Kimberly Ellis is a force, and we were thrilled to host her part-time as the Education Anew Fellow at Teaching for Change, in partnership with Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF), for the last two years.

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. 

Gearing up for the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action is no small feat. While educators in the D.C. area likely have already been uplifting BLM at School work with participation in the Year of Purpose, the Week of Action is often taken as an opportunity to engage in more and perhaps larger scale efforts to uplift the guiding principles and national demands…

Students were introduced to Black writers, poets, and photographers who have recorded the power of community among Black people, then created unique visual presentations and taught middle school students at Hayfield what they learned. 

Using the Pan-African colors as their palette, students transformed blank canvases into stunning recreations of the Sankofa bird, Black power fist, or their own original creations

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.

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).

By Kimberly Ellis and Vanessa Williams

What is the Tulsa Race Massacre? How do we, as a nation, tell the story of the massacre? What is owed to the Black community as a result of the massacre? Ashley Bryant created two weeks of lessons to explore these questions in celebration of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action and Year of Purpose.

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

“The Civil Rights Movement was made up of everyday people choosing to do difficult things.” Lesley Younge, an English teacher at Maret School, opened her 7th grade English class with this statement.

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.