ROCKY MOUNT, Va. One sunny day last spring, Bridgette Craighead was dancing the Electric Slide with three police officers in the grass next to the farmers’ market. It was the first Black Lives Matter protest this rural Virginia county had ever had, and Ms. Craighead, a 29-year-old hairdresser, had organized it. She had not known what to expect. But when the officers arrived, they were friendly. They held her signs high, and stood next to her,.
Educators bringing new African American history course to Virginia classrooms Generic classroom (Source: WOIO) By Leanna Scachetti | WDBJ | March 3, 2021 at 8:53 PM EST - Updated March 3 at 8:53 PM
ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - There have been a lot of changes to Virginia classrooms this year, but one has been a few years in the making.
It’s a new African American history class and students right here in southwest Virginia are helping to develop the course.
For Franklin County High School history teacher Michele Jones, some days are for teaching and just as many are for learning.
“We’re learning things every week that for our generation, that stuff wasn’t taught in school,” Jones said Wednesday.
School divisions in the Roanoke and New River valleys reported an uptick in failing grades during the first half of the 2020-21 school year, reflecting a national trend, as students continued to learn in nontraditional ways amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data shared by local districts.
The increase was not uniform across all grade levels, instructional methods and demographics. Virtual learners experienced higher levels, and secondary schools reported more Fâs than elementary schools, on average.
Schools are using the data to provide targeted instruction and additional support to those students. Several area divisions are in the process of increasing in-person instruction for the fourth quarter of the school year. School officials also say they are trying to support their studentsâ mental health and safety, too.