Webinar: Real Life Heroes: How Teaching Diverse Voices Improves Literacy and SEL Skills

When:  Nov 20, 2024 from 02:00:00 PM to 03:00:00 PM (ET)

This webinar is hosted by the School Garden Support Organization Network. 

Our students must be able to see themselves represented in the stories and people we teach them about. In this workshop, you will learn about "Remarkable People" in the worlds of agriculture, cuisine, science, and environmental activism. This curriculum highlights more than 20 individuals that represent a diverse spectrum of accomplishments, cultures, and historical eras, including Alice Waters, Cesar Chavez, George Washington Carver, Roy Choi and many unsung heroes whose stories have traditionally not been told in educational settings. You will learn about children's books that celebrate each Remarkable Person, and learn how to teach related activities that span multiple skills and disciplines, including craft projects, science experiments, cooking lessons, and guest speaker presentations. Finally, you will learn how to develop a capstone project that allows students to build confidence in themselves as future change-makers and reflect on ways that they are already remarkable. Although this curriculum has been developed as a yearlong 2nd grade unit, it can easily be translated into different grades and timeframes, regardless of whether you teach in a garden or indoor classroom. Attendees will have a chance to discuss with one another which Remarkable People would fit best into their own curricula, as well as explore ways to invite local and regional heroes to interact with their students.


Presenters will include:
- Adam Wright, Agricultural Arts Program Coordinator at Mountain Song Community School, Colorado Springs, CO.