On September 11, 2019 at the Washington Convention Center, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF) in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Delta Research and Educational Foundation (DREF), kicked off the school year from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. with the CBCF Professional Development Series (PDS) for Educators.
This year’s series entitled, “Growing, Learning, Advocating,” brought together educators to openly discuss supporting multilingual learners, their parents and the communities in which they live.
“We are purposeful in giving platforms to real-time scenarios that are occurring in schools,” explained David Hinson, CBCF’s president and CEO. “As a trusted convener of information, CBCF has been able to construct a broad and diverse coalition of educators around shared outcomes. The solutions can have a large impact on empowering communities, strengthening families and producing world class, competitive employment opportunities.”
Now in its fifth year, the PDS for Educators offers six hours of certified instruction and is available to K-12 educators from the private, public, community-based, home-based, and charter school systems. This year’s series covered: Supporting Multi Language Learners in Their Education Process, Self-Care: Establishing Attitudes & Habits of Wellbeing and Restoration, and Social Emotional Learning & Literacy: Prioritizing Literacy.
“We are keeping up with the times to equip our educators, particularly the more than 200 African American educators who are headed to DC to attend our professional development series, on ways to engage multilingual learners,” said Dr. Santiago Wood, executive director of the National Association for Bilingual Education.
Educators who participated during CBCF’s 2019 Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) engaged in courageous conversations that correlate the impact that collective action and advocacy have on legislators.
“The PDS for Educators has permitted educators nationwide to employ CBCF as a medium to directly engage elected officials on federal and state levels about what is needed in public, private and charter schools,” Hinson said. “What began as a pilot program to address educators’ needs to acquire specific certification training while attending ALC is now a leading source of professional development and civic engagement for more than 1,000 educators from across the country.”
Engaging more than 30,000 people, the ALC is one of the most important public policy gatherings of African Americans in the nation. During the five-day conference, attendees have an opportunity to interface with educators, industry executives, community leaders, lawmakers and celebrities who are actively engaged in issues affecting the diverse African American community.