When Chauncey Robinson walked into his 10th grade English class last week, he did a double take: There were a half dozen extra adults in the classroom, filling it to bursting. Kathy Fay, Stephen Cremen-Endez, and Adam Rawlings were there to share their work on homeownership, community engagement, and sustainability issues at Neighborhood Housing Services. Jeff Carter, the dad of a recent...
Voices & Stories
Joel Tolman June 14, 2019
Teaching Our Cities -- a network of urban public high schools with a shared focus on the environment and social justice -- is welcoming applications from teams of teachers, students, and others to join in a curriculum design institute, taking place August 5 to 7 at Common Ground High School in New Haven, Connecticut. We are seeking: Teams of students, teachers, and potentially...
Joel Tolman February 18, 2019
Teaching Our Cities -- a network of urban public high schools with a shared focus on the environment and social justice -- is seeking proposals for presentations for our April 5th Teaching Our Cities School Summit at Connecticut River Academy in East Hartford, Connecticut. Proposals are due by Monday, March 11. We are seeking: Teams of students and staff Sharing work...
Joel Tolman April 16, 2018
I am really excited to welcome you to Teaching Our Cities -- a web resource center dedicated to rooting urban public schools in their urban environments. I hope you'll explore this web site, and share it with others who care about city students and city schools. In a hundred different ways, urban public high schools can turn their backs on their cities. They can fortify themselves with fences...
Zach Stallman March 21, 2018
For me, community-based learning is about finding your strengths and learning how you can help other people. By working with people in the community you are able to widen your circle of friends and connections. Whether it be through a local internship with a concert promoter or volunteering at a local elementary school, there is always something new to learn about your community. I have never had...
Tina Nilsen-Hodges March 21, 2018
Throughout the year, New Roots students joined staff and administrators in an initiative called “Teaching Our Cities.” Funded through a mini-grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, we were able to participate in a year-long collaboration between six urban environmental public schools throughout the Northeast to answer one driving question: “What if urban public schools embraced...