Celebrating Educators: Haley’s Story

Teachers & Principals | 05/8/2026

Jamayka Young National Digital Communications Manager

Meet Former Paraeducator, Classroom Teacher, and Lifelong Education Champion, Haley Sawyer

“Both of my parents are educators, so education is kind of the family business.”

Every day, educators show up and do the critical, and often difficult, work of helping to shape and guide our next generation. So often, this work goes without adequate thanks or support , which is why we wanted to sit down with former classroom educator and lifetime education and children’s advocate Haley Sawyer to get an insight into her journey in the education industry and uplift the amazing effort, care, and dedication of educators like her.

Asked about her path towards her current role as the Marketing and Communications Manager at Stand for Children Oregon, Haley explains that her passion for supporting children and young people has been a life-long endeavor.

“I’ve always worked with the disability community. So, I thought maybe I should try working in a school as a paraeducator. That’s where I got started in my own personal journey with education, working as a one-to-one paraeducator with a 17-year-old student with autism who’s nonverbal. I worked with him for several years because he was in the transitional program that keeps students until they’re 21. It was an amazing experience.”

Through her work as a paraeducator, Haley was able to support in creating integrated classroom spaces, something disability justice advocates, like Amy Waggoner, have pushed for as critical for both general education students as well as those with IEPs.

“I saw firsthand how children have different assets and strengths,” recalled Sawyer. “I worked closely with him, and other students, bringing him into the general education classroom and helping to find the right supports for him to access the content. He’s an amazing artist and he got to shine in ceramics and art.

One of my fondest memories from working at that high school was coaching the unified soccer team, which is a Special Olympics sponsored team at high schools where half the team is made up of disabled students and half is made up of neurotypical, able-bodied students. I think it’s really beneficial for everyone.

I actually don’t know the first thing about soccer. I’m a big fan, but in terms of coaching, I didn’t know what to do, so I recruited half the girls soccer team to join this group and they absolutely loved it. They built strong connections, developed better listening and communication skills. It taught them patience and empathy, and they eventually became advocates for disability justice in their own sense.

Through this paraeducator work, Haley was able to learn more about different ways of expressing intelligence and creativity for each child (and adult!)

“He (her student) would make his own puzzles. He could do puzzles from left to right, top to bottom in order. It was an amazing thing to see just how different kinds of intelligence work— and his was such strong spatial intelligence. We honed those skills and used those strengths to help him access other classes and connect with other students. That period of my life is really meaningful, and it led me to further pursue education as a career.”

Paraeducators are a critical part of the education landscape, providing much needed support to individual students and relief for classroom teachers. Yet, this pool of more than 800,000 paraeducators still face challenges and a lack of clear pathways when transitioning to full-time classroom education.

Still, Haley persevered and charted a path towards her goals of becoming an elementary school teacher.

“I loved my time at the high school, but I knew I wanted to do elementary school. So, I went to grad school and got my teaching license. And that’s how I ended up teaching 4th grade. I love 4^th graders — they’re developing such fun personalities, developing their own opinions, and start to grasp things like sarcasm and nuance. We had a ton of fun in class.”

While Sawyer thoroughly enjoyed nurturing young hearts and minds, like many educators, she also ran up against some of the major issues in our current education system that can act as barriers for educators.

“There were things that I felt frustrated by systemically. I’ve always stayed involved in politics, and I tracked a lot of the education policies that would move through the state.

Stand [for Children] championed the Early Literacy Success Initiative in 2023, and that’s how I first became familiar with the organization. I was passionate about that bill because when I started teaching, I noticed there was a huge range of literacy skills within my class.

My district did not offer a curriculum based on the science of reading. And so, I was left to my own devices to just try to make it work.”

This experience is, unfortunately, not unique to Haley. Many teachers report a lack of resources, including curriculum, and must spend many hours outside of their classroom work planning curriculum with little guidance. Like many other teachers, Haley had to rely on her own creativity and the support of her fellow educators to show up for her students and bridge major literacy gaps in her classroom.

“I had a class with a lot of academic needs, and many of my 4th graders really couldn’t read.

I worked with my colleagues, and we created something called the Reading Mountain. It was a traffic cone covered in butcher paper with a spiraling foam road. And along the foam road, there were different skills: short vowels, magic E, digraphs, these different phonics skills up the reading mountain.

We started by assessing students across the grade level, placing them into groups, and providing intervention about four days a week. Each student had a Lego figure with a pin at the bottom. They would stick their character in the foam road at their skill level and track their progress as they moved through the scope and sequence.

At the end of the year, we had a celebration where students reflected on their progress, visually showing the jump they made on the reading mountain by moving their figures from the bottom of the road to the top.

Then, the 5th graders who had gone through the intervention previously would come speak to the 4^th graders. They brought copies of the books they were reading at the beginning of 4^th grade and the books they are reading now. You could see the difference in complexity.

