Nostalgia isn't a reason for keeping a book. As librarian Leslie Edwards said, “ A book published in 1937 with images that are considered racist by the group publishing the book.doesn't have a place in an elementary classroom or school library in 2021. mirrors, and sliding glass doors to explain how none of those pictures have a place in our society. I replied with pictures of the offensive illustrations by Seuss, explaining why those 6 books were no longer going to be published. I was shocked and disappointed by friends that thought the company was “going overboard.” One friend even said, “If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.” Seuss Enterprises no longer publishing 6 books with racist imagery was all over my social media feeds. I now have language to teach my friends and family how to advocate for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. While I have learned so much from the conferences I have attended so far this year, the most important piece of knowledge I’ve gained is that my equity work has spread from my school to my community. Books are the perfect gateway for this (like a sliding glass door that automatically opens and invites you in). Students need to see themselves in books (like a mirror) and see the rest of the world as well (like looking out a window). It is imperative that every classroom in every school district has books with BIPOC characters by BIPOC authors. My project was to continue my equity work as a literacy leader. I was honored to be named one of the 2020 Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Leader Award recipients. We are leaning on each other as a writing community in pursuit of these goals. This big idea is larger than our schedules, the scope and sequence, and curricular resources. Everything we do in the writing cohort centers around our Call to Action -A call to facilitate an authentic writing process with student choice, to nurture students to live literate lives-to be authentic readers and writers. We have challenged each other to write with a revision lens, sharing our revisions each month rather than just our final products. We are currently reading through The Revision Toolbox by Georgia Heard (also purchased with the BCH award money). This was a special event, but each month our group is committed to meeting together as a cohort to write and study. It was inspiring- and it was all because of the Bonnie Campbell Hill award. We chatted about writing process, about not giving up on your dreams, and about how teachers across America are using Juana’s books. Together we listened in awe as Juana took us back to her very first drawings and through the beautiful journey of how she became the author and illustrator she is today. Each of us had our brand-new Juana books in hand, purchased by the Bonnie Campbell Hill award money. We were going to meet award winning author and illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal. But this time, it was something special, something different. This group has been meeting once a month for over a year, writing and learning together. One cold Thursday evening after a long day of virtual teaching, 20 literacy coaches from Metro Nashville Public schools and 4 University professors from Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee State University, and Lipscomb University eagerly logged on to their writing cohort meeting.
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