Teaching Central America Connected with Teachers at NCTE 2025 in Denver
Jonathan Peraza Campos and Nadia Orozco
In November, Teaching for Change’s program specialist for Teaching Central America Jonathan Peraza Campos, attended the annual convention for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). This year’s theme, “Dream Boldly” brought together hundreds of English/Language Arts teachers, teacher educators, authors, and book vendors dedicated to increasing literacy and innovating ELA instruction in K-12 education.
Peraza Campos took the opportunity to connect with various educators committed to culturally responsive teaching and critical literacy. He networked with educators and professors at a meeting with the Latinx Caucus. He also attended workshops about bilingual education, supporting immigrant students, and antiracist literature teaching.
At each workshop, he shared Teaching Central America’s resources and literature offerings that teachers can use to teach the narratives of immigrants from Central America and to fill in the gaps of the Latinx literature canon that rarely includes Central Americans. Many teachers were grateful to learn about the offerings that Teaching Central America has curated for teachers to reach Central American youth and to raise consciousness about the histories and experiences of Central Americans.
Peraza Campos also got to meet some of his role models in ethnic studies education, such as Dr. Cati de los Rios, and long-time Latinx educators who founded the Latinx Caucus at the NCTE. Los Angeles teacher Nadia Orozco who contributed to the Central American Studies in K-12 Curriculum Project at the UCI History Project was a presenter and reconnected with Peraza Campos. Peraza Campos also connected with Georgia colleagues and teacher educators supportive of Teaching Central America, including Drs. Michelle Zoss and Nadia Behizadeh, who trained him in ELA education.
“I hope to keep coming back to the NCTE Annual Convention to connect with educators invested in Central American youth and Central American studies,” he said. He intends to give workshops in the future to support the NCTE’s culturally responsive and liberatory efforts to include Central American studies in K-12 ELA classrooms.
Note that Jonathan was able to attend the conference thanks to a NCTE 2025 Annual Convention Scholarship for the registration and donors to Teaching for Change’s Teaching Central America program for the travel and accommodations. Please donate to Teaching Central America to support more outreach to educators.
Teaching Central America Connected with Teachers at NCTE 2025 in Denver
In November, Teaching for Change’s program specialist for Teaching Central America Jonathan Peraza Campos, attended the annual convention for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). This year’s theme, “Dream Boldly” brought together hundreds of English/Language Arts teachers, teacher educators, authors, and book vendors dedicated to increasing literacy and innovating ELA instruction in K-12 education.
Peraza Campos took the opportunity to connect with various educators committed to culturally responsive teaching and critical literacy. He networked with educators and professors at a meeting with the Latinx Caucus. He also attended workshops about bilingual education, supporting immigrant students, and antiracist literature teaching.
At each workshop, he shared Teaching Central America’s resources and literature offerings that teachers can use to teach the narratives of immigrants from Central America and to fill in the gaps of the Latinx literature canon that rarely includes Central Americans. Many teachers were grateful to learn about the offerings that Teaching Central America has curated for teachers to reach Central American youth and to raise consciousness about the histories and experiences of Central Americans.
Peraza Campos also got to meet some of his role models in ethnic studies education, such as Dr. Cati de los Rios, and long-time Latinx educators who founded the Latinx Caucus at the NCTE. Los Angeles teacher Nadia Orozco who contributed to the Central American Studies in K-12 Curriculum Project at the UCI History Project was a presenter and reconnected with Peraza Campos. Peraza Campos also connected with Georgia colleagues and teacher educators supportive of Teaching Central America, including Drs. Michelle Zoss and Nadia Behizadeh, who trained him in ELA education.
“I hope to keep coming back to the NCTE Annual Convention to connect with educators invested in Central American youth and Central American studies,” he said. He intends to give workshops in the future to support the NCTE’s culturally responsive and liberatory efforts to include Central American studies in K-12 ELA classrooms.
Note that Jonathan was able to attend the conference thanks to a NCTE 2025 Annual Convention Scholarship for the registration and donors to Teaching for Change’s Teaching Central America program for the travel and accommodations. Please donate to Teaching Central America to support more outreach to educators.
Posted: November 30, 2025