As we get ready to close out the school year, we have some K12 teachers who are looking forward to a relaxing summer, but increasingly we have teachers who are looking at their contract renewals with a mix of emotions. Gratitude at another year of employment combined with a sinking feeling in their stomach that the salary, combined with the increasing politicization of our elementary and secondary classrooms, is just not worth it.
We’re joined today by Dr. Quennel Cooper. Quennel is a community builder who has changed the lives of elementary students across the state of Minnesota with his genuine leadership style and willingness to try new things to get kids excited about coming to school. Quennel’s dissertation “The Perspective of Black Male Middle School and High School Students in a Mentoring Program” makes it clear that building a mentoring program in our K12 schools isn’t just “nice to have”, it’s essential to the success of Black boys and men as they navigate an educational system that was not built for them.
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