DC Changemaker Collaborative Launch - Center for Inspired Teaching

On March 14, 2018, leaders from Ashoka, Inspired Teaching, TEACH-NOW and local educators teamed up to launch the DC Changemaker Collaborative and pursue a common mission of fostering changemaking in DC. Over 30 local education professionals came together for the first time as a Collaborative cohort to reimagine a DC education system that empowers all to be positive agents of change in the community. Together with the leadership team, they all share a common belief: when stakeholders from diverse sectors, backgrounds, and roles in the DC education landscape align under one vision, they can expand their influence and ability to spark change in DC.

In order to facilitate collaboration, the leadership team launched the inaugural DC ChangemakerEd Summit on November 4th, 2017. The Summit convened over 120 stakeholders and community members to explore ways to empower every young person in DC to be a changemaker. Through conversations and engaging activities at the Summit, participants vocalized the need for more opportunities to work together and engage with a diverse range of influencers.

The leadership team is proud to launch the DC Changemaker Collaborative, an opportunity for select and diverse cohort of local education professionals to collaborate and engage in professional development throughout the next 10 months. The Collaborative will provide participants with an opportunity for personal growth, purposeful community, and the tools to achieve systemic change in education. Teams emerging from this initiative will receive seed funding to incubate projects that promote changemaking in the city around critical areas such as teacher empowerment, youth voice and agency, and social justice. The Collaborative unites educators, nonprofit professionals, policymakers, and community members from the DC education landscape to implement projects designed to spark systemic change in DC.

Collaborative member Orinthia Harris from the Center for Education Improvement couldn’t have put it better: “It’s going to take all of us to make change, and we need to be aware of ourselves and aware of each other to be successful.”

Inspired Teacher Lisa Bronsan (‘14) also highlighted the significance of finding a cohort of like-minded people in the Collaborative. At the end of the kick-off event, Lisa explained, “It feels good to be in a room full of people committed to the same thing—affecting change in education. It makes me hopeful for the future and feel that we can create a better world.”

The organizations and individuals that make up the leadership team each bring their specific expertise in professional development and influencing systemic change in DC. The leadership team itself is a cross-sectoral collaboration, comprised of professionals from schools, nonprofits, government, and teacher preparation programs. Together with the teams that emerge from the cohort, they seek to be a model of the collaborations DC needs to create systemic transformation in education.

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About our partners:

Ashoka is is a global nonprofit, based in Rosslyn, VA, that builds and cultivates communities of change leaders who see the world now requires everyone to be a changemaker. Its network includes over 3,300 social entrepreneurs, over 300 schools, over 30 universities, and other partners.

TEACH-NOW is a local Education technology startup that seeks to equip, enable, and empower tomorrow’s teachers for tomorrow’s students in tomorrow’s learning world using a globally accessible, activity-based, collaborative learning model.

The DC Changemaker Collaborative Leadership Team also includes three individuals who serve on this team as a personal commitment to building a city that empowers all to become changemakers. They are current and previous educators who work in local schools and government.

Micaiah Anderson

Community Outreach Specialist

As a Community Outreach Specialist, Micaiah is responsible for program promotion and outreach support for Inspired Teaching events and workshops. Micaiah has a passion for collaborating with community members to build-power and connect. She is an educator with a heart for youth and has experience supporting students fight injustices within their schools and communities. She has a BA in Political Science from, the real HU, Hampton University & anticipates graduating in May 2024 with a Masters of Arts degree in Educational Policy Transformation from Georgetown University.

AUTONOMY

"I want to have a say in what happens to me."

Autonomy is the need for independence; the ability to make choices, to create, to explore, and to express oneself freely; to have sufficient space, to move around, and to feel unrestricted with opportunities to exercise free will.

Brady Maiden

Outreach Coordinator

As the Outreach Coordinator, Brady helps maintain Inspired Teaching’s social media presence and supports the organization’s mission to connect with DC community leaders, educators, and parents. Brady has her Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University and her BS in Political Science from Northern Arizona University. She is passionate about community, equity, and coalition building recognizing that learning and growing with the community at large is how we continue to be impactful.

What brings you joy in life?

I find joy in spending time with my friends and family and meeting new people. I like going to concerts and festivals, and finding new books to read.

The Learner’s Cycle, Wonder-Experiment-Learn, and the Teacher’s Cycle, Observe-Plan-Instigate, comprise Inspired Teaching’s approach to engaging students in inquiry-based learning.

When they are engaged in the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, students are immersed in learning. They take the lead in designing authentic learning experiences around their own interests and their school’s standards of learning. Each discovery leads to a new question which in turn leads to more wondering and more learning. In the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, Learn is not a destination or an endpoint; it is a deeper understanding, leading to a deeper wondering and new possibilities that create new entry points to further exploration. The cycle continues because what students have learned generates more wonderings that require more experiments that foster more learning – and on and on.

The Observe-Plan-Instigate Cycle is the work of an Inspired Teacher. While a student is expected to follow the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, the teacher joins them on the learning journey while following their own cycle of Observe-Plan-Instigate. This cycle ultimately serves to ensure an inquiry-based atmosphere is at play in the classroom.

Jaqueta Abbey

Teaching and Learning Specialist

Jaqueta is the Teaching and Learning Specialist for Inspired Teaching. In addition to her current role with Inspired Teaching, Jaqueta is a first-grade teaching assistant. Her background features a variety of traditional and non-traditional experiences in the field of education, including working as an adjunct professor, teaching summer reading programs to children and adults, and tutoring children in the foster care system. Jaqueta earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in Interactive Media from Elon University.

What brings you joy in life?

Creative self-expression! In addition to my passion for storytelling, I love dancing of all kinds. I've studied belly dance, bachata, and Brazilian Zouk among other styles. I also enjoy glass fusing, crocheting, photography, and cross stitching. These art forms allow me to express myself and build connections with other people at the same time. I think life would be a lot less vibrant without artists and storytellers!

Michelle Welk

Communication & Marketing Specialist

As Communications and Marketing Specialist, Michelle is responsible for finding and creating new ways to highlight Inspired Teaching and promote its programs in order to expand and deepen the organization's impact. Michelle has worked in communications in an array of settings, from creative agencies to state politics to national nonprofits. She has a BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and is passionate about education, access, and equity.

What brings you joy in life?

My son, the beach, making a persuasive argument and good food!

Max Peterson

Real World History Assistant Teacher

Max received his Bachelor’s degree in History and African American Studies from Boston University in May 2016. He has worked in museum curation at the Museum of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Max has worked with young people of varying ages from young children to young adults transitioning to college.

Feedback and Accountability

We grow through feedback and an understanding that the quality of our work is a reflection of what we are learning, but the shift to remote learning this spring disrupted a lot of the tools teachers were used to using to evaluate student growth. How might we do things differently this fall? Participants in this workshop will explore ways to bring meaningful assessment into the virtual and/or socially-distanced classroom and approaches to student feedback that strengthen motivation, and build relationships and achievement.