One of my colleagues students brought a picture book with short vowels, then from behind her back pulled out a mid-level chapter book. She was beaming with pride. Having an older student with status share her journey of struggle and resilience was so impactful.

It eliminated a ton of shame because a lot of students really feel ashamed when they’re struggling with reading, particularly in those upper elementary grades. That’s when social dynamics really start to change. We operated in a shame-free environment.

We operated in a shame-free environment, where the ethos was about working together. And there are no secrets. When you speak secretively about reading group, children feel that. And they assume that shame. So by sharing in the struggle, perseverance, and wins, we eliminated a lot of that.

This wouldn’t have been possible without my amazing colleagues. I loved working with them, and they were my lifeline. Troubleshooting and developing a practice together made me a stronger teacher.

I remember the times when I was creating resources and buying decodable books, and it’s a memory that I look back on fondly because I loved seeing my students succeed. I also think, wow, I wish I didn’t have to do that, and I hope in the future teachers are having to do that less and less.”

It was moments like these that spurred Haley on to working in education advocacy, so future teachers didn’t have to spend hours and their own money trying to patch holes in the education system themselves.

“I was having to make things up as I go to try to meet the needs of my kids who in 4^th grade were reading at a kindergarten level all the way to an eighth-grade level. There’s so much differentiation that needs to happen. And teachers need to be able to do that. But I knew that that gap wouldn’t have been as wide had my students received efficacious instruction with materials aligned to the research.

It led me to the realization that I wanted to focus more on this work with literacy. Then, an opportunity came up in Representative Kropf’s office. He was the chief sponsor of the Early Literacy Success Initiative and worked closely with Stand.

So, I spent a year in the state legislature and learned a lot about policy and process and made a lot of great connections along the way. After that year, I was hoping to move toward ed policy and continue to narrow my focus.

Then this opportunity came up with Stand. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect place for me to land that merged my interests and felt really impactful. And I work with a team of five other women that are the most competent, thoughtful, hardworking people I’ve ever met. We’re small but mighty, and I feel really lucky to have landed here.”

When asked about what drove her to be such a champion for children and education, she immediately gave credit to her parents, both of whom are educators.

“It was absolutely modeled for me. I mean, both of my parents are incredible, dedicated educators, but some of my earliest memories come from my dad. He was a teacher at Jefferson High School in Portland. He was a champion for his students at every level. I know times are different now, but if he knew Joe couldn’t make it to school unless he got a ride, my dad was there to pick him up.

When he knew his kids had unmet needs or some level of scarcity, my dad was there, not just as an educator, but as a human, providing them with access to basic things. So much so that after some of his students graduated, he kept in touch. Those students knew our family. He was an expert at forming these really strong relationships and he was particularly great at connecting with people who up until that point, hadn’t been successful in school, hadn’t had a teacher that they felt connected to.

Those moments were what made me realize that a teacher can make a difference in someone’s life.”

Watch Haley tell her story on Instagram:

Beyond Acceptance: Supporting Neurodivergent In Schools

Parent & Family Engagement | 04/27/2026

Jamayka Young Digital Communications Manager

graphic art of a person's head with colorful shapes coming out of it

Beyond Acceptance

Current Realities for Neurodivergent Students and How We Can Build Better Schools and Communities for Every Child

“We are trying in 2026 to move past awareness and acceptance to taking action. It’s not enough to say that we accept them. We have to take that additional step further to inclusive schools, promoting fully inclusive special education.”

Every person experiences the world around us differently. This may appear self-evident— I love the color pink; my sister prefers blue. My neighbor swears my music is too loud, but I can hardly hear it. Yet, our society maintains ridged boundaries around how we “should” or “should not” think about or react to our daily experiences at risk of committing faux pas and facing social rejection.

The term neurodiversity was coined to highlight the biological reality that the countless different ways our brains process information cannot be contained within the boundaries of social norms. And the Neurodiversity Movement was built with the intention to challenge those norms and make society a safe, affirming space for those who are neurodivergent— or those with particular ways of experiencing and processing information that has been named and which often falls outside of social norms or “neurotypical” ways of thinking. This includes Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Speech Disorders, Tourette’s Syndrome, OCD, and many more conditions— most of which are not visible to others.

School is often the place where children first become aware of the many social boundaries and norms. For neurodivergent children, school can be a space of isolation and othering. To get a clearer understanding of the current education landscape as it relates to neurodivergent students (and parents), I sat down with Amy Waggoner, a passionate disability justice advocate, founding member of the Portland Public Schools Special Education PTSA, and mother of a daughter with autism.

