching the truth.

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 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.”

Athena Kopsidas welcomed Teach the Beat back to Seaton ES in February for a series of visits that were part of the way Seaton was participating in the Black Lives Matter Week of Action this year. Matt “Swamp Guinee” Miller facilitated the two visits with students in the school cafeteria, leading students through interactive lessons on different percussive instruments used in go-go.

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.

During a middle school assembly, there wasn’t an empty seat in Washington International School’s theater — unless the students and teachers were up dancing to Sweet Cherie’s music! Cherie dove deep into the history of go-go, speaking to students about the different sub-genres and their many bands.

As part of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action at Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS, 4th graders studied the importance of representation in books and the book bans that have been escalating throughout the country since 2021.

Ofosu Jones-Quartey, author of Love Your Amazing Self: Joyful Verses for Young Voices, interspersed a read aloud of select verses from his book with mindfulness exercises at Rocketship PCS - Legacy Prep in support of 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.

Students learned about the Gods & Goddesses of the Nahua, Aztec, and Maya, and then made Hojalatas based on symbols and imagery from different cultures in the area, honoring the Indigenous cultures that paved the way for much of what is still celebrated and practiced in the countries of Central America through food, art, literature, music, dance, and language.

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.”

Teaching for Change is partnering with Filmfest DC: The Washington, D.C. International Film Festival (April 21 - May 1) for an eleventh year to spread the word about the international film festival and to bring films and filmmakers for several films into D.C. virtual classrooms.