Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1426376
O M E T E A C H E R S D O N ' T take no for an answer. Keara Williams is in that category. When schools closed due to the coronavirus, she tracked down students who did not respond to the many messages she sent, and somehow managed to sign them up for distance learning. When students thought they couldn't graduate, she met with them online to offer credit recovery so they could receive their diplomas. And even though her students are mostly at home, Williams is making sure project-based learning doesn't fall by the wayside. Such projects have gone virtual, so students stay can connected to their community. Williams teaches in South Los Angeles at the Responsible Indigenous Social Entrepreneurship (RISE) School, located on the Hawkins High School campus. She is inspired by the rapper Nasir "Nas" Jones, and she begins each class with this quote from his song "I Can": I know I can Be what I wanna be If I work hard at it I'll be where I wanna be Williams grew up in the neighborhood where she now teaches, and some of her former teachers are now colleagues. Her favorite pastime as a child was playing school with her younger sister and cousins, and she always insisted on being the teacher. She says she has never been afraid to advocate for herself and others when necessary. The AP English teacher describes her teaching style as "extremely flexible" with a focus on connecting with students. So when schools closed last March and some of her students went missing, she went after them. Persistence Pays Off Keara Williams' can-do spirit paves way for student success Students quickly pivoted to address COVID-related problems in their community. Mark Sandoval, now in eighth grade, made an app sharing information on how to survive and stay healthy during the pandemic. Uriah White, also in eighth grade, created an app based on her own online research, sharing store locations where items in short supply, like toilet paper, could be found. Students made videos about what their lives were like in the pandemic, which Gonzalez edited into a presentation. They made videos of what their summer might look like without COVID and talked about what they missed the most. It made them feel better. "I was in tears watching the videos," says Gonzalez. " They were so honest about their feelings. They worried about their grand- parents. They missed their peers. They were confined to spaces with lots of siblings. It was very emotional." Gonzalez , born in Cuba, is no stranger to hardships himself. He sought asylum in Canada as a child, joining his father, who had escaped on a boat years earlier. He grew up in tough neighborhoods and describes some of his teachers as "angels" who put him on the right path. This year, he transferred to Davis Middle School to start a new Tech Team, which has 12 students and is growing. He is training teachers to use the new technology lab made possible by a 2020 Verizon grant. Four students transferred with him, including San- doval and White. Distance learning continues, and so do exciting new projects. Davis students are "building" 3D afford- able housing in the CoSpaces Edu program and making videos addressing social issues including gun violence and gender stereotypes. Students taught parents how to use Zoom on their iPads, and Gonzalez filmed parents' cook- ing shows, viewable on YouTube, which were very popular and even made the local news. " We don't get bored, because Mr. Gonzalez comes up with a lot of projects that keep us active," says Sandoval. "He's a ver y cool teacher." S Keara Williams CHAPTER United Teachers Los Angeles POSITION AP English teacher 22 cta.org the Innovation Issue