“My whole life, I’ve have been sensitive to justice and fairness,” says Amy. “I’ve since learned that that’s because I’m neurodivergent and have autism and ADHD [which may cause you] to have a very sensitive meter when it comes to that sort of thing. So, I was always predisposed to activism, but it really got focused in this area when my daughter was diagnosed with autism and a speech disorder.”

Difficulty navigating the school system and huge differences in resources from school to school is a common experience for parents of neurodivergent students. Many parents report feeling isolated, like they have no support from schools and wider community when it comes to ensuring their child gets the same level of education, and social integration, as any other child. This is despite the fact that more than 1 in 6 children in the U.S. is neurodivergent*. While neurodivergence is fairly common, most parents (and students) are unable to find community with each other at their local schools due to a severe lack of district and school-wide advocacy.

“She’s been in public school since kindergarten. Having to advocate for her and navigate the school system, I realized that there was a gap of organized advocacy, especially at the district level,” recalled Amy. “The quality of education that neurodivergent kids receive varies from school to school. And so, because of that, I got involved with a special education Advisory Council for the district about a year and a half ago and then recently just became a founding member of the PPS Special Education PTSA.”

That feeling of isolation is even more apparent for the neurodivergent children themselves. Around 15% of public school students** have an IEP (individualized education program) with about 1/3 of those students being neurodivergent. That means about 13% of neurodivergent students are receiving no support through the school. While all neurodivergent students may not require academic support due to their neurotype, they could greatly benefit from community with other students with similar ways of processing information. This is one way schools could facilitate a less isolating school experience for students who may not require additional academic support, and for those with IEPs who are in general education classes.

For those students who are in special education classes or “focus classrooms” for students with higher needs, their experience can still be incredibly isolating. They are usually kept away from general education students for most of or for the entire day. In small classes of just a couple of students, it can be difficult for students to make friends with their neighbors and peers. Segregating disabled and neurodivergent students for the entire day reinforces those harmful social norms and makes it easier for general education students to ignore the existence of neurodiversity, further isolating those neurodivergent students without IEPs.

This isolation and lack of advocacy can be especially severe for girls and racial and ethnic minorities who are significantly less likely to be diagnosed with a neurodivergent condition and instead are often viewed as disruptive, anti-social, or aggressive and punished rather than supported. Black students are 19% less likely to be diagnosed with autism*** than their white peers. That number skyrockets to 65% for Latino students. Black and Latino students are also disproportionately disciplined by school staff for disruptive behavior.

For girls, they are often conditioned well before entering school to hide or “mask” behaviors associated with various neurodivergent neurotypes, which are often seen as “unladylike”. Girls who violate these norms, especially Black, Indigenous, and Latina girls are more often treated as “deviant” or “problem children” rather than provided with support that would lead to a diagnosis. Less than 20% of girls with autism receive a diagnosis before they turn 18, meaning they will receive no support with their autism from schools****.

From Amy’s experience with her daughter’s school, “The population of focused classrooms or kids on IEPs in general, it skews higher minority representation than the average population in PPS. That’s probably true elsewhere too. So, when we talk about impact to students in those classrooms, we are disproportionately impacting groups of students who are already underserved.

With the exception of one year of my daughter’s time in school, she’s been the only girl in her class. So, she’s in a class full of boys. Luckily, we have some engaged teachers now who recognize that. She needs female attention and female connections, and so they’re partnering her with girls in 4th and 5th grade to spend recess with her, to sit with her at lunch, things like that to develop those connections.

It’s true that the things that we think we will see with neurodivergence, whatever the condition is, they are more pronounced in boys because of society’s expectations of how boys and girls act.

It was just so clear with her because she didn’t have language development in a typical way and she had stimming behaviors. People will say like, oh, boys are so hyperactive and rambunctious and stuff like that. That’s how she was. She didn’t fit the stereotypical girl mold or what we expect from her. So, I think that’s why she was able to get diagnosed early.

In schools today, and not just girls, various groups, if they aren’t high enough needs, then they aren’t recognized as having needs. And so, when they act out, when they don’t get the grades you expect them to, when they do whatever behavior is not desired, it is seen as a character flaw and something that they can individually control as opposed to something that they were born with. It’s just the way their brain works, and we need to make accommodations so that they’re able to meet the curriculum and come to school and be successful, just like every other kid.

You have kids who somewhat thrive, you know, or get by in Gen. Ed.. You have kids that we’ve clearly identified need special education services. And then there’s this gap in the middle, which is where I would have found myself back then. I was undiagnosed until I was 39.

I see this in schools all the time where they [girls] have some needs, but they’re so socially conditioned to behave a certain way that they aren’t vocal about those needs. Their parents may not see those needs. And then that just compounds year over year, over year, over year.

