“We have to figure out what our theme will be for Halloween.” Every year when I heard this statement, I cringed. Halloween is just another day on the calendar for me. The only Halloween activity I do faithfully is watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” It does not matter how many times I hear…
Remember that time in math class where your teacher hammered home a concept by mocking Native Americans by doing an offensive interpretation of traditional dances in a fake headdress while chanting a mnemonic device? Me neither. But this is the experience that students at John W. North high school had last week. In a…
The 8 Black Hands Podcast filmed a live show in the historic Madam Walker Legacy Center theater on Tuesday, October 5, 2021. The day before the show, the Indy K12 crew was able to have dinner with three 8 Black Hands members. Days after the show, I was still processing the conversation we had at…
By now, everyone is aware of the problems that were spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic. From health, business, to even education, the coronavirus has created countless issues. However, on the flip side, as the response to these problems, a lot of innovations have popped up. The current problem that we are facing is low vaccination…
Is your school short on staff? It is not just y’all. Across the country schools are struggling to keep teachers in the classroom. Los Angeles Unified school district has more than 500 teacher openings. Here in Indiana, even suburbs like New Palestine, which has competitive pay, administrators are struggling to fill their classroom vacancies. As…
Columbus Day should have never been a holiday. This is a concept that some people struggle with because of some warped sense of belief in Manifest Destiny, a belief that colonization was inevitable and God’s will. Vincent Schilling, an award-winning Native American journalist, wrote about Christopher Columbus a few years ago to bring to light…
By Raymond Ankrum The eleven Indianapolis school districts and the charter school networks that service the students of Indianapolis are in a state of emergency. Whenever only 8% of Black students are proficient in both reading and math, it shows us that a real problem exists among the schools. The data doesn’t lie. Of course,…
NOTE: “Squid Game” is graphic and not meant for young audiences. This is not an endorsement of using the show as teaching material. As a teacher, I typically find out about new things from my students. By the time something starts trending on social media, I have likely already been exposed to it via my…
Recently Pike Township had to switch to remote learning. That is not exactly an unfamiliar headline these days. Schools nationwide have had to resort to remote learning for the last two years because of the pandemic. However, Pike’s situation was not due to the pandemic, at least not directly. They, like many other school districts,…
The boots on the ground in education are our teachers, and it’s war. Teachers are trying to ensure students learn while also ensuring they are safe from the coronavirus in addition to helping students navigate the emotional impact the coronavirus has left on many of us. Annually, October 5 is World Teachers’ Day. This year’s…