Teens Teaching Teachers at NCTE


In November of 2018, our English teacher told us about a big conference where a bunch of English teachers get together to try to become better teachers for us, well all students. We wondered whether students were there, too, whether students had a voice in the ideas being shared.  When we heard the theme of the 2019 conference was about the spirit of inquiry, we decided to write a proposal to the conference to discover (through the writing process) what we would offer teachers.

We submitted a proposal for ten round table discussions so that we could sit alongside teachers to talk about choice in books and writing, poetry, presentations, grading, and building a classroom community. You see, we have a pretty special class community. We all have different backgrounds and interests but we respect one another and see one another as a teacher. We are a classroom full of teachers.

Our proposal was accepted!  Here is a link to the collaborative doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1riYuIZ43XdXJ26PnGOC9bD5qBB6rWW-IerOFPRWTR1w/edit?usp=sharing 

Now we have to do further inquiry into just how we are going to get twenty (20) teenagers and a dozen parents (because they want to come, too) from Rolling Meadows, Illinois to Baltimore, Maryland. Because our school does not sponsor out-of-state field trips, this is considered a parent-organized trip, external from the school, so we need your help. 

Our group presents on Saturday, November 23, 2019 from 4:00 to 5:30 pm in Ballroom II at the Baltimore Convention Center. Our plan is to depart Rolling Meadows early Friday morning, enjoy Baltimore on Saturday, present our session, have a celebratory group dinner, and then head back to Rolling Meadows early Sunday morning. A quick trip for a very important mission.

We are not only looking forward to sharing our ideas with teachers, at this conference, we will be able to meet our author heroes,  meet scholars from universities across the country, discover new book titles, and present some of our original writing!

To keep our cost as low as possible, we are only going for two nights, but we still have to cover the bus ($7000 and almost 12 hours) and hotel ($5000, because Baltimore and the convention have the rates high), food (because, well, we are growing teens and need nourishment and group meals nurture our sense of community) and tours (to see a local site or two).   

In exchange for your donation, we will share our presentation materials will you and...and...as a heartfelt "thank you," one of us will write a poem for you. Complete this form after you make your donation: https://forms.gle/2GBdaH3EVMpkdkpB6

Along the way, we will share updates, pics, and videos of our trip with a  full report when we return. Here is a link to our website where we will have links to the materials: http://www.ethicalela.com/ncte/ 


Thank you for your support, 

Pranav, Esme, Abhi, Prithika, Nina, Aditya, Jillian, Farjad, Alex, Sebastian, Grace, Levyn, Llyanna, Joey, Harini, Christian, Gautham, Sophia, Henry, Pranaav, Ben, Maya, Lilia, Isabelle, and Nick