On April 19, Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man, died a week after he was arrested by Baltimore police. Gray was arrested on April 12 and suffered a fatal spine injury while in police custody.
Gray's death generated enormous public outcry, led to riots, and sparked a flurry of teaching moments within the Gateway community.
The events surrounding Gray's death left educators around the country grappling with how to bring related questions about race, class, power, stereotyping, justice, the media, and social justice into the classroom.
As a highly diverse and inclusive environment, Gateway understands that talking openly to students about fairness, social justice, and equity is critical in helping students process these issues as well as their own emotions.
Gateway teachers consider the classroom a sacred space to have these challenging conversations.
"Eighth graders at Gateway Middle School have participated in a year-long conversation about the intersection of identity, race, and prejudice," said 8th Grade Humanities Teacher, Lucy Hilarides. "It seemed necessary for us to continue this conversation by dissecting the events in Baltimore and across the country."
During advisory, teachers met with their advisees in small intimate groups about the tension in Baltimore. Norms and expectations were set from the start in order to provide a safe space and framework in which students could honestly and critically explore the issue.
Each advisory viewed videos from different news outlets, made sure everyone understood the issue, had conversations about why people were rioting, and shared different perspectives on whether that was ok.
Students were eager to talk about the events in Baltimore, how the media perpetuates stereotypes, and how the Gateway community can be supportive of one another during challenging and confusing times.
"What I realized is how much the media contributes to the labels and stereotypes for certain groups of people," said Rosie Bell of 7th Grade. "People adapt those generalizations and believe the media because they think it's reliable. The news exaggerates."
"I thought it was important that we talked about police brutality-- a young man was killed, and he will never get the chance to be proven innocent or guilty," said Anyssa of 8th Grade. "The police shouldn't be the ones to decide that."
The goal of these discussions is to help students confront, untangle, and process their feelings in a safe, inclusive environment.
"We have spent two years building supportive communities in our advisories and it was obvious that conversations like these benefit from a supportive and open environment," said Ms. Hilarides. This aligns strongly with Gateway Middle School's vision of responsibility, respect, community, and excellence.