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“...education was about the practice of freedom.”
― bell hooks, Teaching To Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom
That is why our curricula is unique in that we:
★ Acknowledge the wisdom, insights, and histories of frontline communities and grassroots organizers by co-creating curricula alongside them and creating opportunities for them to directly benefit from curricula sales.
★ Reflect the histories and victories of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color's struggles so ALL students can see themselves in these lessons.
★ Provide avenues for educators to localize our lessons via profiles, locational directories, and more, so that learners can more fully relate to teachings.
★ Support school Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming, so students can learn applicable skills for their personal and professional growth in response to the climate crisis.
★ Directly fund, mentor, and provide environmental justice-related working and organizing opportunities for youth-led action and leadership in order to truly empower youth and their communities.
Now, we are sharing our materials with you in our hub of lesson plans, activities, videos, and more (aka our curriculum suite), so that you can bring all of this to your classroom too!
“The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy...”
And...
explore our select school projects!
By working with those closest in proximity to the issues to build curricula that foster the next generation of empowered change-makers and meet the school community where it's at, we are able to offer practical, justice-oriented teaching materials that play a critical role in teaching the concepts and skills necessary in shaping a society where everyone thrives.
Celia Cruz High School's Oliver Eduardo (in the video above) talks about how we're helping to transform his classroom into a food haven as his students engage with our Food Justice Curriculum.
But don't take our word for it...
hear from another happy human!
Mabel Rodriguez
Director of Placement, High School Program, & Alumni Relations
Start:Empowerment's guest [educators] were a wonderful supplement to our Saturday curriculum centered around the election, and climate justice as one of the most important issues of our time.
During the session, the Start Empowerment speakers shared information about climate change and how young people can play an active role in the fight for climate justice here in the Bronx. The material was engaging, relevant, and appropriately scaffolded for our third and fourth grade students, who came away with knowledge and resources to further their budding curiosity about climate justice.
We at Summer on the Hill are so grateful that our students had the opportunity to engage with this subject in a real-world way and are looking forward to a continued partnership with Start Empowerment at the high school level as well.
You've asked for easy, accessible ways to bring all of this to your classroom and, now, we can!
To the left, Kyabongi "Ky" Mahar, one of the youth that matriculated through our program is now running a project teaching climate education fully funded by Start:Empowerment in their home country of Uganda using our curricula!
.Are You Interested in...
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Curriculum recognized by the NYC Department of Education's Office of Sustainability as a key Environmental Justice Resource for classrooms?
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Curriculum that is tried and tested by frontline grassroots groups and on-the-ground educators for its content?
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Curriculum that gives back to youth-led organizing projects (like Ky's mentioned above)?
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Curriculum that has positively contributed to climate awareness of 3,500 students and counting?
If so, what are you waiting for?
Explore Membership to get these materials for your classroom today!