New schooling opportunities may be coming to West Louisville. For decades, students in the historically low-income West End have lacked access to schools close to home. But during a virtual summit earlier this month, Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio explained how the district’s new student assignment proposal would create new schooling options for West Louisville families.…
Month: June 2020
Everything we know about Kentucky’s #HealthyAtSchool guidelines
This week, Kentucky officials released the #HealthyAtSchool guidelines for school reopenings this fall. Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Brown and Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman were quick to point out that flexibility among the finer details will be key, and that what works in small rural districts may not work in a large urban district like Jefferson County. Instead, the #HealthyAtSchool guidelines…
Transformers
“Mommy, why do you have the Transformer sticker? You don’t even like Transformers.” A declarative statement from my new home school student. “Well, yes, I do like transformers, but not in the same sense as you.” Growing up in the ’80s, my toy box had a few Transformers, Cabbage Patch dolls and Barbies; yet it’s the Transformers that stuck with…
Why Teach?
A lifelong love of reading and learning cultivated early in life by several impactful teachers influenced me to become a teacher. In 2nd grade, Mrs. Jackie Crabtree introduced me to a whole new world through books. Early on, she noted that I had an interest in reading and she encouraged that hobby in every way possible. She asked me about…
Culturally relevant education isn’t about “indoctrination,” it’s the first step towards justice
Back in 2018, I was really fed up with the major incidents of discrimination and hatred going on around the country. (Remember Charlottesville? Or when two Black men were wrongfully arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks?) It led me to write this piece, challenging educators to appropriately call out discrimination when they see it. The feedback was mixed. My message was…
Our Children Need Us Not to Grow Weary in the Work of Anti-Racism
I am finding it difficult to get through most days without crying, without feeling like water is rising above my head, without feeling a great sense of despair. I feel a heaviness in my chest. Watching 400 years of abuse, injustice, and systemic racism play out in history and in the news has proven to be too much for many…