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6th-grade teacher resigns rather than remove absolutely harmless sign from her classroom

Then she shared her blistering resignation letter with her local paper.

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A teacher was told to remove a sign that read "Everyone Is Welcome Here." She refused.

That's it. We've finally had enough in this country. In a move that's long overdue, we're finally cracking down on... *checks notes*...basic human kindness?

The orders have come straight from the top. Being nice to people who are different than you is now bad. Creating environments that are welcoming and inclusive of everyone? Also bad. What's most disturbing is just how far these mandates are trickling down—all the way into our schools.

A 6th grade teacher in Idaho was recently told by school administrators to remove a controversial sign from her classroom. She refused.

Earlier this spring, world civilization teacher Sarah Inama at Lewis and Clark Middle School was told that one of the posters in her class was inappropriate. The school asked her to remove it.

Initially, she complied, but upon reflection and discussion with her husband, decided that it didn't feel right. She needed to take a stand. So Inama put the poster back up and left it visible for all to see, even after administrators warned her she could lose her job over the noncompliance.

Finally, among growing outcry and threats of termination, Inama decided to resign rather than remove the poster. She bravely decided to stick up for her controversial beliefs, even though she knew her personal opinion may not be popular.

Just wait until you see the outrageous sign. Here it is:

Seriously, that's it. The sign reads "Everyone Is Welcome Here" and shows hands of different colors. This is the poster that was deemed not appropriate for the public school environment.

The district’s chief academic officer Marcus Myers clarified that, "The political environment ebbs and flows, and what might be controversial now might not have been controversial three, six, nine months ago."

Inama's sign was said to have violated the school's "content neutral" policy, which prohibits any speech or messaging that might reflect personal opinions, religious beliefs, or political ideologies.

What's hard to believe is that a sign meant to show kids that they are welcome in Inama's classroom somehow reflects a "personal belief" that the school won't tolerate. The sign made no mention of religion or LGBTQ+ identities or political ideologies; and it was still deemed too woke. That's extremely frightening.

Inama received an outpouring of support from the community, but it wasn't enough to change the district's mind. After her resignation, she didn't hold back, sharing her resignation letter with local news.

“This will be my last year teaching in the West Ada School District, and it saddens me to leave under these circumstances,” Inama's letter begins.

“I cannot align myself nor be complicit with the exclusionary views and decisions of the administration. It is deeply troubling that the people running this district and school have allowed a welcoming and inclusive message for my students to be considered controversial, political, and, worst of all, an opinion.”

"I hope for the sake of the students in your district that you can remember the core values of public education," she concludes. "To serve all citizens, foster an inclusive and safe learning environment, and protect your staff and students from discriminatory behavior."

The war on "DEI" (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) has gone way too far when it's not OK to tell kids of different skin colors that they are welcome and safe in a classroom. And now, the education system has lost a talented and passionate teacher because of it. But at least Inama hasn't gone quietly, and with millions of outraged supporters all over the country and now world, we probably haven't heard the last of this case.

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Microsoft

It all started with a lesson on "Romeo and Juliet" and a student who wanted to show what he learned ... using Minecraft.

Chris Aviles, then a high school English teacher, didn’t even know what his student meant by that idea. But he let him run with it, so Aviles' student re-created scenes and settings using the popular video game — and his classmates loved it.

"Once the other kids saw that he was allowed to do that, you know, it kinda blew up in the classroom," says Aviles.


That moment sparked a change in how Aviles approached education and technology with his students.

Aviles with his eager students. Photo by Katie Smith, used with permission.

Aviles is now the ed-tech coach for Fair Haven School District in New Jersey, where he runs the Innovation Lab, a new kind of learning program with a curriculum that's very in tune with the times.

"We teach students design thinking, computer science, engineering, digital arts like podcasting, video-making, and entrepreneurship," says Aviles.

"It's kind of like a 21st century think tank, maker space, where we really just try to get our hands dirty and give our kids the experience that they need to be successful in the future."

