The idea of building relationships has been a frequent topic of conversation in K–12 education over the last few years, especially when thinking about working with communities of color and other marginalized identities. Today, we reflect on the thoughts of Zaretta Hammond—educator and subject-matter expert on culturally responsive teaching—regarding the benefits of getting to know your students. She mentions the practice of using “cultural knowledge as a scaffold to connect what the student knows to new concepts and content…” We explore what she means by that and how this might look in the classroom. Visit AVID Open Access to learn more.