The fifth annual Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action wrapped up recently and educators in the D.C. area and beyond participated in powerful ways.

The Elementary working group began their February meeting by selecting an item from their space that reflected their current emotions and discussed why they connected to it. Participants shared items that sparked confidence, strength, and joy, including a Post-It note from their mom and a puzzle that their students are collaborating on.

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 Bridget Fuller
On February 12, the DCAESJ People’s History Secondary Working Group met to connect as a community of educators, discuss a people’s history lesson about transportation protests, and continue their Teaching for Black Lives book study.

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 Makai Kellogg

During this session, Rapoport led participants in an activity where we thought about our favorite place and associated a color with it. We then added feeling words, more colors, and sensory experiences connected to the place.

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 Tiferet Ani

This Fall I taught an LGBTQ+ Studies elective for high school students. It was being piloted for the first time. Students and teachers collaborated to develop the course outline and unit projects.

On Saturday, January 22, 2022 Teaching for Change hosted a virtual curriculum fair featuring workshops, a keynote speaker, and time for educators to learn more about the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, taking place January 31-February 4, 2022.

The D.C. Area Black Lives Matter at School Curriculum Fair, hosted by Teaching for Change and the Howard University School of Education, was held virtually on Saturday, December 11 from 10am - noon ET.

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.

By Lila Chafe

On Tuesday, August 17, 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.

Virtual Workshops and Theatre Performance Will Bring Labor Issues into D.C. Classrooms. Middle and high school students in D.C. public and public charter schools can participate in a one-hour virtual workshop aligned to the themes of Working: A Musical.

Teaching for Change and the Washington Teachers’ Union and Teaching for Change hosted a Decolonizing the Curriculum summer series July 27-August 12, 2021. This six-session series featured presentations disrupting the master narrative in classroom curriculum by providing hands-on strategies with lessons to be used in-person and virtually.

The founding co-coordinator of the D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice People’s History Curriculum Working Group, Caneisha Mills, has been named the 2021 D.C. History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Join Teaching for Change’s Teach the Beat and DC Public Schools Office of Teaching and Learning for a go-go professional development experience featuring The Uncle Devin Show®!

Spring 2021 allowed for the Teach the Beat program to visit 27 classrooms, serving approximately 550 students throughout D.C. public schools virtually and in-person with teaching artists navigating varying online platforms.