It can lead to mental health issues where you’re diagnosed with one thing only to come to find out later that that’s actually just a symptom of how your brain works, you know, which is what happened to me. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression until I realized that those things were just symptoms of my brain working in a society that wasn’t built for me, right? That I hadn’t actually identified. It can lead to, you know, not finishing college, failing at jobs. It can lead to really drastic outcomes as an adult when these things aren’t identified and they just compound year over year in school.”

Solving the problem of gender and racial disparities in support, and isolation of neurodivergent students and families from their school communities, is one that will require dedication from the medical system, legal system, and education system working together. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things we can do now in our own communities to make them better places for children (and adults!) with disabilities or who are neurodivergent.

I asked Amy for some advice for parents, students, and community members looking to make a difference.

“I mean, just to be quite frank, I didn’t do anything with disability advocacy until I my daughter was diagnosed. And so even though I considered myself a caring, advocating person. I just didn’t know.

And so, I think part of it is wherever your space is. Like now the disability community is my space. It is bread and butter, my everyday, right? But wherever your space is, if you consider that your workplace, your friend group, the bar you go to go watch football on the weekends, whatever you consider your space, taking action in that space.

For instance, the workplace. Advocating for open accommodations, advocating for not just sexual harassment training and other standard trainings, but also foundational disability learning.

Around 3/4 of disabilities are not apparent, which means neurodivergence falls in that umbrella. You can’t tell by looking at someone and so you usually don’t know. You usually don’t know when you’re talking to your co-workers in meetings that they have something else going on because it’s just not apparent. So, working with your manager, with HR, with whoever that group is in your workplace, and this is just an example.

You can take it to other communities to take action in that in that regard, even if you’re not involved with schools. If you enjoy sports, unified sports are so fun. There’s basketball and track and field and things like that. There’s also the Special Olympics. So, if you know, if your community is more of an active community, maybe you can consider how a unified concept might work for that community.

I encourage people to, instead of saying, well, I don’t know any disabled people. First of all, you don’t know that. But second of all, they are everywhere and if you take action for them, like I said earlier, it will benefit everyone. Only 17% of disabilities you are born with. 83% are acquired sometime in your lifetime. So, actually the vast majority of disabilities you’re not born with, you will get later and you should be lucky enough to live enough long enough to be disabled.”

Citations + Further Reading

*https://childrensguild.org/understanding-neurodiversity-in-children/#:~:text=Some%20signs%20of%20neurodivergence%20include:%20*%20**Intense,developmental%20disability.%20This%20included%20autism%20and%20attention%2Ddeficit/hyperactivity.

**https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/the-number-of-students-in-special-education-has-doubled-in-the-past-45-years/2023/07#:~:text=The%20total%20number%20of%20students,from%20ages%203%20to%2021.

***Aylward BS, Gal-Szabo DE, Taraman S. Racial, Ethnic, and Sociodemographic Disparities in Diagnosis of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2021 Oct-Nov 01;42(8):682-689. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000996. PMID: 34510108; PMCID: PMC8500365. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8500365/

**** https://childmind.org/article/autistic-girls-overlooked-undiagnosed-autism/

Graphic of neurodivergence umbrella with common neurdivergent conditions listed including ptsd autism anxiety epilepsy adhd dyslexia speech disorders parkinsons disease traumatic brain injuries chronic fatigue syndrom bipolar disorder obsessive compulsive disorder schizophrenia

Black students are 19% less likely to be diagnosed with autism than their white peers. That number skyrockets to 65% for Latino students.

Less than 20% of girls with autism receive a diagnosis before they turn 18.

[girls] have some needs, but they’re so socially conditioned to behave a certain way that they aren’t vocal about those needs. Their parents may not see those needs. And then that just compounds year over year, over year, over year.

The Pink Collar Penalty

Current Events & News | 03/2/2026

Jamayka Young Digital Communications Manager

The Pink Collar Penalty

How Educators and Other Workers in Women-Dominated Industries are Underpaid and Overworked

What Is A Pink-Collar Job?

In 1967, William Jack Baumol coined the term “pink-collar jobs” to highlight the discrepancies faced by those working in industries historically associated with women. Pink-collar roles include nurses and medical assistants, administrative workers, cosmetologists, social workers, retail and customer service workers, and teachers. These roles span from office (or “white collar”) work to more physically intensive (or “blue collar”) work, but share a few key traits:

They have historically (and presently) been primarily staffed by women.
They face significant wage disparities compared to their white and blue collar counterparts.
They typically involve a significant amount of emotional labor and/or service.

While some historically women-dominated jobs, such as tobacco manufacturing, are no longer primarily staffed by women, one of the pink-collar fields that has persisted for centuries is education.

From daycare workers to classroom teachers to language pathologists, those working in education do the critical work of preparing future generations, while being met with the obstacles and inequities that those in all pink-collar industries face.

Who Are Public School Teachers?

To give a quick layout of the education landscape, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 78% of public-school teachers are women.

