Black History Month is not the only time black voices, justice, equality and equity should be focused on, but it is a time when collectively we should work as educators to teach and learn with a focus on black history, black legacies, and the work of black leaders in our past and current.

The first celebration of Black History Month was launched by black educators and students at Kent State University (OH) in 1970. Six years later, Black History Month was being celebrated in education settings across the United States. The annual observance has grown since then and by 2020, had grown beyond schools. It has been described as "a time when the culture and contributions of African Americans take center stage" in many cultural institutions including theaters, libraries and museums.

This year's theme, selected by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is "Black Resistance" and is meant to bring awareness to the many ways Black people have worked to promote equality and resist racism.

Initiative #1: World Language Level Outcomes & Expectations Guiding Document Sub Group. Each language and level will have a clear guiding document for expected outcomes. We will begin with Spanish 1, 2, and 3 and then move to the other languages and levels. We currently have multiple versions of level outcome documents and different resources. The work of this group will be to look at what has been created and simplify to one document for each language and level. We will meet three times between February and June. Goal is to be completed with this document for Spanish 1, Spanish 2, and Spanish 3 by June 30, 2023. 7 teachers have signed up and any Spanish teachers interested in participating in this group are invited to join. If you teach another language and are interested in this work I still invite you to sign up because we will do this work in all language areas.

This group will meet on the following dates:

Tuesday, March 7 – 4pm – 5pm

Tuesday, April 25 – 4pm – 5pm

Initiative #2: Anti-racist practices & Gender Inclusive language approaches in World Language Sub Group. I would like to provide some guiding language and tools to support world language educators in growing as anti-racist and more inclusive educators. Starting with myself, I know we can all grow in this area and the goal of this group is to develop some clear language and a few tools to support this growth and future professional development. We will meet three times between February and June. Goal is to be completed with this document and tools by June 30, 2023. I invite any interested world language educator to join. We currently have 12 educators signed up. Meetings will happen after school and you will be compensated for your time.

In both groups I am looking for diverse representation of regions, schools, and levels across middle and high school.

This group will meet on the following dates:

Thursday, March 2 – 4pm – 5pm

Thursday, March 30 – 4pm – 5pm