faces Making the Dublin Difference

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BY SARAH ROBINSON Photo courtesy of Cortney Ingram

Making the Dublin Difference

Davis Middle School language arts teacher advocates for her students and the community

On Saturday, June 6, hundreds of teachers, students and parents took to the streets around Bridge Park and Historic Dublin in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Davis Middle School language arts teacher Cortney Ingram came up with the idea for the rally while lying in bed one night, reflecting on the protests and marches taking place all over the nation.

“I thought I could at least put something together in Dublin where it was closer to home and people could bring their families and show that even out in the suburbs, out of the city, there were people that had the same vision for our country,” she says.

Sure enough, Dublin rose to the occasion and surpassed all expectations with a huge turnout.

“We thought it was going to be 10 teachers here, 10 teachers there, and it ended up being much bigger than that,” says Ingram. “The vibe was just so electric.”

Ingram knew that students and community members would be watching and listening to the protests taking place across the country, and found the Dublin demonstration to be the perfect outlet and opportunity for conversations to take place.

“Typically, I’d have these conversations with my students and hear things that are happening in their families and what their opinions are,” she says, “and we didn’t get that opportunity, so I just felt like this would be a perfect moment to have those conversations that I wasn’t able to have.”

During the school year, Ingram helps her students address and understand issues pertaining to social justice and current events by leading a book club project where students choose novels that discuss a wide array of topics such as microaggressions and climate change.

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Cortney Ingram’s Top 5 Books for Middle Schoolers New Kid by Jerry Craft The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi Dear Martin by Nic Stone The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

“I think we forget that this stuff is out there right in front of (the students) every day, and so they are exposed to it,” Ingram says, “and to me, it’s better that they have a classroom with a teacher who can help them process the stuff that’s going on in the world – these topics that are going on – and can help to facilitate the conversations they want to have about those in an appropriate manner.”

She’s constantly impressed by the maturity with which her students are able to engage with these themes.

“When you give kids the space to do it, they’re able to do it in a way that is mature and civil and respectful of others with different opinions. It’s nice to be able to give them that space,” Ingram says.

The learning curve

Ingram’s journey into the classroom and the community has only just begun. Now in her seventh year of teaching, she reflects on a daunting realization she had when she was offered her first position in Dublin.

“Not only was I going to be teaching in a district that was very well known and had very high expectations, but I was also going to be one of very few teachers of color,” she says. “Which I have the opportunity to then bring a different perspective to a lot of my students.”

Studies show that students are more likely to succeed when they have teachers who look like them, so for a district with 39 percent of students in a minority population, it’s more important now than ever to reflect that same diversity in the teachers.

“Kids are more successful when they have a teacher that looks like them or the same race as them. It makes you feel like you can be successful,” Ingram says. “So, me bringing a different perspective to white, Black and all minority students is what’s really, really important to me.”

The drive to better our country and the community around her doesn’t stop there. Just recently, Ingram was selected to be on a task force collaborating with the city and Dublin Police that will advise city council on matters concerning racism, social injustice and bias.

“I just see myself at some point in my career giving more of a voice to the work of equity, the work of diversity and the work of inclusion as those are so important to good teaching,” she says. “I think it’s hard to continue the profession of teaching and education without having that at the forefront right now.”

Any way you slice it, being a part of Dublin City Schools is something to celebrate.

“I’m really thankful to work in Dublin. I recognize the strength of our school district, and it feels really good to be able to find ways to improve and be supported, and not feel like my voice won’t be heard,” she says. “I’ve always felt supported in the school district by not only my

colleagues, but people in our leadership positions all the way up into central office and our superintendent.”

Sarah Robinson is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com. Teaching on Twitter

Ingram is super active on Twitter, engaging with teachers all over the world.

“I like to use (Twitter) as a way to bridge the gap between educators and community members and students and the parents. It’s another way to express some of the things that we don’t get to talk about in the classroom, especially since I teach middle school,” she says. “On Twitter, I feel like you have a different avenue, you have a different audience to speak to.”

In today’s age of technology, social media platforms are great places to both teach and learn.

“It’s just amazing that we all are kind of in this learning community together. I mean, I use it as a tool for learning as much as I do trying to teach other people,” she says.

Even Dublin City Schools is in on the trend, tweeting about student success and teacher triumphs. Follow them on Twitter at @DublinSchools.

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