1 New Release on Amazon in Education Organization & Institutions.

Thriving In a Public School collects stories spanning two decades of teaching and learning at Horlick High School in Racine, Wisconsin. Students organized to take action in profound ways, action that altered not only the course of their lives, but the culture of their school and their communities. The basic premise of this book is that learning is a political act. Students' struggles for social change revealed the politics that limited their education. Political growth led to academic success and changed their life choices and careers. Students became part of organizations and social justice movements, deepening their understanding of the world as they built skills for social transformation. Sharing stories and testimonies of organizing, Thriving brings readers into the campaigns where teachers and students stood together. These pages show how the process of organizing events to connect classroom learning to community concerns led to the establishment of student organizations that built real power, transforming the culture of classrooms, and becoming a force for meaningful change. The book draws on over 70 interviews with students, staff, school administrators, and community leaders "We were able to get the school to recognize us and not punish us for who we were. We were no longer profiled for what we wore or how we appeared. Our voices were...heard." -Horlick High School Student Tabria Snead "It was the first time I spoke publicly.... I remember my legs trembling like they were made of jelly. Afterwards I felt powerful and accomplished." -Horlick High School Student Brenda Garcia "The experience helped me grow as a teacher. [The student] and I grew closer as human beings. The teacher/student divide had been bridged." -Horlick Social Studies Teacher Aaron Eick