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National LRNG Innovators Challenge Grant

National LRNG Innovators Challenge Grant Award For 2016-2017!

For a collaboration titled, “From Classroom To Community Spaces: Cultivating Voices That Matter Through Arts Literacy,” Washburn English teacher, Molly Vasich, in partnership with local arts organization, TruArtSpeaks, and The Minnesota Writing Project received one of the eleven grants awarded for the 2016-2017 school year.

The team of teachers and artists seek to bridge in-school and out-of-school learning and create space for Washburn students to develop their own voices in dialogue with contemporary African American texts and issues. Specifically, the grant will fund the development of “Black Voices,” a new Washburn English class for juniors and seniors anchored in contemporary African American literature, utilizing elements of Hip Hop and Spoken Word culture. Teaching artists from TruArtSpeaks will lead bi-weekly arts literacy workshops, and the class will move fluidly between the high school campus and local art spaces including The Walker Art Center.

More about the grant:

LRNG Innovators is an initiative created through a partnership between the National Writing Project and John Legend’s Show Me campaign. LRNG Innovators asks teachers to identify the collective challenges they face as they work to expand interest-driven learning and then invests in teams of teachers through grants and technical support to spreadable solutions that help redesign education for the 21st century.

• Announcement at Educator Innovator

• Announcement at LRNG

• Official Press Release