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Local History Awards at Mississippi History Day 2015

On Mar. 22, 2015, the annual Local Mississippi History Awards were given at the Mississippi History Day competition at the University of Southern Mississippi. The goal of the award is to deepen student appreciation of and exploration of the untold stories and role of “everyday people” in local Mississippi history, using the National History Day competition as …

América Calderón, ¡Presente!

América Libertad Calderón, Teaching for Change senior parent organizer and lifelong fighter for justice, passed away on April 17, 2014 in Guatemala after a year long battle with cancer. América joined the Teaching for Change staff in February, 2008 as senior parent organizer for D.C. area schools and national training. Here is the profile she wrote …

Mything Mandela

This article was published in Rethinking Schools (Volume 28 No.3 – Spring 2014.)  By Deborah Menkart Mandela, the beautifully illustrated children’s book by Kadir Nelson, has been selected as one of the top books on Nelson Mandela by many groups including Colorlines and Kirkus Reviews. Given Kadir Nelson’s talents and strong reputation as a children’s book …

D.C. Teachers Explore Students’ Central American Culture and History

In July of 2013, Claire Sontag and Fabiana Duarte, two Washington, D.C. based dual-language teachers, traveled through Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala to learn about the history and culture of their students and their families. During their time in each country, they met with local officials, visited public schools, and explored the cultural diversity of …

Our Favorite Books of 2013

Here are a few of our favorite books from 2013 for children, young adults, and adults. (And we mean just a few of them. See more on our new and featured list.) All of these titles would make great gifts for friends, family, and/or yourself. Visit our Teaching for Change bookstore in D.C. at Busboys and Poets …

Free Classroom Resources

Teaching for Change offers a number of resources for free access by classroom teachers. These include:   Put Central America on the Map in Schools Lessons and poetry for K-12 on Central American history and culture.     People’s History In collaboration with Rethinking Schools, Teaching for Change offers more than 100 people’s history lessons on …

Sherman Alexie’s Indies First Movement in D.C.

In a grassroots movement launched by author Sherman Alexie, more than 900 authors hand-sold their favorite books in independent bookstores around the country on November 30th. As part of this Indies First Movement, George Pelecanos and Natalie Hopkinson recommended their favorite titles in Teaching for Change’s Bookstore at Busboys and Poets.

Green Feather Movement

On November 13, 1953, during the height of the McCarthy era, Robin Hood and his band of “merry outlaws” made headlines. Mrs. White of the Indiana Textbook Commission called for a ban of Robin Hood in all school books for promoting communism because he stole from the rich to give to the poor. In response …