Abstract

Angel never had Mr. Miller as a teacher, but that did not matter. Their mutual passion for diversity and social justice brought them together to help form the Diverse Hands at Work Club at Powhatan High School. In their first year of work together, they helped grow the club to over 25 members while promoting inclusiveness at their school. As the president of the club, Angel attributes much of its...

Emily was one of only a few racial minority students in Ms. Sinanian’s 6th grade class at Chickahominy Middle School. Ms. Sinanian believed it was important to talk about issues related to race and culture with her students, and in doing so she helped Emily feel like she belonged. Emily also began to see her own potential for advocacy work, and attributes this to Ms. Sinanian for providing the spa...

On the day that she was supposed to graduate from Goochland High School in 2017, Samantha Martin texted her alternative education teacher Elizabeth Kuhns with a simple but urgent question, "Can I come back?" Now a proud member of the class of 2018, Sam is the only student in Ms. Kuhns' 28 year career who dropped out of high school and returned.

Kamryn Smith met her assistant principal Queen Bailey in her freshman year at Douglas Freeman High School. Now a junior, she believes she can go to Ms. Bailey for anything because she knows that she respects her and will always be ready to listen. Their story shows the kind of impact an administrator can make on a student's life, and how strong relationships begin with trust.

Denay Haist, a teacher at Beulah Elementary School, taught Paola Henriquez when she was in the fifth grade. Paola is now a senior at L.C. Bird High School, and she attributes much of her success today to Ms. Haist, who advocated for her admission to a middle school honors program years ago. Their story captures the long lasting impact of high expectations in public education, and how some teachers...

Gregory McCallum has been an educator for close to three decades. When he met Tykeria (TK) Johnson in her 8th grade year, he quickly recognized her musical talent and worked with her for the next four years as her band director at Community High School. Now a recent graduate, TK is on her way to the Berklee College of Music in Boston as a percussionist. She credits this huge accomplishment to Mr....

Brian Condit (RPS), David Naff (MERC), and Brionna Nomi (VCU) introduce the Connections Across Education series from Abstract, featuring stories about the importance of relationships in public education from each of our MERC school divisions. Stay tuned throughout the summer and fall of 2018 for good news about students and educators in metropolitan Richmond.

Listen to Adrian Martin from Chesterfield County Public Schools discuss her action research project: The Effects of Specific Vocabulary Instruction in the Mathematics Classroom.

We spoke with Michael Bolling, Joy Beatty, Rebecca Hall, and Gwen Ashworth (pictured left to right) from CodeRVA Regional High School in Richmond, VA. They discussed the mission of the school and reflected on their first year leading this innovative new approach to education in the Commonwealth. Learn more about their work at www.coderva.org.

We spoke with Juan Bonilla-Olmos, Kayla Brown, Hannah Jones, Grady Anderson, and Shamadre Chambliss (pictured left to right) from CodeRVA Regional High School. CodeRVA is an innovative new school in Richmond, VA that focuses on online learning, technology, computer science, and coding. We talked about what led them to enroll in CodeRVA and what they thought about this new approach to public educat...

Listen to Solitia Wilson discussing her action research project: Teachers Working Together for Early Childhood Transition into Special Education Self Contained Classes

Listen to Patricia Woodberry (Richmond Public Schools) discussing her action research project: Talent Development in Gifted Education: The Road to Equity

Listen to Brandi Walker (Colonial Heights Public Schools) discussing her action research project: Using Multicultural Literature to Improve Student Relationships and Reduce Classroom Distractions

Listen to Cindy Sinanian (Hanover County Public Schools) discuss her action research project: Measuring Prejudice and Promoting Allophilia in a Suburban, Middle-School Language Arts Classroom

Listen to Maria Negron (Chesterfield County Public Schools) discuss her action research project: Empowering Latino Students to Defy Societal Labels

Listen to Lillie Jones (Henrico County Public Schools) discussing her action research study: The Intentional Inclusion of Race and Racism Dialogue in Classroom Discussions

Listen to Debi Carper (Colonial Heights Public Schools) discussing her action research project: Reading is a Critical Skill! Understand and Addressing the Factors Faced by Challenged Readers

Listen to Kim Bell (Chesterfield County Public Schools) discuss her action research project: Diversity in Student Grouping and the Impact on Student Engagement and Achievement.

As a part of the Professional Development for Success in Culturally Diverse Schools MERC study, we spoke with teachers engaged in action research projects in their classrooms focused on culturally responsive practices. Check out our conversation with Cindy Sinanian and Solitia Wilson from Hanover County Public Schools, Jenny Smith from Henrico County Public Schools, and Hillary Parkhouse from the...

Ram Bhagat is the President of the Conciliation Project and a former public educator of over 30 years. Dr. Bhagat works to promote peace and mindfulness through drumming with students in east Richmond. We talked with him about social/emotional learning and his mission of building "massive resilience" in students.

Margaret Kielty, a kindergarten teacher at G.H. Reid Elementary School in Richmond City Public Schools, discusses her action research project, "Developing Number Systems Knowledge."

Leigh Ann Pullen, a special education teacher at Washington Henry Elementary School Hanover County Public Schools, discusses her action research project, "The Need and Impact of Focused Lessons and Reflection in Student Choice Environments."

Marivic Mitchell, a teacher from the G.H. Moody Middle School in Henrico County Public Schools, discusses her action research project, "To Inquire or Not to Inquire, That is the Inquiry-Based Question"

Cheryl Thompson, a teacher from the Blackwell Preschool Development Center in Richmond Public Schools, discusses her action research project, "Preschoolers and Pretend Gunplay: What Should We Do About It?"

Brian Letourneau, a teacher from Hanover High School in Hanover County Public Schools, discusses his action research project, "Improving Reading Comprehension within Content Courses"