Socially Just Us

A teacher posted anti-immigration comments on her personal twitter account. She lost her job but has since claimed that her right to free speech should protect her job.

Angela Alderete is currently in her 6th year teaching science at Cibola High School. She has a background in engineering, but found a passion for teaching early on in her career. She has taught all levels of Physics and Chemistry in the high school setting. Angela has three children and is constantly striving to be a teacher that she would want her own children to have.

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In this episode we look at the issues surrounding a high school teacher in Jacksonville, Florida's reaction to students in his classroom not standing for the pledge of allegiance.

Please check out the following resources mentioned in this episode:

Dani Belvin is a New Mexican theatre artist, educator, and arts administrator who is driven by the desire to make a positive impact in Albuquerque through spreading her lifelong love of learning and art. She holds an M.F.A. in Theatre (Asian Performance) from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and a B.A. in Theatre Education and Asian Studies from the University of New Mexico. Before that she studied Early Childhood Education at TVI (now CNM). As an educator, she has worked with students of all ages in New Mexico, Hawai’i, Japan, and China which has instilled in her the joy of using the diversity of human experience as an education resource in creating curriculum and teaching. She currently teaches theatre at the college level and works in arts administration where she oversees art education programing for ages 3 through adulthood. She is currently pursuing a graduate certificate from UNM in Race and Social Justice. Dani also produces and co-hosts a podcast about race and gender, Biracial Unicorns.

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A group chat of teachers from Ashford High School, Alabama, leaked and revealed boastful messages about their students. Screenshots of the chat revealed racist and sexist comments, leading to the suspension of at least six high school teachers.

Claudia Gila is currently studying at the University of New Mexico as an international student. She was born and raised in Vienna, Austria, and got her Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from the Pädagogische Hochschule Wien. Now in the U.S., she is completing her Master's degree in Elementary Education while teaching English as a Second Language to foreign college students at the Center for English Language and American Culture at UNM.

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Wolf Point High School, in Montana, is currently under investigation by the Civil Rights Office for discrimination. Native American students talk about being invisiable in a school district where the Native students make up 52% of the school population. Ruth, a seventeen year old Junior from Fort Peck reservation tells her story of discrimination.

Article: https://www.propublica.org/article/education-discrimination-montana-reservation-schools-favor-whites-over-native-americans Book: Love, Bettina (2020).

We Want To Do More Than Survive:Abolitionist teaching and pursuits of educational freedom.

S.I.:BEACON https://projects.propublica.org/miseducation/district/3028620

Ronalda Warito-Tome is currently in the Graduate Program for Race and Social Justice. She has been an advocate for Native American children with disabilities for 20 years. She was raised on the Navajo reservation in a community called Crownpoint NM. Ronalda has a BA in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in Special Education from the University of New Mexico. Ronalda has been a change-agent within Native communities and schools for a life-time. She is a mother, mentor, motivational speaker and spiritualist.

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Dylan McCabe had to recieve permission from her school to wear her traditional clothing to her graduation and was partially approved. Her dress was accepted because it wouldn't be seen, but her moccasins and wrappings were not. Dylan argued her point and eventually created a petition on Change.org while also communicating with local news. This resulted in the school changing their stance and approving the moccasins.

Article: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/native-american-student-graduation-moccasins

Eli S. Antonio, who goes by Toni, has taught middle school and high school Social Studies for three years. He is currently working as an Early Pre-K teacher while completing a masters program in Secondary Education. Toni has a BA in Sociology with a minor in English from the University of New Mexico. He began his teaching through the Teach for America program and is a 2016 TFA Alumn.

Music from https://filmmusic.io "Guiton Sketch" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

A teen wrestler in Texas is forced to wrestle girls when he identifies as male.

Works Cited:

Patrick Corr is an 8th grade language arts teacher in Albuquerque. He received his bachelor's in Languages and is completing his masters in Secondary Education at the University of New Mexico. He is also a ski and snowboarding coach at Ski Santa Fe and enjoys spending time with his two daughters.

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Two incidents at a K-8 school raises some issue about LGBTQ students. In one incident, students were denied forming a LGBTQ organization as it was deemed "too inappropriate" while the other case a student was forced to change her project about LGBTQ Pride to Teen Pregnancy.

Articles:

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/norterra-canyon-lgbtq-gay-lgbt-principal-mineer-student-pride-11398099

Resources:

Note to Educators: Hope Required When Growing Roses in Concrete by Jeffery M.R. Duncan-Andrade

Nolan Deal is a high school math teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He recieved his B.S. in Secondary Education with a focus in Mathematics from the University of New Mexico. He is currently enrolled in the Secondary Education Graduate Program at The University of New Mexico.

Music from https://filmmusic.io

Music from https://filmmusic.io