Sarah Wallace, EL/ESL, English I and II Teacher, and 2020 CTI Fellow, wrote a Curriculum Unit called, “Equitable Chemistry Education for Language Learners: An Exploration of Light and Matter,” exploring the interaction of science and language for high school students. Below is Sarah’s reflection on the process of writing her CU, and expanding it for more teachers to use throughout Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

“Chemistry is the only class I ever failed in high school. So, you can imagine my skepticism at being assigned to the CTI seminar, The Science of Glow (a subject matter based in chemistry). It WAS one of my choices, the title was interesting, but I had assumed as an ESL teacher I would be assigned to one of the literature choices I had selected! Nervous as I was, I love to learn and hoped I would at least be able to fulfill the minimum requirements of the CU. However, I did not count on being thoroughly fascinated by the subject matter and being able to understand most of what was being taught. A lot of this is attributed to Dr. Michael Walter, our seminar leader. He is very passionate about his research area and teaching and was happy to answer my MANY questions.

As I continued learning and researching the subject matter, I began to realize there were many ways in which this topic could be used to both teach language and science simultaneously. Molecules are constructed in patterns just like sentences, descriptions of glowing objects require a strong grasp of adjectives, and students are often lacking in the polysemy of words used in science classes. Furthermore, many students who are classified as EL (English Learners) are not given access to higher level science classes, even though they may be well versed in the content from their education in their home country.

I began to realize that this chemistry subject matter could be adapted into a preexisting course that CMS offers to students who are classified as EL. PACE (Personalized Academic Command of English) is a course offered to students who are new to speaking English. The course is meant to provide students with the tools they need to succeed in core content classes. I decided to structure my CU and lesson plans using the same format as the CMS PACE class. While I was only required to include a few lessons for the completed CU for CTI, I realized that this is a curriculum that could benefit my current students. So, with encouragement from Stacey Pandit in the district EL Department, I began to expand what I created for CTI by creating an entire unit that will be distributed as curriculum for the EL Department in CMS. The complete unit mixes grammar practice, vocabulary, and direct science instruction with hands on experiments and demonstrations to engage students and provide them with the confidence to pursue higher level science education in the future. 

Completing this seminar and CTI program was very empowering for me. Yes, it was very difficult at times, and I am still (a year later) working to fully complete the unit that will be taught throughout the district. But I learned an incredible amount, grew myself as a researcher and an educator, and created curriculum that I am excited to share with both other educators and students.”

Esther Alcamo, music teacher at Collingswood Language Academy, and 2021 CTI Fellow and Seminar Coordinator, wrote a Curriculum Unit called, “The Musical Dialogue of Peacebuilding: How Music Can Be Used as a Tool for Inner and Outer Transformation to Create Peace.”

Fifth grade music students at Collinswood Language Academy study direct, cultural and structural violence as part of a CTI Curriculum Unit written by fellow, Esther Alcamo. In this activity, used with permission from NewGen Peacebuilders, students compared scenarios involving direct and indirect violence and sorted them by category. In upcoming lessons, which integrate music and social studies standards,  students will apply their understanding of peacebuilding through creative musical compositions which will demonstrate an understanding of peace and conflict resolution. Ms. Alcamo’s curriculum unit was written during the 2021 Charlotte Teachers Institute Seminar, “Essential Peace: Innovating and Integrating Action Peacebuilding in the Classroom,” led by Patricia Shafer, Senior Fellow for Peace Education, Alliance for Peacebuilding and Executive Director for NewGenPeacebuilders.

2021 CTI Fellow and Steering Committee member, Mariella Fernandes (English Language Learners Teacher at Whitewater Middle School), is currently in the 2021 CTI Seminar, “Climate Refugee Stories”, led by Tina Shull, Ph.D., of UNC Charlotte. Mariella is writing original curricula about the intersection of her students’ journeys to the United States, the role of climate change in our lives, and making their school feel like home. Read Mariella’s rationale for creating this unit found below.