That gender discrepancy skyrockets when you look at teachers of younger students. In 2022, 97% of all preschool and kindergarten teachers were women. With this stark gender imbalance in the field, it is frustrating but unsurprising that there is a massive pay gap between teachers and other comparable industries.

The Pink-Collar Penalty

Most public-school teachers (58%) have a master’s degree, but their median pay is nearly $20,000 lower than other workers with an advanced degree. They are also paid significantly less than other government workers with similar education requirements

In fact, teachers are paid less than the average employee in every state in the U.S. besides Hawaii. When we consider that 98% of teachers have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to just 38.7% of all U.S. workers, the below average pay for teachers is even more jarring.

While teachers are making less than most workers of comparable educational attainment, they are expected to do significant amounts of emotional labor that goes far beyond their job descriptions. Many adults can share stories of when a teacher has stepped in to support them in massive ways, from providing emotional support during difficult times, to providing food and helping to secure resources for students from low-income backgrounds.

This support is being provided to an ever-increasing number of students as classroom sizes balloon, without the teacher workforce being increased to match.

At the same time, they’ve been thrown under the bus by bad faith actors using classrooms for political games. Teachers have faced extreme harassment for teaching accurate accounts of history, or about the theory of evolution.

Teachers are not giving the training or resources to be doing this amount of psychological and social services support. It is no wonder that so many teachers report increased levels of anxiety and burnout—something that’s pushing many out of the field and further increasing the strain on those who stay.

As Connecticut teacher, Elsa Batista phrased it,

“Teaching has become mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting. We are strong, resilient, and creative, but we need support; we need help in our classrooms. Right now, that’s not happening, and we cannot afford to lose more teachers.”

Teachers deserve to be paid fairly for their work, which is essential to the functioning of any society. They also must be provided with significantly more support, from classroom resources to mental health services. Finally, our elected officials must work to increase the number of students graduating with teaching degrees and relieve the burden on already exhausted teachers.

Two Lessons We Advocates Can Take from Jesse Jackson

Uncategorized | 02/20/2026

Stand for Children

As advocates, we’ve all had that pivotal moment when doing nothing was no longer an option and the time to act was at our feet. Whether from boiled-over anger or powerful optimism, we chose to organize and to look toward those who came before us to help us lead the charge. For many, that leader, thoughtful voice, powerhouse of passion, tireless force, and champion for those in need was Jesse Jackson. While Jackson may no longer march beside us, his legacy lives on and remains ingrained in the progress made in civil rights, educational equity, and political empowerment. In honor of Jackson’s legacy and Black History Month, we’re reflecting on his critical influence on K-12 education and highlighting two lessons from his activism and advocacy that we can each carry in our own work.

1) Uplift everyone’s voice

On a small New York stage in 1972, surrounded by school-aged children, Jesse Jackson recited the poem “I am Somebody” one line at a time as a group of children repeated each word as an affirmation. The message was simple: regardless of your zip code, your income, or your racial identity, your voice is powerful, and you matter. Just as he encouraged those children to feel his words and believe him, we, as advocates, must empower others to find and use their voices. Our shared passion to fight for children and ensure all students receive a quality education brings all of us together.

Jackson, who was mentored by Martin Luther King Jr, understood the importance of investing in others and giving them a platform to be heard. His nurturing disposition helped several influential leaders in public service, law, and civil rights build on the momentum he started. To make our work sustainable and our goals attainable, we must approach advocacy from a unified place that lives on after we are gone.

2) Remember the who in what you do

Jackson, who attended and graduated from a segregated school, carried his own painful and motivating educational experiences with him, notably including being denied entry to a library because of his race, which then led to a “read-in” with him and seven other students known as the Greenville Eight. His advocacy for equitable funding for K-12 public schools, violence prevention in schools, and direct support through scholarships provided by his organization, PUSH Excel, are tangible, positive outcomes of his fight for educational equity.

Who motivates you to fight for students? Maybe, like Jackson, it’s a younger version of yourself who felt the impact of oppressive and inequitable educational policies. Maybe it’s your own children, grandchildren, or children in your community in need of representation and opportunity. Whoever it may be, we can take a note from Mr. Jackson and keep them in focus each day we call for action and change.

As Jesse Jackson once said at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, “We must never surrender. America will get better and better. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. On tomorrow night and beyond, keep hope alive.” Mr. Jackson is a powerful force to recognize for Black History Month, but his impact and lessons for advocacy remain vital to remember year-round.

Head Start, Dr. Edmund Gordon, & Closing the Gap for Marginalized Students

Access to High-Quality Schools | 01/30/2026

Jamayka Young Digital Communications Manager

Head start, Dr. Edmund Gordon & Closing the Gap for Marginalized Students

For decades Black American communities called on state and federal governments to address the needs of severely underserved Black and low-income children. Finally, in 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson announced the establishment of Project Head Start. The project sought to holistically address the physical, emotional, and educational needs of young children in under-resourced communities. Beginning as an eight-week summer program, today Head Start serves over 1 million children each year.

