Designed for K-12 teachers, school leaders, librarians and others who interact with and teach children, the 3-day sessions offer practical classroom strategies to support children’s literacy skills in ways that deepen their understanding of themselves and to be changemakers in the world.

The purpose of the institute was to empower educators to:

• Develop an understanding of racial identity development, antiracist pedagogy, culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies - and the implications for teaching students

• Participate in interactive workshops

• Engage in conversations with cohort members in order to make the learning immediate and specific to distinct contexts

• Learn and practice strategies to navigate conversations about race, racism, and antiracism social justice with colleagues and students

• Read a variety of texts by #ownvoice authors and consider how they can be used in the classroom

• Explore writing activities that can help students to develop their voices in culturally sustaining ways

• Leave with a plan of action for how to interrupt racism personally and professionally