Black History Month Newsletter #3
- Tue, Feb 23 2021
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This week, we want to affirm that February is Black History Month – a time to celebrate and recognize the history, stories, and accomplishments of Black Americans. Throughout the year, there will be newsletters acknowledging diverse communities and accompanying resources. For now, please enjoy this week’s newsletter celebrating local leaders and resources to help us continue centering Black History throughout the year.
African American Advisory Council Member History Maker
Dr. Quintin Boyce, Superintendent of Roosevelt Schools
Dr. Boyce was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and has been an educator since 2002. He attended Arizona State University, where he earned his Bachelor's degree in 2001, a Master’s degree in Secondary Education in 2004, and his Doctorate in 2012. In 2005, Dr. Boyce began working in the Phoenix Union High School District as a teacher at South Mountain High School and Bioscience High School where he taught Biology, Chemistry, and Forensics. In 2012, he moved from the classroom into school-level administration as Principal of Bioscience High School and later moved to Camelback High School to serve as the Principal. Dr. Boyce then held a district-level position as Executive Director of Teaching and Learning, at Phoenix Union High School District. In 2019, Dr. Boyce joined the Roosevelt School District No.66 Executive Leadership Team as the interim Chief Administrative Officer and became the eventual Superintendent. Boyce is married and has two daughters and a son. He enjoys remaining active in his community and engaging in recreational sports.
Community Resources for Students and Families
The following resource was selected from the ADE Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion’s Black History Month resource page:
Future Stars, Inc
Future Stars, Inc. provides an opportunity for youths in under-resourced communities to achieve their goals of higher education. Our programming includes college readiness, mentoring, and technology workshops—the Hands-On STEM program launched in 2015 with a kinesthetic learning approach. Kinesthetic learning is a style in which learning takes place by the students physically participating in activities rather than listening to a lecture or watching demonstrations. The impact the Hands-On STEM program has had on the students goes beyond the data/numbers and the pre and post-survey. The students have developed confidence in themselves, critical thinking skills, and improved their ability to solve problems. There is a motto in the class where the students are not to use the word “can’t” when working on a project. We do not say “it did not work” or “it is broken,” we say let’s “reengineer it” to figure out why it is not working. The words that we speak are all positive, so they know they can do anything!
Community Events
Library of Congress: National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds
Thursday, February 25th at 2:00 PM (MST)
National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds will discuss his ambassadorship, including his recent “GRAB THE MIC: Tell Your Story” virtual tour, with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Through his platform, “GRAB THE MIC: Tell Your Story,” Reynolds has directed his focus as ambassador by empowering students to embrace and share their own personal stories.
The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature is an initiative of the Library of Congress, in partnership with Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council, with generous support from Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
Please join us to watch this presentation as it premieres with closed captions on both the Library's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/libraryofcongress and the Library's YouTube site at https://www.youtube.com/loc/. The presentation will be available for viewing afterward at those sites and on the Library of Congress website at https://www.loc.gov/collections/event-videos/.
Educator Resources
As we near the end of Black History Month, here are some articles and resources to consider as we move through the rest of the year:
- 'Still I Rise': 5 Black students in Arizona process turmoil of 2020, focus on changes, dreams
- Learning for Justice: Ending Curriculum Violence
- Teen Vogue: Black History is Happening Right Now
- 1619 Podcast Series
- The Black and disabled Black artists creating new opportunities for inclusion
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