This program was inspired by the work of Civil Rights organizers, including many of its key architects. One critical player in the creation of the program was organizer and psychologist, Dr. Edmund Gordon, who had previously done community-based research on the holistic development of children in Harlem.

After launching the headstart program, Dr. Gordon went on to conduct research that proved to the Supreme Court that school segregation had detrimental effects on marginalized children, whose schools were left deeply underfunded.

What Dr. Gordon knew then and continues to reiterate today at the age of 104, is that the achievement gap for Black and other marginalized students (a concept also pioneered by Dr. Gordon), is actually a resource gap— and one that is solvable.

Ensuring children have the nutrition, support, and education needed at such a critical point in their development pays off big time, with kids in the program being more likely to graduate from both high school and college; less likely to be incarcerated; earning higher wages than their peers who didn’t attend a similar program; and having a stronger sense of self and community.

The resource gap Dr. Gordon and the other founders of Head Start sought to close unfortunately continues to impact marginalized students across the U.S., but we have the power to close that gap and ensure that every student receives the education, support, and resources they need to thrive.

MLK DAY MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Current Events & News | 01/18/2026

Jamayka Young Digital Storyteller

drawing of martin luther king jr giving a speech

We All Have A Role In The Movement

This MLK Day, remember that each of us has the power to make a difference!

I’ve always been passionate about making the world a better place. I knew at an early age that I wanted to spend my life helping others. Important figures, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired me to stand up for what I believe in and speak truth to power.

But their legacies also cast a long shadow. As I grew up, I began to feel less and less sure of my ability to effect change. I thought it would be impossible to make a real difference if I didn’t have the charisma, the fearlessness, the ability to build a movement of my own.

That fear kept me frozen. I felt like nothing I did was enough. If the impact wasn’t massive, I thought, why do it at all?

“We don’t have to head a march of 100,000 people in order to be leaders in our own communities and make changes that make the lives of those around us a little safer, easier, fairer.”

A mentor of mine eventually sat me down and told me, “Jamayka, your hands are not big enough to hold the whole world. Focus on what you can change right now, right here, today.”

Like most teenagers, I rolled my eyes at that advice, and continued to let my fear of failure prevent me from seeing the real impact everyday people, like my mentor, were having on the people in our community— one hot meal, or ride to a townhall, or enlightening conversation at a time.

It wasn’t until I had the chance to really learn about the history of the Civil Rights Movement and the hundreds of thousands of regular people that changed the world, that my mentor’s advice made sense to me. Dr. King’s words and actions were inspiring and impactful, but the movement we identify him with existed long before he was born and continues to this day.

We don’t have to head a march of 100,000 people in order to be leaders in our own communities and make changes that make the lives of those around us a little safer, easier, fairer.

This MLK Day, let us all remember that each one of us is a critical part of the movement to create a just and equitable education system for every child. We all have a role to play, and each of us, when we come together with our community members, can make a real difference.

What actions will you take this MLK Day in support of students, educators, and schools? Let us know by taking our MLK Day Pledge to Act.

5 Reasons for Schools To Go Phone Free

Uncategorized | 01/12/2026

Jamayka Young Digital Communications Manager

Image of students using phones in school

5 Reasons for Schools To Go Phone Free

How much time do you spend on your phone each day? If you’re anything like the average U.S. adult, according to a recent YouGov poll you’re averaging more than 5 hours a day of screen time— and that doesn’t even take into account your TV, smart fridge and robot vacuum cleaner. We all know that our overuse of screen-based devices is a problem, with a large percentage of adults actively attempting to limit their screentime.

Now imagine if you’d had an iPad since you were in diapers. That’s the reality for many of the Gen Alpha students who are using their phones for an average of 1 hour of school time each day, playing games, scrolling on social media, and watching videos.

Young people are becoming more aware of the problem with cell phone dependency, but it’s not as easy as telling them to just “put down their phones” as adults often say. These distraction machines are built to keep their attention, even when they should be focused on learning or connecting with peers.

With school-age kids spending more than half of their waking hours in school, it is important that schools create an environment for children to develop the skills they need to succeed, including how to learn, think, and connect without screens.

Here are 5 reasons our schools should go phone free:

1. Focus

Up to 97% of students report using their phones during the day — spending an average of 1 hour of class time on social media, YouTube, or gaming.

And the distraction isn’t limited to just the student on their phone. Phone use during class creates a ripple effect, distracting all the students around them, and even students in other classrooms who may be receiving text messages or DMs from their friends.

