As another school year comes to a close, so does another cycle of our Voices of Change writing grant, a program that brings together a diverse cohort of K-12 educators and school leaders to share their experiences. Our 2022-23 cohort included eight talented scholars who worked with our scholar editors to publish powerful stories that exposed the myriad of challenges and issues occurring in schools and classrooms across the country.
These fellows tackled complex topics, including mental health challenges, teacher burnout, school safety, and coping with fear, highlighting various ways that teaching and learning have been influenced by various social forces. And they explored how their own identities and backgrounds shape their experiences.
As we wrapped up our work with our second cohort of fellows, we asked them to reflect on their narrative experiences and share the most significant story they published during the fellowship. This is what they had to say.
Whitney Leadership
“How desk chairs became a lesson in what we deserve in public schools” was the most meaningful story for me. The idea for the story came from a moment that happened in class on an unassuming day, a moment that I might have ignored or meditated on in silence on any other day. Fortunately, I was able to share an experience that offered perspective on the ways we intentionally and unintentionally frame public education. The article sparked dialogue on social media and hopefully contributed to a larger conversation about the state of education in our nation.
katerra billy
During my time as an intern, the most meaningful story I published was “My students deserve a classroom. Instead, I teach them in a hallway.” This story was significant because I really stood in my reality and decided to have the audacity to go there. I have always considered myself an advocate, but I never had a platform to shed light on this unfair truth until this scholarship. It felt good to embrace my role as an advocate for my students in an authentic way, walking the walk and talking for the sake of talking. I have received many comments on this story; unfortunately, teaching students in a hallway is all too common.
Isabel Bozada-Jones
The most significant story I published during the fellowship was “To improve a child’s education, we must let old practices die.” This story represents an internal shift from a scarcity to an abundance mindset, which I have tried to cultivate over the last year. At the end of the story, I reflect on my first year of teaching when I first saw my classroom and was filled with hope and wonder. As I approach next year, I will intentionally return to that place of possibility and ask myself what we can do to reimagine our schools as a place where all students can have a great educational experience and where all educators can find a professional sustainable and satisfying. life.
Alice Dominguez
One of my favorite lines, which I often say to my students, is “writing is thinking”, so it is only natural that I would love to write “My students have no hope for the future. It’s up to us to show them a way forward.” Writing this story allowed me to reflect on some of the teachable moments I’m not proud of and transform them into a more productive framework. I hope readers who feel similarly hopeless about our never-ending challenges have been reminded of the value of community strength.
patrick harris
My stories were full-length mirrors of my reality. The one that best captures where I am on my journey as an educator is my final story, “Teaching was my dream. Now I wonder if it’s stunting my other passions.” It was the most difficult to write because of the great cognitive dissonance he was facing at the time. On one hand, I love teaching and am grateful to be able to stay the course, even on a difficult journey. On the other hand, there are other passions that I have that I think teaching prevents me from exploring. I’ve learned from writing this story that while I don’t have the answer, it’s just as powerful to tell my story and challenge the system. Writing this essay opened the door to self-exploration that I know will make me a better human being and teacher.
Matt Homrich kneeling
The most personal and honest article I ever wrote: “I used to struggle with where to send my kids to school. Now I struggle to send them at all.” —had the greatest meaning to me. For this piece, I drew on my experiences as a student, educator, and mother. Through this essay, I was able to process and grapple with serious questions I recently found myself considering: Are schools an institution I trust to care for and protect my children? Can schools create more harm than good? How can we imagine alternatives to school to protect and humanize young people? Although my essay did not provide definitive answers to these questions, it helped me create space to think about them and sparked powerful conversations with friends and strangers alike.
Thrush Avery
The most significant story I published during the fellowship was the first one, “They say teaching gets easier after the first year. What happens when it isn’t? In that essay, I explored the intense exhaustion I experienced upon returning to the classroom for my second year of teaching in the fall of 2021. As the words poured out of me, I realized that this was a story I was dying to hear. eager to tell, not just for my own catharsis, but for my friends and coworkers with whom I shared those difficult months during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and after.
corey winchester
My last story, “What I learned from my students who became teachers”, was the most meaningful and impactful for me. For this story, I met with five of my former students who became high school history teachers. In retrospect, it was the culmination of my three previous stories and it gave me the opportunity to talk with people who have the same values, dreams and hopes for what teaching and learning can be. Being a public school educator in the United States can be traumatic, difficult, and thankless, and this story provided me with opportunities to extend grace, practice wellness, and participate in healing. For that, I am grateful.
big questions
In addition to asking our peers to reflect on the stories they wrote, we also ask them to share some of the big questions they are pondering about teaching and learning as they head into the next school year. Unsurprisingly, their responses reflect the critical perspectives they brought to their stories. Some asked questions about how to reinvent traditional and alternative structures of teaching and learning environments. Others asked questions about what it takes to create inclusive and accessible classrooms that disrupt power dynamics and engage students in an increasingly digital world. And some asked questions about how best to provide space, resources, and support mechanisms so that teachers can thrive and succeed.
“What I know now is that our problems in education are even more deeply tangled, layered and entrenched than I ever imagined,” wrote former student Avery Thrush. We thank our peers for boldly and courageously sharing their stories about these layered challenges. We are also grateful for Aisha Douglas, Deitra Colquitt, Geoffrey Carlisle, and Jennifer Yoo Brannon, fellow alumni from our inaugural cohort, who mentored our fellow students last year.
As a cohort of Fellows becomes alumni, we look forward to welcoming a new cohort of incoming Fellows who will offer fresh perspectives that will continue to highlight the needs, challenges, and moments of joy experienced by educators and lend a new voice to the issues impacting K-12 education today.
We are delighted to introduce our 2023-24 fellowship cohort. Get to know them here and keep an eye out for their stories, which we will be publishing in the coming months.
Bottom left to right: Amanda Rosas, Damen Scott, Keely J. Sutton, Deaunna Watson
