In this country we turn a blind eye to a lot of the challenges Black children face. Unfortunately, many of these challenges begin in failing schools primarily located in lower income communities. In Atlanta, there are a lot of questions and conversations about the state of public education for Black children and school closures . In order for us to…
Tag: Black students
There’s a Right and a Wrong Way to Engage Black Parents in Student Achievement.
Family engagement is not a top priority for school districts, but it should be, especially for students of color and their families. We cannot continue to have underperforming schools and low parent engagement. Excuses about parents not being involved no longer fly, or being okay with bare minimum parent involvement by pointing to having a PTA is also not acceptable.…
Another Decade Is Passing and Black Children Are Still Suffering in Public Schools!
Teaching and learning may be taking place in some inner-city school districts, but how effective is it? Based on the growing number of Black boys who aren’t reaching graduation and success thereafter, it is not as impactful as it could be. This seems to be the case in Atlanta where parents and residents are on opposite sides of how impactful…
3 Reasons Why My Students Are Thankful to Have a Black Male Teacher
Before the Thanksgiving break, I had a heart to heart with the scholars who I teach in my small group classes at 7 Pillars Career Academy . As I end my speech, one of my scholars said that he wanted to add one thing to conversation. He said that he was grateful to have me as a teacher because he…
My Black Students Have Learned to Be Wary of People Who Look Like Me, And That’s Not Racist
Jay Wamsted has taught math at Benjamin E. Mays High School in southwest Atlanta for fourteen years. His writing has been featured in various journals and magazines, including Harvard Educational Review, Mathematics Teacher, and Sojourners. He can be found online at The Southeast Review, Under the Sun, and the TEDx YouTube channel, where you can watch his 2017 talk “Eating…
Black Fathers Supporting Black Boys in Schools Should be the Center of Attention!
Over the last couple of years, I seen school and business leaders talk about the importance of turning around the academic performance of Black boys. But let’s face it, we want to know the schools and organizations actually making a difference in providing better educational outcomes for Black boys. For the second year in a row, I’ve witnessed more schools…
Fathers Incorporated Spurs Thousands of Students and Fathers for Million Fathers March
(ATLANTA) October 2, 2019 – Fathers Incorporated (FI), activated its annual Million Fathers March (MFM) back-to-school father engagement project on Friday, September 27th. The launch of the day of activities took place at M. Agnes Jones Elementary in Atlanta. The Projected Impact of Nearly 446k Students,77,000 Dads in 82 Cities and 26 States Had a Reach of over 44.6 million…