A pair of studies out of the University of California show that it takes between 8 and 23 minutes to refocus after being distracted. Meaning, one distraction from a phone might cause a student to lose focus for nearly half a class period.

UPenn Professor of Psychology, Angela Duckworth laid the issue out clearly— the further students are from their phones, the higher their GPA.

2. Safety

With the heartbreaking frequency of school-wide emergencies in the U.S., it is completely understandable that parents and families may be nervous about the idea of students not having access to their phones throughout the school day.

But, researchers and safety experts, including the Association of School Resource Officers, have consistently concluded that students’ access to cell phones actually make them less safe in an emergency situation.

During a school-wide emergency, it is critical that students are able to focus on receiving potentially life-saving instructions from staff, resource officers, and first responders. When they’re on their phones, they can be distracted, or cause others to miss instructions. And when hundreds or even thousands of students attempt to make calls on their phones at once, it can clog the networks and hinder emergency responders from communicating during an emergency.

That’s why any proposed cell phone policy must clearly outline contingencies for school-wide emergencies such as text or email emergency communication systems for families to stay informed on what is happening in their school, without leading to dangerous confusion and distraction. Families must have a voice in deciding these systems to ensure they work for the entire school community.

3. Mental Health

There is an abundance of evidence that links extensive cell phone usage to negative mental health effects on young people. Young people who spend a lot of time on their phones report increased levels of anxiety, including social media driven anxiety.

These anxieties include low self-esteem caused by the endless comparison from social media which acts as a highlight reel, making it appear that everyone else is more attractive, more social, and more successful than you.

Anxiety is also driven by current events, breaking news, and other points of fear-inducing content that, while important for young people to stay informed, in the massive quantities and graphic details shown on social can have detrimental mental health effects on children.

Students at schools who have already gone phone-free report feeling less anxiety, and increased self-esteem.

It is up to parents to determine the right balance of social media use for their children, but our schools do have a responsibility to ensure classrooms are safe, affirming spaces that allow students to develop into healthy, well-rounded community members.

4. Connection

So many young people today struggle to connect with their peers, and deal with serious social anxiety, much of which can be linked to social media and screens in general.

Phone-free schools allow students to actually talk to each other between classes and at lunch time, rather than immediately putting their AirPods in and scrolling on their phones.

Schools with phone-free policies report students talking with each other, creating new clubs to learn skills like crocheting or woodworking, and building connections across class years!

5. Teachers

If the above reasons weren’t enough, then think of the teachers!

Even the most interactive lesson plan is going to have an impossible time competing with TikTok for students’ attention. It’s no wonder that 83% of educators support full-day cell phone bans.

While the national teacher shortage and teachers leaving the field have stabilized since the extreme highs at the start of the pandemic, there are still over 400,000 teacher positions in the U.S. that are unfilled, underfilled, or filled by people who do not meet the qualifications (such as those without a teaching license). 53% of teachers report feeling burnout, with teachers being more likely than other workers to report poor wellbeing on every indicator.

If districts want to hire and retain qualified educators, they need to do their part to reduce the burden on already over-stretched teachers and staff. That includes removing distractions from their classrooms that don’t allow then to do their job effectively.

Our schools must establish clear, consistent, effective cell phone policies that address the harms of in-school cell phone use. Across the country, principals and school leaders have proven that phone-free policies are possible — and powerful.

The Blowouts

Uncategorized | 09/15/2025

Jamayka Young Digital Communications Manager

The Blowouts:

The Student Walkouts That Fueled the Chicano Rights Movement

Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library

While often overlooked and undervalued by decision makers, students and young people have long since been at the forefront of social justice movements across the world. That is equally true of the mid-20^th century Chicano/Latino Rights Movement in the United States.

In 1968, 75% of the students enrolled East Lost Angeles public schools were Latino. They faced severe discrimination from their mostly white teachers and school administrations. Schools were severely understaffed, underfunded, and unmaintained, with classroom sizes averaging 40 students and individual school counselors being assigned to manage 4000 students each.

On top of the funding disparities, Latino students were also met with open and systemic prejudice from both their educators and within the curriculum. Latino students were often tracked as being “not college material” and actively discouraged from higher education. Spanish was prohibited in school, with some students reporting being disciplined or even beaten for speaking Spanish. Teachers spoke down to them, reportedly using slurs against students. And their textbooks reflected these same anti-Latino biases with no mention of the histories and contribution of Latino communities in the United States.

Under these conditions, it is no surprise that East LA schools had some of the highest dropout rates in the country, with Garfield High School having a dropout rate of 58%.

The growing frustration of students came to a head on March 1, 1968, when more than 200 students walked out of Wilson High School in East LA. The walkout was motivated by the principal of Wilson canceling a play students wrote about social issues Chicano youth were facing.

