Jonathan, a second grader, approached the laptop where he could talk to me. He introduced himself and was excited to show me his red mask decorated with stickers. “This is my mask. I wrote my mom’s name on it because I am going to give it to her. But I heard my parents say they
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On Saturday, November 21, Lena Ashooh (NextGen – VT), Leah Sneed (NextGen – Louisville), and Faith Omosefe (NextGen – Lawrence) opened for Joy Harjo’s session at NCTE’s Annual Convention, ¡Confluencia! Lena, Leah, and Faith worked for months with Bread Loaf School of English faculty and acting ensemble member, Jonathan Fried, in a process paralleling Jonathan’s
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On February 20, 2021, the Youth Advisory Board of the BLTN Next Generation Leadership held a virtual writing retreat drawing youth and educator participants from Alaska to Kenya, with many sites in between. Our goal was to capture moments and insights from the remarkable and trying life of students and teachers during the pandemic. When
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“It was very fun writing a chapter together,” comments Kayla. “We laughed reviewing memories to build the chapter. We learned a lot about how to balance both of our voices and connect back into the larger framework of the overall book. We hope that the book will be purchased by educators and community organizations, to
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The BLTN’s youth leadership crew, BLTN NextGen, adapted quickly and meaningfully to a year without face-to-face gathering opportunities. In the early fall, our Youth Advisory Board selected its co-chairs, welcomed new members, and drew up a plan to have individual sites host virtual cross-site gatherings. Youth Advisors turned to writing and sharing together as the
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“…’Peace looks like you and me,’ remarked one writer, ‘a 15-gallery view in Zoom, people writing and sharing in virtual spaces connected through the airways and our hearts’…”
“…This is why we do this—for youth to learn ways to better understand themselves and help to change their worlds…”
“…When the pandemic hit our youth we were able immediately to access caring, knowledgeable adults and each other….”
Clara Natanobah teaches at Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is a BLTN Fellow, a third year BLSE student, and a Site Mentor for the SFIS BLTNNextgen site. “Not Another Statistic” was written and performed by the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) Performing Arts class under the my direction. SFIS
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When I was asked–allowed–to untie my tongue in What’s the Story?, I began to understand that I was my own creator. I began to peel back my understandings of education and consider deeply what learning was. I worked for two years on multi-media campaigns exploring the experience of gender non-conforming students in Vermont middle in high schools. With that came an endless stream of events that have since changed my life.
