It turns out, the people they see every day have “superpowers” that go beyond teaching, whether it’s owning a bakery, being part of a sorority, or having attended an HBCU.
This year, through a project honoring Women’s History Month called HERstory, 12 students conducted interviews with female staff members to learn more about them outside of school and how they shape the community.
“I wanted to create something for them that allows them to be seen in the school but something that was also fun that they could actually interact with and could help build life skills,” said Jamia Baldwin, special education teacher.
Baldwin, who is the resource room teacher for students on an alternative curriculum, created questions for students to ask and paired them in groups. Soon, there were fourth graders interviewing their dean that they only see in passing and eighth graders getting to know kindergarten teachers who have helped Regent Park outperform the district for seven years.
“A lot of them don’t get to see their teachers in a different light. They see them as a teacher,” Baldwin said. “It was fun for them to interview and mingle with teachers that they've never met before.”
The students’ investment in the assignment showed, as they were truly inspired by the stories they uncovered. Baldwin was surprised to see how they conducted the interviews and how the project brought out another side of them.
“They were very independent, which is something different than what their teachers see in the classroom,” she said. “They’re unsure of themselves sometimes academically, so they really took charge of this assignment. They took it very seriously. They were very interested, very focused.”
Great job, Regent Park students!
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About Regent Park Scholars
Regent Park Scholars is a tuition-free, public charter school in Detroit, Michigan, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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