Teachers Fellowship
CRC & Baltimore City College High School debrief celebration of the 2023 fellowship
Born out of intimate reading and listening groups held in a Baltimore urban farm, the "Indigenizing the Curriculum” project is based on the Mayan Popol Vuh. Artists, farmers, educators and local elders and neighbors gathered on to critically read and discuss the Popol Vuh, applying its ancestral lessons to living a good life in Baltimore. Art, written reflections, teaching materials, dances, and colorful corn were produced. The Learning Lab is developing courses and learning materials for K-12 as well as undergrad graduate school classrooms. A team of professors, teachers, and community partners are creating materials for high school students.
The Teachers Fellowship
In “The Hindu Right's Conservative Agenda to Whitewash History,” former CRC lab director Dr. Rupa Pillai raised concerns about underfunded teachers often having to resort to free but inaccurate and politically problematic lesson plans on subjects like Hinduism. Reflecting on the rise of misinformation and lack of trustworthy and liberatory educational materials, we responded by shaping our "Indigenizing the Curriculum” work into a collaboration with teachers at Baltimore City College High School. Our initial goals were to: (1) provide funding, (2) personal and professional development opportunities, (3) and curricula development by high school teachers. For the first round we connected with language teachers and provided minimal guidelines for the work. Following feedback from our previous fellowship, our goal for the 2024 fellowship will be to intentionally center indigenous studies and to foster collaborative learning and public knowledge production. Fellows will attend and participate in six weekly, 2 hour fellowship sessions on Indigenous Studies that will include readings, lectures, group discussions, and structured activities to collectively produce learning materials that will be published with Teaching for Change. The workshops will be facilitated by Learning Lab director Abel R. Gómez and CRC educational resource consultant Lucia Lee. All fellowship participants will be listed as co-authors of the collectively produced teaching materials.
Materials to be Engaged Include
2024 Fellows
Edward Benner (They/He)
is a fourth year IB Secondary English and Film Educator at Baltimore City College High School and a member of the Teacher Advisory Group at The Walters Art Museum. They specialize in interdisciplinary, inquiry-based instruction, material culture connections, and expressive writing practices. When not teaching, Edward enjoys scouring bookshops, walking in search of flowers and murals, and trying new plant-based recipes.
Veronica Morales-Diaz (She/Her)
graduated from Morgan State University in 2018 with a Bachelors of Arts in Fine Arts with a concentration in Art History. Her exhibition installment at the James E. Lewis Museum of Art was titled “The Misfits (Monroe, Morath, Miller): On the Bearers and Makers of Meaning” which explored the relationship between gender and sexuality through photography. Veronica currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland where she enjoys going to the Creative Alliance, Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, and other local museums as well as the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. Morales-Diaz teaches Spanish at Baltimore City College High School where she seeks to infuse art and art history lessons into her teaching curriculum.
Franca Muller-Paz (She/Her) BCCHS teacher coordinator and fellow
Award-winning Baltimore teacher | Union organizer | Advisor for @somoscityknights | Musician for Conjunto Bruja | Dancer for Grupo Naciones Unidas
Sarah Rogers (She/Her)
I am an educator, mother and creator in the community space. I create spaces and opportunities that help young people thrive.