“My reasons for creating this unit are also personal. Almost every other month in my school, for the past ten years, I have received newcomers, especially those coming from Central America. All of them arrive in a variety of circumstances, and all of them have a story to tell. The reasons and the journeys they took to be here are unimaginable, sometimes they sound like movie scenes, but they are not, they are true stories that have shaped their lives forever. The experiences these children have had to save their own lives could be enough material to write many books. In this unit as a CMS teacher, English Language Learners Chair, and especially as a mother, and immigrant myself, I believe my children deserve an opportunity to share their stories and feel welcome and useful in this new place. The new country should be a refuge for the students. Not all those stories can stay only in their memories and hearts. Others need to understand why these children have the sudden need to leave everything behind and embark on an uncertain journey that would put their lives at risk, would make them experience horrible moments, meet good and bad people, but somehow all that suffering would be better than staying home. However, no human being receives without giving. With my project “It’s not my trash, but it’s my school”, I want to motivate newcomers to make a significant contribution to the schools and communities that welcomed them, to help and maintain a clean environment, free of trash. I want them to understand that we can all help our planet and contribute to solutions towards climate change.” — Mariella Fernandes, Whitewater Middle School

With the new year comes new seminars! In 2021 we will have eight seminars covering a wide range of topics. The names of the Seminars, Leaders, and Coordinators are listed below:

Southern Children’s Literature in the Classroom
Leader: Mark West, Ph.D., English, UNC Charlotte
Coordinator: Shannon McFarland, Language Arts, Alexander Graham Middle

Using Digital Mapping to Study History, Race, and Gentrification
Leader: Brandon Lunsford, University Archives, Johnson C. Smith University
Coordinator: Kimberly Palmer, English, Merancas Middle College High

Addressing Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health in the Classroom
Leader: Zinobia Bennefield, Ph.D., Sociology, UNC Charlotte
Coordinator: Caroline Demmett, Kindergarten, Selwyn Elementary

Embodied Teaching and Learning
Leader: Marissa Nesbit, Ph.D., Dance, UNC Charlotte
Coordinator: Beth Kerr, 1st Grade, Bain Elementary

Climate Refugee Stories
Leader: Tina Shull, Ph.D., History, UNC Charlotte
Coordinator: Angela Walker, English, West Charlotte High

The Philosophical Foundations of Education
Leader: Mark Sanders, Ph.D., Philosophy, UNC Charlotte
Coordinator: Dalton Cooper, Math, West Charlotte High

“Oh My, Aren’t You Wearing Some Nice Plastic!”: The Chemistry and Culture of Black Women’s Hair
Leader: Tracy Brown-Fox, Ph.D., Chemistry, Johnson C. Smith University
Coordinator: Tim Wells, World History, Mallard Creek High

The Essential Peace: Innovating and Integrating Action Peacebuilding in the Classroom
Leader: Patricia Shafer, Senior Fellow for Peace Education, Alliance for Peacebulding
Coordinator: Esther Alcamo, Music, Collingswood Language Academy

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CTI celebrated its 2020 Fellows’ achievements during the Fellows’ Finale Celebration on a Zoom Webinar with live presenters at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art on December 10, 2020. 95 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teachers were recognized as Fellows for successfully completing CTI seminars and designing engaging new curricula for their students.

See their Engaging New Curricula Published on the CTI Website

The evening began with a welcome from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Earnest Winston, saying: “I would like to share my most heartfelt congratulations to YOU, our 2020 Charlotte Teachers Institute Fellows. The Charlotte Teachers Institute has proven to be a truly innovative partnership among CMS, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Johnson C. Smith University and it represents the good that can happen when our educators and this community focus on the most important part of quality learning, the teacher. That is what makes CTI unique, that it’s lead by you, the teachers. Your experience, your knowledge, and your passion is what drives this program, and that in turn gets back to our classrooms where children of all ages can benefit.”

The Fellows were also welcomed live in the Webinar by Chief Academic Officer, Brian Kingsley, as well as with videos from the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UNCC, Nancy Gutierrez, and the Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at JCSU, Matt DeForrest.

In an anonymous survey of all 95 Fellows, 99% indicated they had gained knowledge and skills to positively impact their teaching. Fellows’ curriculum units are posted on the CTI website where they can be accessed by other teachers worldwide.

CTI Director Scott Gartlan applauded Fellows at the Finale event saying, “Together, as 95 Fellows, you have taught more than 11,000 PreK-12 students in 52 CMS schools this year. Together, you have taught for an average of 12 years, and plan to teach for an average of 10 more. That means collectively you have taught for 1,145 years, and plan to teach for 900 more. Together, you embody the dedication and commitment to teaching and learning we expect of our students and colleagues.”

