Alumni Elevate Teacher Voice in DC - Center for Inspired Teaching

James Tandaric, Inspired Teaching Fellow (‘16), is a 2nd Grade teacher at Raymond Education Campus, and the Chair of EmpowerED’s School Integration committee. We spoke with James to learn more about his work with EmpowerED and his participation in the EmpowerED Teacher Voice Summit.

How did you get involved with EmpowerED?

I wanted to get more involved in DC education reform, beyond my work with Inspired Teaching, and I knew about a few different education activist groups that I was interested in. I was considering what I wanted my next step to be when Scott Goldstein, founder of EmpowerED came to Inspired Teaching’s Changemakers in Action event looking for educators to join his group. Since he was taking the time to ask Inspired Teachers to join the group, I figured should give it a try!

I am now a member of EmpowerED’s Teacher Council, where I am the chair for the school integration group. The purpose of the action group is to talk about segregation in DC, and work to produce more diverse schools in all sectors (public, public charter, and private).

How does your work with EmpowerED connect to your experience as an Inspired Teacher?

When I was planning for the summit, I was recalling my experience as a Resident at the Inspired Teaching Demonstration School (ITDS) and my first year as a teacher of record at Raymond Education Campus. Raymond and ITDS are very different, and they serve different demographics. I had also previously worked at a school in Ward 8. The different perspectives that I gained from working at different schools helped me a lot, and made me think critically about what I can do to create change in DC.

What is the EmpowerED Teacher Voice Summit?

The Teacher Voice Summit was an opportunity for teachers and policymakers meet to discuss key education issues in DC. The day was a great launching point for all of the action groups.The summit enabled education activists to network with other people who are passionate about creating change, and advocate for solutions to problems that the DC education landscape has struggled for a while.The day was unique because teachers are often coerced into not speaking up and this summit contradicts that.

What role did you play in the event?

We have been planning the summit since August. We established action groups divided by topic, andin each group the main agenda item has been preparing for the summit. We discussed our overall goals and values.

I had the opportunity to give remarks as part of the summit’s keynote presentation. Usually in a keynote, there are one or two speakers, but in this case there were 10 speakers. We wanted to make sure a variety of students and teachers were able speak up about the issues that the action groups have been working on.

During my speech, I shared a moment I experienced that fueled my passion to advocate for school integration. Recently, I was talking to another teacher about how DC’s wards are very racially segregated, and he said that he hadn’t known that was an issue. This was shocking to me. As a person of color, and as a person who has worked in a variety of school settings, including Ward 8, I wondered, how can he not see this? The discussion made me more determined to help all teachers be more aware of these racial divides.

What is something that surprised you about the summit?

Someone at my school was also a keynote speaker and I didn’t even know it until he came up on stage! He is a Literacy Lab tutor, who works in Preschool, and so we rarely cross paths. He gave an incredibly powerful speech. It was amazing to connect with another activist who works at my school.

Now that the summit is over, what comes next for you?

We want to focus on collaboration. There were many DC councilmembers and working with them that day set the stage for increased collaboration. I also met representatives from Live Together, Learn Together, which serves a very similar purpose as EmpowerED but is spearheaded by parents and community members. We want to partner with them as well, to leverage all of the social capital we can, to best serve students across DC.

We are still in the planning stages for what these partnerships might look like and my committee is continuing to meet to determine next steps. We’re always looking for new members – so if anyone reading is interested in getting involved you can sign up here!

Dr. Michelle Edwards

Director; Founder & CEO, The Idari Collective

Dr. Edwards is the Founder and CEO of the Idari Collective. Idari means leadership in the Yoruba language. The Idari Collective is a coaching, mentoring, and consulting firm whose mission is to come alongside leaders, especially Black women leaders, so that they will thrive in leading their personal and professional lives.

She is a native Chicagoan and a career educator who found her way to the East Coast as a resident principal in New Leaders, Inc. during its inaugural year in Washington DC. She also served as a principal in Anacostia at Orr Elementary for almost a decade. Michelle returned to New Leaders in 2013 as the Director of the Emerging Leaders Program. Dr. Edwards served for nearly seven years as the Executive Director at Live It Learn It, an experiential learning nonprofit located in Washington, DC that partners with schools and cultural institutions to create and deliver experiential learning opportunities for Black and Brown elementary-aged students.

She earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania and received a Certificate in Executive Nonprofit Management from Georgetown University. Michelle is a graduate of Creative Results Management, where she was trained to coach. Dr. Edwards also advocates for social justice and racial reconciliation as a leader of the DC Unity and Justice Fellowship, a new 501c3 in Washington, DC where she serves as the inaugural Board Chair. She is a trained Urban Missionary, a proud, 25+ year-member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the mother of two adult sons, Darren and Dante.

Meag Campos

Project Manager

With over ten years of experience in education, Meag Campos is dedicated to making learning accessible for all students and to supporting their social-emotional growth. Her career spans working with elementary through high school students, during which she has served as a Teacher, Learning Specialist, and Instructional Coach.

She holds a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on literacy leadership from the University of New Orleans. Her passion for education is matched by her love for reading and exploring the world with her husband and two sons.

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

Speak Truth Faculty

As Speak Truth Faculty, Brady helps to lead one of our model youth programs. She provides training and support to high school students as they lead and engage in Speak Truth discussions on issues important in their lives. 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.