This spontaneous act ignited students across East LA to organize similar, though more structured, protests that would come to be known as the Chicano Blowouts.

A few days later, 2000 students walked out of class at Garfield High School. By the end of the week more than 15,000 students walked out of schools across East Los Angeles.

Student and adult organizers came together to create a list of 39 demands to present to the LA Board of Education to address pressing issues facing Latino youth including dual-language education, inclusive curriculum, Spanish-fluent and Latino educators, and reduced class-sizes.

More than 1200 community members attended the March 28^th School Board meeting, showing up to support the student organizers. The board rejected the proposal and had 13 organizers (including high school and college students) arrested for conspiring to organize the walkouts.

12 of the 13 organizers were released after, but educator Sal Castro was detained for 3 months until being released on bail, despite thousands of protesters outside of the county jail. Still, Castro was fired from his teaching position, leading to months of sit-ins in the Board of Education office until he was reinstated.

The Blowouts remain one of the largest K-12 protest movements in US history. Many of these student organizers went on to be lifelong activists fighting for civil rights for Latinos in the United States.

Lincoln High teacher, Sal Castro, talks to students in 1968.
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

While the demands of the students were not met at that moment, their activism ignited their communities and peers into demanding change in their education system, as well as other areas where Latinos faced marginalization. It is on the shoulders of this student movement that we have seen the increased number of districts offering dual language education, and the increased inclusion of Latino history in schools.

Celebrating Neurodiversity

Parent & Family Engagement | 04/21/2025

Stand for Children

banner reads celebrating neurodiversity with a drawing of children sitting on grassy hill in front of a rainbow

Each of us has a unique way of experiencing the world, but one thing that doesn’t change is our desire to be treated with respect and kindness! Learn more about neurodiversity with our playlist of kid-friendly videos discussing the experiences of those with different neurotypes!

You can also find more resources on how to support young people in your life from the Neurodiversity Celebration Week Resource Hub.

Stand Student Voices: Hana Terpstra

Parent & Family Engagement | 08/29/2024

Stand for Children

STAND Student voices

A Digital Space Dedicated to Uplifting Student Voices in the Fight for Education Equity

About/ Submit

Featured Student Voice: Hana Terpstra

Hana Terpstra is a current senior in high school with a focus in art and design and a love for storytelling. She believes community and learning how to learn are vital, and hopes that all future students get to learn these values.

Making sure all kids get to learn important topics like these, as well as skills like connection and a desire to learn, is a message I’d love to help spread. My main interest is in the arts; Almost all of them, from sewing to writing to painting to drawing. Recently, I have been looking into art applications for colleges and art-based scholarships, and I came to realization that I don’t really know which art I want to focus in. The whole college search is a very anxiety-causing process, but this specific fear, that I have to make decisions about my future when I don’t even know what I want to do yet, was the most looming of all.

Then I thought about one of the most defining books for me- Scott Mccloud’s “Understanding Comics”. In it, he describes the art of making comics like an apple- (though perhaps an onion is more accurate) with different layers. From the outside in, it goes surface, craft, structure, idiom, form, idea/purpose. The metaphor works for the entirety of art as well; Starting out, most people’s art is “surface level”, then as their craft develops they begin to play with structure, genre, what form the art takes, and the central idea of the whole thing. I am fascinated with that last one; the question of “Why am I doing this?” Though my art is just “surface”, the concept of a reason is appealing.

Taking this idea in mind, and my anxiety over looming portfolio requirements, I created an experiment. I would try and find my “reason” the best way I knew how – through research – and then use that new information in my art. A piece of visual art advice I always get is “draw from real life, not from others art – at least to start.” This is given because learning how to see the world and communicate it through your own lens is critical in defining your style – but perhaps, it also could be critical in find an interest, a reason.

So I took to the internet and began to research, putting what I found into a slideshow presentation. Then, I came to another realization. The skills I had learned in school, from reading material to advice from my art teachers, even from science projects and English reports – they were vital for this project. I used my friend, a fellow art student, to keep me on track to my goal. Even the purpose of my search- curiosity, questioning- was something taught in school! I was using these skills to my benefit in my craft, something I hadn’t noticed before. I am very lucky. If I didn’t have the opportunities I had in middle and high school, my visual library, skills, and connections would be much worse. I wouldn’t have had the interest in learning, in reading books, in finding advice, in keeping motivation to stick through a big project like this – if I didn’t have the desire to learn.

And that is something education instilled in me. Heck, even now, writing this, I am using foreshadowing and formatting in an essay-like structure. It’s not just about the topics in school – though those are certainly helpful as well – but the skills. And just now, going into my last year of high school, I’m starting to understand what my teachers have been saying all along – the skills you build here will help carry you through life later. Carrying this knowledge with me makes me feel a little more prepared for life. Even if I don’t know where I’m going, I know I have the skills to get there.