2019: Students had a Walkout with many demands. Two demands included: 1) having curriculum that relates to their everyday lives, and 2) having more BIPOC teachers who reflect their lived experiences as students of color and American Indian students. 

2020-2021: During the pandemic & distance learning school year, BIPOC Educators at South along with BIPOC students came together to advocate for the Increase Teachers of Color Act (ITCA) to support the work of the Coalition to Increase Teachers of Color and American Indian Teachers in MN.  See videos below.

Future Educators for Ethnic Studies (FE4ES) student club started with advisors Irene Mineo-Amrani (EL Teacher), Angelica Torralba-Olague (EL Teacher) and Kylie Marshall (Social Studies Teacher). There were four students and the focus of this group during its pilot year was on advocacy and provide testimony to get ITCA passed. 

Due to our advocacy and the publicity that it garnered (Fox 9 and Kare 11), our district committed to a .5 FTE for South for the 2021-2022 school year, which Torralba-Olague became the Education Pathway founding coordinator and teacher.

2021-2022: Torralba-Olague led the effort to apply and write for the first round of Grow Your Own funds 2022-2026 (made possible through our ITCA advocacy). We won the grant and this converted Torralba-Olague from a .5 FTE ESL Teacher & .5 FTE Ed Pathway Teacher to 1.0 FTE Ed Pathway Teacher & Coordinator, as of January 2022.

Torralba-Olague taught two sections of Introduction to Urban Education. There were 47 aspiring educators who took the course during the first school year of the program. There were 10th, 11th and 12th graders and 90% of them were BIPOC students.  The year long Intro to Urban Ed course curriculum was written and developed by Angelica Torralba-Olague, who is also an adjunct professor for MNSCU, and licensed in ESL and Social Studies. Assessments were adapted from the work of Kleber Ortiz, Education Faculty at MCTC. 

Torralba-Olague wrote the proposals and the Course at a Glance (CAGs) so future students in Intro to Urban Ed can have options to gain content credit for graduation in US History and ELA. She worked with Advanced Academics, Counseling, and DPFs in Social Studies & ELA to make this possible. Since scheduling is the most challenging part of having a successful program with students who can start and continue the program throughout their high school career, having these course options are critical. These content credit Education Pathway classes were approved to get a rigorous course waiver from Advanced Academics and Counseling, and the content credit was approved by the Social Studies and ELA department at Davis as of Jan-March 2021.

• Future Intro to Urban Ed course options for 10th graders include: US History Education Pathway or ELA 10 Education Pathway. 

• Future Education Pathway course offering options for 11th and 12th graders include: ELA 11-12 Education Pathway Year 1 or ELA 11-12 Education Pathway Year 2 (which is for Intro to Ethnic Studies (fall) and Multicultural Approaches (spring), or Intro to Special Education (fall) and Tech for Educators (spring)). 

• Students taking the courses with Education Pathway teachers who do not have the content license can still take the course as electives and the course will be coded as the MCTC course instead of the ELA or SS codes. MCTC courses as electives can also be taken as semester classes.

Tiger Cubs, the after school program for students interested in serving Elementary Students, had around 20 students who participated in the student club. They walked from South High to Folwell Elementary after school once or twice per week, and worked in their Minneapolis Kids program alongside licensed teachers and community education educators to lead activities with K-5th graders. Tiger Cubs was led by Mineoi-Amrani and Torralba-Olague, who coordinated with the Folwell community education coordinator.

Future Educators for Ethnic Studies (FE4ES) was on pause due to lack of time for an advisor to lead it, and no funding for available for FE4ES. Instead, South High students participated in Dare to Be Real led by Torralba-Olague and funded by the Equity department at Davis.

Spring 2022: Angelica Torralba-Olague wrote & won the second MDE Grow Your Own 2023-2026 grant for South, an Intro to Teaching 2023-2025 grant, and mini-grants from private foundations.

June 2022: Our first graduating class (c/o 2022) had nine students! Even though not all will become licensed teachers, many have interest in becoming school nurses, social workers or counselors. We need BIPOC representation everywhere in our schools, so this is a win! More importantly, they are equipped with knowledge and the language to talk about and take action in educational equity issues and promote positive sustaining practices that validates students languages and cultures.

Students gained experience at Anne Sullivan STEAM Magnet School and worked in seven classrooms. Students also gained school based experience at Folwell Elementary school and worked in nine classrooms.

July 2022: Kassie Benjamin-Ficken, licensed in secondary math and elementary,  is hired as our second Education Pathway Teacher & Coordinator with the goal of building school partnerships with Anishinabe and Bdote Elementary and work collaboratively with our students in the All Nations program to increase more American Indian Educators.

2022-2023

Fall 2022: We opened up three sections (3rd, 5th and 6th periods) of the Introduction to Urban Education course with the goal of increasing access to these classes specifically for our students in the All Nations program and our English Learners. These classes were led by Benjamin-Ficken and co-taught by Torralba-Olague. In the Intro to Urban Ed sections, 32% of students (15 of the 40) are students from the All Nations program, 40% (23 of the 40) are currently EL students or previously received EL services.

We piloted one section of US History Education Pathways which is the Intro to Urban Ed course with a US History focus and students get content credit for graduation. The course was led by Torralba-Olague and co-taught by Kylie Marshall, Social Studies Teacher.

