By Amy Trenkle, 8th Grade US History Teacher, Washington, DC
Every year, during our unit on the New Nation, I teach about the founding of Washington, DC and have a basic discussion around the arguments for and against Statehood. Last year, I purposefully set out to teach my students the complexities of the perspectives surrounding DC Statehood.

From February 1-5, 2021, Teaching for Change's D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice hosted the fourth annual D.C. Area Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. This local week of action is part of the National Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action and Year of Purpose campaign taking place in cities across the U.S. to promote a set of national demands based in the Black Lives Matter guiding principles that focus on improving the school experience for students of color.

Students in Sam Chiron’s Introduction to Law class at Thurgood Marshall Academy PCS discussed images and text related to the questions: What is Black Lives Matter? What are the 13 Guiding Principles? The lesson was an introduction to a month-long unit on the Black Lives Matter movement.

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.

Third graders at Concord Hill School learned about the principles of Restorative Justice and Loving Engagement by studying the role of young people in the Civil Rights Movement.

Fourth Grade students at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School read and discuss Don’t Touch My Hair.

Using the Black Lives Matter guiding principles and the book Don't Touch My Hair to discuss consent with young children.

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.

On February 2nd, educators and school leaders at Two Rivers PCS organized an all school virtual community meeting celebrating the themes of Black excellence, joy, freedom, and culture. Members of the school community recorded and shared in a video their responses to the prompts: What does Black Lives Matter mean to you? and What is Black joy?

Middle school students from the class of Lia Bengtson and Tarja Lewis at Kendall Demonstration School in D.C. created a video to kick off Black Lives Matter Week of Action at Schools. They challenged viewers to think about why Black lives should matter to EVERYONE.

Early childhood students at School Within School @ Goding explore Black joy through the Afrofuturist art of Cyrus Kabiru, who creates glasses (he calls c-stunners) out of discarded materials.

Kindergarten students study the Black Lives Matter Principle “intergenerational” during the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, developing a deep understanding of the principles by reading and discussing multiple books.

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.

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

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.

Teaching for Change hosted the second annual Teach Central America Week from October 5 – 11, 2020. Hundreds of teachers from 35 states and the District of Columbia signed up to participate and organizations across the country endorsed the week. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to sign up to pledge to Teach Central America and share your stories about how you teach about Central America all year long. Here, we share news about lessons, events, teaching stories, and resources from this year’s Teach Central America Week.

On Friday October 9, eighty high schoolers from Capital City Public Charter School in Washington D.C. joined a Zoom call with Claudia Sparrow, director and producer of the film Maxima. Maxima follows Máxima Acuña, a Peruvian activist fighting a multinational gold mining corporation over rights to her land.

During the 2020 election season, D.C. educators Lia Bengtson and Tarja Lewis, along with a few of their colleagues, planned to conduct a mock election at their school. Lia wrote, “It grew way beyond our expectations. We ended up having 34 schools in 23 states and the District of Columbia participate.”

As schools across the country moved to emergency remote learning, Erin Coppola-Klein, 7th- and 8th- grade advisor and social studies teacher at Capitol Hill Day School, wanted to continue to provide interactive and engaging lessons for students. Coppola-Klein used the U.S. Mexico War lesson in the form of a mixer by Bill Bigelow with 22 7th- grade students.