Announcements

These Schools Belong to You and Me is centered around a principle question: what is the purpose of school? Aleta described the book as “both an urgent response to the political climate and a timeless call to action to save and invest in our nation’s public schools.”

“When teachers challenge students to figure out information for themselves (whether solving math problems or discerning real news from fake), students become actively engaged in school, their natural curiosity and sense of wonder are sparked, and they are set up for success, not only in school but in their communities and careers.” Read more from Founder and President Aleta Margolis’ remarks at the American News Women’s Club.

What is the biggest challenge facing our education system today?
At the Education Teach In at Politics and Prose this August, Executive Director Jane Dimyan Ehrenfeld wrestled with this complex and urgent question alongside David Osborne and Dawn Williams, moderated by Valerie Strauss.

After a careful vetting process, the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington has selected Center for Inspired Teaching to be part of the Class of 2017-18. Center for Inspired Teaching has undergone an extensive review process, and has met the Catalogue’s high standards. Potential donors can be confident that the nonprofits in the Catalogue are worthy of their support.

On May 25th we celebrated Inspired Teachers’ and Inspired students’ accomplishments at our end of year celebration, Changemakers in Action, at President Lincoln’s Cottage. The event was a true culmination and celebration of the meaningful work Inspired Teachers and Inspired students engage in throughout the year.

In an interview with CGTN America, Inspired Teaching’s Director of Teaching and Learning Jessica Hiltabidel discusses how the United States education community can learn from cross-cultural approaches to teaching and assessment. Hiltabidel says teachers should make “assessments as engaging as the instruction.”

Inspired Teaching is featured in this piece describing the innovations and work presented at the K-12 Changemaker Education Forum, part of the 2016 Ashoka U Exchange in Miami, Florida. David Castro, Founder and President of i-LEAD, published this piece on Medium.

2015 Inspired Teacher Leader Jan Schuettpelz was featured in a piece published in The Northwest Current, describing her designation as the DCPS Teacher of the Year. “When we look to find the Teacher of the Year, we look to find teachers that have demonstrated that their students are growing, …that they have an unquenchable thirst to learn, and to grow and to be better,” Deputy Mayor for Education Jennie Niles said following the announcement.

This winter, Real World History student Maya Branch gave a speech as part of the Project Soapbox competition, making a case for fighting Black hyper-masculinity. In this 2-minute speech, Maya demonstrates her ability to connect history to the issues that matter to her today, along with a mastery of the skills of historians such as critical thinking and persuasive communication.

Center for Inspired Teaching and the Inspired Teaching Demonstration School are highlighted as “game-changers” in this piece, published in Medium and addressed to Facebook founder and billionaire philanthropist Mark Zuckerberg. An innovative organization led by an Ashoka Fellow is identified in each state.