On Saturday April 1st, Teach For America—Eastern North Carolina will hold its annual Policy, Advocacy, and Community Engagement (PACE) Summit at Needham Broughton High School in Raleigh. For the past four years, the summit has served as an opportunity for leading innovators and practitioners to engage with Teach For America corps members, alumni, and community partners about topics recognizing and addressing systemic inequities in education.
This year’s theme is “Reimagining Education in Eastern North Carolina.” Rooted in the belief that if students in ENC are going to be the architects of their own lives, of the future of our communities, our state and beyond, we must drastically improve access to resources and opportunity for all students in our schools.
“Systemic change is only possible with representation from those most impacted, and we want to hear and learn from those with perspective into the realities of schools and classrooms as well as students and families,” said executive director of Teach For America—Eastern North Carolina Andrew Lakis. “This summit is a unique opportunity to examine what is possible and put it into practice right here at home.”
Teach For America has been placing teachers in Eastern North Carolina since 1990; currently there are more than 1,000 corps members and alumni working throughout our communities. In addition to corps members and alumni, the organization is inviting parents, teachers, school leaders, and others community members will join them on April 1st. Addressing systemic inequities in education will require interventions from multiple directions, which means each of us have a role to play in changing the current course. The summit looks to tackle difficult questions and big ideas: how do we re-think what students are striving for 5, 10, 15 years from now and what resources do they need to accomplish these aspirations? What unique role can each of us play in supporting students and families? What innovations are showing the most promise here at home and around the world? Teach For America’s PACE Summit is a chance for all interested community members to examine these questions and more together.
The factors impacting inequities in our schools are complex and numerous—systemic racism, institutional oppression, food deserts, insufficient healthcare, scarcity of technological resources, to name a few—and this year’s summit serves as an opportunity to gain greater insights into these issues, share perspectives, and build partnerships.
If you’re interested in imagining a more just and equitable future, an important step in actually building it begins at Needham Broughton High School on April 1st.
The PACE Summit is open to the public, and all are welcome to register here.
Presenter List
Brittany Packnett | Teach For America | St. Louis
Jonathan Johnson | Rooted School | New Orleans
Jamie Jenkins | B.O.O.M. | Dallas
Wisdom Amouzou | HackSchool | Denver
Vichi Jagannathan | MyHealthEd | New Haven
Seth Saeugling | Institute for Child Success | ENC
Sarah Broome | Thrive | Baton Rouge
Graig Meyer | The Equity Collaborative | Chapel Hill
John Raymond | Impact Lab | Austin
Grace Cruz | PRIME School | Los Angeles
Ernie Levrony | PRIME School | Los Angeles
Chelsea Hylton | Project Peaceful Warriors | New Orleans
Nation Hahn | Jamie Kirk Hahn Foundation | Raleigh
Tracie Jones | Adventure Girlz | New Orleans
Dr. Moriska Selby | Adventure Girlz | New Orleans
Phoebe Judge | Criminal Podcast | Durham
Dr. Steven Nelson | University of Memphis | Memphis
Christina Foust | Summit Learning | Bay Area
Tyler Sussman | Summit Learning | Bay Area
Dr. Tiffany Barnes | NC State University | Raleigh
Marnie Hill | J.H. Rose High School | Greenville
Nancy Stevens | First Flight HS | Kill Devil Hills
Gerald Taylor | Advance Carolina | Durham
