Most Black students will go through their 13 years of public schooling without ever being taught by a Black teacher. As a result, they don’t reach their full academic potential.
Fight racial injustice and educational inequity by becoming a teacher.
We Need Black Teachers
JOIN THE GROWING RANKS OF BLACK STUDENTS WHO RECOGNIZE TEACHING IS THE MOST POWERFUL FORM OF ACTIVISM.
HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE-AGED INDIVIDUALS
FREEDOM SCHOOLS LITERACY ACADEMY
Explore your interests in becoming a teacher by apprenticing as a Servant Leader or Junior Servant Leader.
College-aged individuals serve as classroom instructors teaching reading lessons to elementary students. High school students help with small-group instruction and individual reading tutoring while collaborating with peers on professional-development assignments.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
TEACHING ACADEMY
The Teaching Academy is a year-round high school Career & Technical Education (CTE) course for Black students interested in teaching. Our goal is to build a strong foundation for pursuing long-term careers in education by fostering a love for learning and sharing knowledge in an intellectually rigorous, collaborative environment.
We invite high school administrators to partner with us.
FUTURE TEACHERS
BLACK TEACHER PIPELINE FELLOWSHIP
If you are a current college-aged individual and participated, or would like to participate, in the Center for Black Educator Development’s Freedom Schools Literacy Academy or Teaching Academy, you’re eligible for a Black Teacher Pipeline Fellowship. Apply now for:
- Academic support and professional coaching
- Up to $5,000 per year in last-dollar scholarships
- Up to $20,000 in stipends at the start of your fifth year of teaching
Horace Ryans
Servant Leader Apprentice 2020
Horace Ryans
Servant Leader Apprentice 2020
Freedom Schools is a direct way to be an activist for your community.
Teaching these kids what is right, how to love each other and advocate for themselves.
Tarik Timothy
Servant Leader Apprentice 2021
Tarik Timothy
Servant Leader Apprentice 2021
I want to be what I had growing up as an educator, so I want to instill that sense of pride and expansive knowledge.
Tre Terry
Servant Leader Apprentice 2021
Tre Terry
Servant Leader Apprentice 2021
I understand that it is crucial that Black boys and girls know that someone sees them, loves them, and believes in their innate genius.
I would like to see Black teachers reclaim their wholeness, continue to create sustainable institutions that unearth the work of the ancestors, demand critical thought, and listen to the communities in which they serve.
Aremoni Chamber
Servant Leader Apprentice 2022
Aremoni Chamber
Servant Leader Apprentice 2022
Freedom School Literacy Academy really taps into what being Black is and embracing your blackness.
Making sure we get more Black teachers into the education system is what stuck with me the most and what made me want to come to this program.
Jacob Gray
Junior Servant Leader 2021
Jacob Gray
Junior Servant Leader 2021
What’s special about this camp is honestly the uplifting and emphasis on Black culture: how they want to embed into these children that you are Black, you are beautiful. You are Black and intelligent.
Oriana Smith
Junior Servant Leader 2022
Oriana Smith
Junior Servant Leader 2022
I would recommend this experience 100 percent to my friends because it was not only fun, but it exposed me to new ideas.
I would encourage them to join the education profession for the sake of their own education.
I want them to know that it is crucial for them to stand up and speak out about the unfairness of the system but most importantly, be the change.
SCHOOL AND DISTRICT LEADERS:
WE WANT TO INVEST IN YOUR STUDENTS.
Partner with us to set up a Freedom Schools Literacy Academy or Teaching Academy to ensure your students can be eligible for the Center’s Black Teacher Pipeline Fellowship.
Through the fellowship, future Black teacher-activists receive academic support, professional coaching, college scholarships and retention bonuses. All supported by the Center’s Future Black Teachers of Excellence Fund.
Delivering significant student outcomes, both academies apply the Center’s Le Count-Catto Curriculum, Black pedagogy and cultural-historical frameworks. Watch the most recent Freedom Schools Literacy Academy video.
Don’t let your scholars miss out. Do your part to liberate education for generations to come.