My students need 70 copies of Ta-Nehisi Coates; memoir Between the World and Me.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Chow's classroom raised $1,217
This project is fully funded
My Students
Despite the changes in demographics and socio-economic status in the City, our student population has retained the same diversity since our school was founded. Set in the Southeast section of the City, our school predominantly serves the immigrant, African American, and Pacific Islander populations of the neighborhoods we serve. Many of our students will either be the first in their families to attend college while their parents struggle to stay in San Francisco. My students are high school seniors who have had a very strong background in reading a variety of literature including classical (The Odyssey, The Great Gatsby) as well as contemporary (Sherman Alexie's Flight, Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak). However, they have not been exposed to nor read much non-fiction, especially the type that really connects to their lives.
My Project
Whether you are riveted to news and social media or not, the issue of race, privilege and equity permeates the lives of our students. In nearly every major city an incident of police brutality and racial profiling has divided the public. Meanwhile, in our schools, the disparity between the academic success of White and Asian and Black and Brown students remains stark. The inverse is true for suspension and expulsion rates. When I read Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me, I was hearing the voices of many of my African-American students. Even though we share the same school system, Black and Brown students must deal with the notion that these structures of authority are working against them. Mr. Coates' book is written as a series of letters to his teenage son, mainly focusing on a close friend who was murdered by police in a traffic incident. In our school, we are limited to monthly discussions about race and privilege as part of a series called Courageous Conversations, but there is nothing structured for our students to have similar discussions. I believe reading this book as a class would bring the individuals in the class closer by having us explore the broader consequences of ignoring race, racism and white privilege. These potentially volatile, yet hopefully life-changing conversations would have more long-term meaning than any test score or grade point average.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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