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What is Lexington in Conversation?
Lexington Public Schools is deeply committed to providing students with opportunities for “exploring and understanding diverse cultures, backgrounds, identities, ideas, [and] beliefs... that are different from our own” (2019 LPS Strategic Plan). To that end, Lexington in Conversation, or LexICon, aims to expose students to diverse perspectives in literature by reading texts written by authors from historically marginalized backgrounds, and culminates each year in a visit from the author of the selected text. Ultimately, this biannual speaker series seeks to enrich our culturally-responsive curriculum and create a more inclusive school where students can see themselves and others reflected in their learning. Read about our past events below, and click here to learn more!
The Text Selection Process (2020 - 2021)
In January 2020, a group of 30 students and teachers across four grade-levels and 8 departments came together to read, evaluate, and propose an all school read for the 2021 - 2022 school year. LHS faculty and staff submitted 30 titles for consideration, and this group read and assessed these texts against our program criteria. Ultimately, Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown was ranked as our first choice text. Next year's program is largely due to the efforts of our Text Selection Committee members who are featured below!
Past LexICon Events
Tommy Orange visits Lexington (2019)
In an effort to expand our author programming to more students and community members, 10th & 11th grade students read Native author Tommy Orange's novel, There There, ahead of the 2019 - 2020 school year. Mr. Orange visited LHS for a day and spoke to creative writing classes, our 9th, 10th, and 12th graders, and over 500+ members of our community.
*All photos featured here were taken by LHS students.
Yaa Gyasi visits Lexington (2018)
In the summer of 2017, a group of teachers wrote their first LEF grant to add a new voice to the 10th grade English curriculum. After reading and evaluating four texts written by authors of color, the group decided to teach Yaa Gyasi's novel, Homegoing, to the entire 10th grade class. With additional grants, Gyasi visited Lexington in 2018 and spoke to all 10th grade students and 400+ members of our community.
**All photos featured here were taken by LHS students.
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