On Monday October 5th Rethinking Schools (RS) editor, Larry Miller, organized a Rethinking Schools celebration for the 40th anniversary in Austin, Texas. It was truly a celebration of RS and the courageous work being done by many teachers and education activists in central and south Texas.
Twenty-eight people attended. Many had interacted with our work but hadn’t met each other until now; some were hearing about our work for the first time. A terrific host committee did much of the outreach.
Attendees were asked to describe their work and any interaction with RS. An older teacher named Miguel said finding RS “gave me a pocket of oxygen.” Diana Garcia said RS resources “recreated me as a teacher.” Maria Lucia, who just retired from early education, told the group how 20 years ago “the publishing of Rethinking Early Childhood Education blew my mind.”
After a slideshow presentation about RS as an organization, Courtney Wai spoke as a Prentiss Charney Fellow about developing curriculum connecting the WW2 internment camp in Crystal City, Texas, where her grandfather was interned, and the 1969 Chicano student walkouts.
Next Andrew Gonzalez, a DSA elected Austin school board member, spoke about how “Rethinking Schools got [him his] first teaching job.” He was a sub in high school and decided to do the role-play of the trial of Columbus from Rethinking Columbus. At one point, an administrator came into the room to observe Andrew. He worried they’d find it too political. The next day the administrator approached and asked if he was interested in a full-time position starting immediately. The administrator had been impressed with the students’ engagement and high-level thinking. ”RS shows what we can do when we take students’ lives and experiences seriously,” Andrew said.
The third presentation was from Nancy Valdez-Gainer and Jesse Gainer, both professors at Texas State University in San Marcos who brought several teachers to the event. They spoke about helping to organize a Teaching for Black Lives study group in San Marcos. Nancy also spoke about her role serving as the director of The Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, which honors authors and illustrators who create literature that authentically depicts the Mexican American experience. Their colleague, Diana Garcia, has incorporated Teaching for Black Lives into the volunteer work she does at the Calaboose African American Museum in San Marcos.
The goal was to create a connected community in Texas in support of Rethinking Schools.
Several folks were interested in a Zoom study group to look at each edition of the journal, hold political discussions and coordinate activities.
Overall, people were excited to interact and hear about this great work.