The West Wind Open House was a success! We enjoyed catching up with long-time friends, colleagues, family, and connecting with new faces. We especially appreciate the Dream Divas who rocked Eastdale Plaza!

If you’re less familiar with the Dream Divas, this is a team of young ladies, ages 4-23, who are sponsored by the Dream Center and perform at venues around Iowa. One of the larger performances from this year happened in January when the girls performed at the 17^th Annual I’ll Make Me a World conference in Des Moines, IA. Each year, I’ll Make Me a World celebrates African-American arts, culture, and contributions. The Dream Divas were part of a cohort of dance teams that highlighted the performance arts. Continue reading “Thanks to All Who Attended the West Wind Open House”

The annual Open House for West Wind Education Policy Inc. is March 2nd from 4-6 p.m. We look forward to your visit and are excited to announce the Dream Divas dance team, sponsored by the Dream Center, will entertain with a short performance around 5 o’clock. Come enjoy light refreshments, great conversation with friends and colleagues, and hear about some of our new work, including our collaboration in the Creative Corridor Center for Equity (C3E).

Our office is on the second floor of Eastdale Plaza, 1700 S. First Ave. We hope to see you Monday! Don’t forget to send your RSVP to [email protected].

Kind regards from the staff of West Wind Education Policy Inc.,

Circe, Alecia, Bonnie, Kathy, Mandi, Sally, and Tina

Due to the winter storm, we postponed our annual Open House, which had been scheduled for February 2. We’ll post the new date at this website and send an announcement via email.

We look forward to sharing with you some of our new work, including our collaboration in the Creative Corridor Center for Equity (C3E). We’re plugging away at our first initiative, titled the Black and Brown Educator Recruitment and Retention (BBERR) project. BBERR is an impressive program that attracts and retains talent of color from Iowa and across the nation to schools in Waterloo and the creative corridor. In addition to the Center for Equity, we’ve also launched a new program around Competency Based Education, headed by staff memeber Mandi Bozarth. She’ll work with leaders in Iowa and the Midwest to develop and disseminate resources about competency-based learning. These are certainly exciting developments, and we look forward to sharing the latest news of our work with you. Continue reading “West Wind Open House (Postponed)”

Recently, a University of Iowa grad student invited me to speak at a panel titled Teaching Ferguson: Race, Riots and Critical Reflections for Classroom Teachers. The invitation was timely, as I’d just read an editorial from Michelle Alexander, an author and criminal justice reform advocate. Michelle describes challenges she encountered as she told her 10-year-old son about Ferguson. Several questions popped when I finished the editorial. How can adults best facilitate a conversation about Ferguson and related topics with youth, some of who are too young to grasp the dimensions of this issue? And for those who can grasp the gist of Ferguson, what can educators do to accurately convey the subject in a manner that is respectful and values differences of opinion? Another event required my attendance, so I was unable to appear at the panel. This blog captures my talking points. Continue reading “On Teaching Ferguson Part One”

I spoke with a community member who said an altercation between students occurred after they had a charged discussion about the Darren Wilson grand jury outcome. Although a small part of me supports keeping Ferguson out of classrooms, reality is many students already reacted to what has unfolded since the death of Mike Brown. Leading facilitated conversations with students is practical, as this gives students a way to decompress and even be forward-looking. This is not a lightweight task.  Part one of this blog exemplifies what can go wrong when controversial subjects are arbitrarily introduced to classrooms. This blog, On Teaching Ferguson Part Two, highlights what contributes to leading a bold but successful dialogue around this sensitive topic. In addition to these tips, I encourage teachers to become familiar with the basics of facilitating race-related conversations and how to maintain a healthy atmosphere during the course this dialogue. Continue reading “On Teaching Ferguson Part Two”

Lesley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown, emphatically questioned if we understand the amount of effort required just to see Michael graduate. Unfortunately, the answer to her question would become buried underneath a wealth of information that followed her son’s death and a charged debated about Michael’s character.

At the center of this discussion is whether Michael contributed to his death. The conversation is hard to comprehend because it not only questions if Michael Brown could have prevented the manner in which he was gunned down, but it primes another misguided question: Can behavior modifications in general stop oppressive practices? This line of thinking is problematic because the agents of change are those who experience discrimination, not powerful systems and key players that have a genuine ability to decrease and even stop discrimination. Continue reading “Do We Understand How Hard It Was to Get Michael Brown to Graduate?”

The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Coldest Winter Ever grew into personal favorites because each uses irony to deliver a memorable life lesson.

Oscar Wilde writes about the dangers of coveting physical beauty, while Sister Souljah illustrates how the intersection of poverty, incarceration, and drugs surfaces throughout inner city neighborhoods. The books share striking differences. Most noticeable are the categorizations. The Picture of Dorian Gray is part of the American literary canon while The Coldest Winter Ever is considered a classic from the urban literature genre. Continue reading “Keep Mirrors in Learning Environments and Media”