We opened up one section (6th hour) for our returning 11th/12th grade Education Pathway students: Intro to Ethnic Studies Education (fall) & Multicultural Approaches (spring). The course was led & taught by Torralba-Olague. Torralba-Olague developed curriculum and activities for this course. She adapted the assessments from the work of Kleber Ortiz, Education Faculty at MCTC. 

Spring 2023: 

A reporter from Sahan Journal visited and interviewed students in Torralba-Olague's Intro to Ethnic Studies/Multicultural Approaches class several times in a span of four months. Here is the story that was published in March 6, 2023. "South High students asked for more teachers of color. Now, they're training in a new 'educator pathways' program to become those teachers." 

Torralba-Olague received her CTE-Work Based Learning Coordinator license through MPS's partnership with LCSC, and we were able to add CTE Careers Investigations Portfolio (99201P) and Careers Internship (99205) for our Education Pathway students to get high school credit for the experiences they are gaining at our partner schools. Students in the Intro to Ethnic Studies and Multicultural Approaches course developed their own unit plan and implemented it with their own group of four to eight 2nd graders at Folwell Elementary. To prepare for this experience students received 99201P credit, and they received 99205 credit for their internship experience. The Spring Internship was led by Torralba-Olague and supported by Marshall.

Lani Roldan, a South High alum, Augsburg graduate and a nine-year AVID tutor at MPS, is hired to support our Education Pathway students. Roldan pushes into the courses taught by Benjamin-Ficken and Torralba-Olague, and she also pulls them out for social emotional support and guides them in completing the college level reading and essays.

Tiger Cubs had 10 students participating in the after school service learning club that meets after school. Students went to Folwell Elementary to work with K-5 students one to three times per week. Tiger Cubs was led by Kylie Marshall.

Future Educators for Ethnic Studies (FE4ES) had 18 participants and met once per month to discuss topics that is related to intersectional identity and how it impacts students in schools. Students are trained on how to facilitate courageous conversations and lead activities in a workshop format. FE4ES was led by Torralba-Olague.

May 2023: Kylie Marshall is hired as the third Education Pathway Teacher & Coordinator for the 2023-2024 year, with the goal of increasing more 10th graders to take the Intro to Urban Ed course through her US History Education Pathway classes. Marshall will coordinate the 30 hour field experiences at Folwell Elementary, and continue to be the Tiger Cubs advisor. 

June 2023: We had 20 graduates! The previous year we had nine graduates. Out of the 20 graduates, their major/career interest include: five Social Workers, two Counselors, two Early Childhood Education, one Ethnic Studies teacher, one dance/arts teacher, one secondary teacher, five in science & math related fields, and three undecided. Many want to major in Psychology and minor in Education. In 2022-2023 school year, there were a total of 61 students in Education Pathway, 25% were American Indian students, 50% are current EL students or previously received EL services. 98% of participants are BIPOC. 

2023-2024

• Benjamin-Ficken taught two sections of Intro to Urban Education and co-taught one section of Intro to Ethnic Studies & Multicultural Approaches as electives. All Nations Education Pathway (ANEP) students were paired up with and they mentored Native American students at Folwell Elementary for their Field Experiences. Please see ANEP for more info.

• Marshall taught three sections of US History Education Pathways (which is 1500 Intro to Urban Education). Students Field Experiences were at Folwell Elementary. Marshall continued to advise the Tiger Cubs service learning club and had 10 students.

• Torralba-Olague coordinated the program, which includes writing and managing our grants, collaborate with our community & college partners, launched new initiatives like ANEP and OLEP, planned the field trips and guest speakers, work with the Davis center staff, and continue advising the Future Educators for Ethnic Studies (FE4ES). She co-taught the Intro to Ethnic Studies & Multicultural Approaches. 

• Roldan continued as an Education Pathway Tutor on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She supported our Ed Pathway students and teachers throughout the year. She founded and advised OLEP.

• There were 85 students in the Education Pathway courses. There were additional students who participated in ANEP Field Experiences and OLEP who were not part of the Ed Pathway courses, which adds up to more than 100 students. We also had 29 graduates!

• We won the Grow Your Own grant FY25 and FY26 solidifying the continuation of our 3rd position for Education Pathway Teacher.

• Careers Investigations Portfolio (99201P) will be an option for Education Pathway students.

2024-2025

• Torralba-Olague will coordinate the Grow Your Own grant, community & college partners, and internships. She will teach the Year 2 & 3 courses: Intro to Ethnic Studies & Multicultural Approaches (fall), Multicultural Education (spring), Intro to Special Education (fall) and Tech for Educators (spring). She will also co-teach the US History Ed Pathway sections with Shafer-Mayhew.

• Benjamin-Ficken will coordinate the school field experiences & community opportunities for Native students in order to build a pipeline of American Indian Educators. She will teach the Year 1 & 2 courses with the ANEP cohort which centers on indigenous pedagogy: Intro to Urban Education, Intro to Ethnic Studies & Multicultural Approaches (fall), Multicultural Education (spring).

• Shafer-Mayhew was hired as the new Ed Pathway teacher. She will coordinate the Year 1 Field experiences and teach the Year 1 Intro to Urban Education course (also called ELA 10 Education Pathway and ELA Education Pathway Year 1). She will also co-teach the Year 1 US History Education Pathway sections with Torralba-Olague.

• Roldan will continue as an Education Pathway Tutor and advise OLEP.