Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/939681
Black Lives Matter at School Check out NEA's resource site cen- tered on Black Lives Matter at School (see NEAedjustice.org). You'll find stories detailing how educators and students are organizing for racial justice; curated lesson plans by grade level; resources from locals, school dis- tricts and partners; and art and videos to use to educate, engage and take action for racial justice in education. Free Your Mind Project WORD curriculum used in Debra Robinson's Mt. Pleasant High School class is drawn from From the Browder File by cultural his- torian Anthony T. Browder. Learning at a young age " L et 's t al k ab out Sy lv i a Me n d e z . S h e m o v e d t o Westminster and wanted to go to the white school, but she was told she had to go to a school for Mex- ican children. Her family fought back." It's early October during Latino Heritage Month, and Kristie Puls explains to her fourth-grade GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) students at Westmont Elementar y School in Anaheim about the court case that helped desegregate schools in California. She makes a point of teaching histor y about minorities all year long, so stu- dents feel included. "e election scared a lot of kids. ere has been some bullying. So it's important to talk about how people are different and how boring it would be if we were all the same." Puls has been teaching her students about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges, and how these heroes were a catalyst in the battle for equal fights. "We have written letters to Ruby Bridges asking about her experi- ences with racism as a young child and what advice she has for about overcoming bullying and differences. We talked about how difficult it can be to go to a new school, and how terrible it would be if people didn't want you there." Talk returns to the Mendez decision in 1947, and the children are shocked to learn that it really happened not so long ago. Many of their grandparents were alive then. "If this case never happened, we still might have segregation," says Puls, a member of Anaheim Elementary Teachers Asso- ciation. "at would be terrible." She asks students to come up with a noun to describe the Mendez family, who won the landmark Orange County case, Mendez v. Westminster School District, which laid the groundwork for school desegregation throughout California and eventually the nation decades before the civil rights movement captured the country's attention. She explains that the family didn't win at first, and had to appeal. "She had perseverance," says a student. "Her family never gave up." "It's important to never give up," replies Puls. "What the Mendez family did matters. What you will do also matters. Someday your actions may also become a part of history." Fourth-grade teacher Kristie Puls explains to students that what they do matters, and may someday become a part of history. Inset: Some of the "Amazing Americans" Puls' class are learning about. 24 cta.org Feature