The 2020 CTI Fellows represent grade levels preK-12 with 37 Elementary, 18 Middle, and 40 High School teachers. These teachers cover a wide range of subjects from language arts, world history, foreign languages and art, to math, sciences, technology, and more.

Each Fellow who completed all program requirements received three continuing education units and a $1,500 stipend.

CTI presents eight, concurrent seminars each year, running April to December. CTI Fellows have created over 700 curriculum units since the program’s inception in 2009.

See the full list of 2020 CTI Fellows and their seminars.

“We have to come to grips with our own history-not only genocide, slavery, exploitation, and systems of oppression, but also the legacies of those who resisted and fought back and still fight back.”  — Timothy B. Tyson, author of The Blood of Emmett Till

Charlotte Teachers Institute, in partnership with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ (CMS) Office of Diversity and Inclusion, hosted 28 CMS teachers on the trip of a lifetime from June 13 through June 16, 2019.  Led by Larry Bosc, retired CMS history teacher, this trip gave these teachers a chance to experience essential American history.  Called the Civil Rights (Racial Equity) trip, the teachers visited historic southern cities at the center of the American Civil Rights movement:  Montgomery, AL; Selma, AL; Jackson, MS; and Birmingham, AL.  They toured museums where they learned more about the full narrative of the movement, and visited historical sites where some of America’s most significant historical events occurred.  This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these teachers.  Below is a summary of the trip by Larry Bosc:

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”  James Baldwin

The trip began with a visit to Montgomery and the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and Memorial for Peace and Justice.  In both places the history of slavery, racial terrorism and mass incarceration are movingly illustrated and, as Baldwin said, force us to face America’s past.  It was helpful when we visited other civil rights sites in Montgomery that joining us on this trip was civil rights activist George Shinhoster.  He shared some of those experiences with our group on the bus down and while in Montgomery.

Leaving Montgomery the next day we traveled to Selma where teachers went to the starting point of the Voting Rights March (Brown Chapel AME Church) and walked across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of Bloody Sunday. 

Our next stop was Jackson, Mississippi, where we visited the home of Medger Evers-civil rights activist whose murder in 1963 provided more impetus for the eventual passage of the Civil Rights Act the next year.  As Tyson said, our guide Minnie Watson, told us of the “legacy” of this remarkable person.who “resisted and fought back” against oppression.  After that we went to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.  The teachers I talked to were as impressed as I was on my first visit there last November and equally moved by the special slavery exhibit “The Spirits of the Passage.”

Our visit to the Mississippi Delta and sites connected to the murder of Emmett Till the next day was truly memorable.  As Tim Tyson says in his The Blood of Emmett Till, this event was central to the generation of civil rights activists who were coming of age in the mid to late 1950’s.  The “children of Emmett Till” were Rosa Parks, John Lewis, Muhammed Ali, Richard Hatcher and more, and our trip to the rural communities of Glendora and Sumner brought home to all the teachers the importance of this event.  They were even allowed to sit in the judges chair and jury seats in the courthouse where the trial of Till’s murderers took place. 

Our final day was busy with a visit to the childhood home of Angela Davis on “dynamite hill”, a trip to Birmingham civil rights hero Fred Shuttlesworth’s Bethel Ave. church (bombed multiple times in the late 1950’s and early 60’s), a guided tour of Kelly Ingram Park, and a moving church service at the 16th Street Baptist church.  After a tour of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute we headed back to Charlotte-tired but immeasurably more informed than when we began.

As I said after the last CTI and CMS sponsored trip to Alabama, I was so energized by this trip that I almost wish I was back in the classroom so that I could bring the excitement and information I learned back to my students.  I know that will be evident when the teachers gather at our debriefing session on August 3.  That is why I continue to organize these trips because I know being there means so much more to the study and teaching of this seminal period in American history. 

86 Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers celebrated the completion of the eight 2018 CTI seminars and creation of original curricula for their students on Thursday, December 6, 2018 at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. Take a look at the presentation from that evening to see pictures of teachers in seminars, learn more about 2019 seminars, and more! See presentation.