And if the projects are any indication, it looks like his students are having lots of fun learning. "I had kids making music videos, I had kids making raps, I had kids making movie trailers for books, I had kids using Minecraft and building 'Catcher in the Rye' scenes," says Aviles. "Next thing you know, my kids are making, making, making all the time."

Aviles' teaching method is based on two pretty awesome principles: gamification and game-based learning.

Gamification in this case means using game mechanics to engage students, like splitting into teams and scoring points in class activities. Game-based learning is using actual video games like Minecraft to teach and assess kids.

Photo via Microsoft, used with permission.

"There’s a lot of lessons that you can learn in a video game and that lesson is being delivered in pretty much every kid's favorite format," adds Aviles. "And we’re kind of crossing that line where learning is fun and fun is learning."

And at the Innovation Lab, it's all about customization and collaboration.

That’s why Aviles loves Minecraft so much as a teaching tool. It’s a blank canvas where students can create anything their heart desires. On top of that, kids are able to learn at their own pace. Says Aviles, "I can have 25 kids all in Minecraft doing 25 different lessons at varying difficulties while I work around the room and I teach through the trouble."

Photo via Microsoft, used with permission.

The lab is also about empowerment. "Instead of the being the person in front of the room who thinks they know everything, I work alongside my kids, and I push them towards their goal, and we’re now learning together in the same classroom," Aviles says.

He likens this learning process to when he teaches kids how to code. "It teaches them how to attack a problem. It teaches them that it’s OK to fail the first time because you might not get the answer right the first time. And then you go back and you troubleshoot and you squash bugs over and over until you get the desired result. And so that process of thinking like a coder, I think, is really valuable."

Currently, only 40% of K-12 schoolsacross the country actually have a computer programming or coding class, but Aviles says he hopes that will change in the near future.

Getting kids involved in computer science early is especially important given the lack of diversity and unique voices that exist within the industry.

"Whoever is writing the code is going to be controlling the future," says Aviles. "Right now, the field is dominated by white men, and making sure that a diversity of voices is represented in computer science is only going to ensure that the population that this technology serves is equally represented."

Photo by Chris Aviles, used with permission.

The computer science industry is projected to yield 1 million more jobs than students by 2020. So getting kids interested and encouraging them to make their voices heard can only bring forth a more unified and prosperous future.

Adds Aviles, "Every kid has their own background and has their own story and experiences that they can bring to the next product that is going to serve millions of people."

Interested in getting your child to explore the wonderful world of code? Check out Microsoft’s new Minecraft coding tutorial, as well as all the fun (and free) resources available on the YouthSpark Hub.

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Nigerian schools cut history classes — so these comic books are picking up the slack.

They say, 'Those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it.'

Most Americans know as much about George Washington as they do about Spider-Man.

We all know the deal — guy with false teeth learns all about great power and responsibility while crossing the Delaware, then gets bitten by a radioactive spider that turns him into the first president of the United States, and so on. Somehow, the enduring legacy of some floppy four-color comic book pages is as ingrained in our collective cultural mind as our country's foundational history.


All images from Panaramic Entertainment, used with permission.

But things are different in Nigeria, where recent changes to the national curriculum mean that history class is, well, history.

The country as a whole decided to shift its educational focus more toward technology and engineering — which certainly makes sense, given the current state of their world. As a result, “history” as a subject has been folded into the larger civics and government curriculum, with maybe a few details touched on here and there in religion or English class.

It's not that Nigerians can't study history; it still exists at the university level, and there are plenty of scholarly texts and award-winning novels written about the country's rich and complicated past, and all of the important lessons that go along with that. But unless it's something you actively seek out, you're left with the short summaries that are covered in civics class, or the oral histories passed down from the elders in your village or family.

And while that kind of storytelling is great for folklore like Anansi and Hercules, it's … not so good for the accurate, objective details that teach important lessons from the past.

Clearly there's only one solution to this problem: comic books!

That's why a group of Nigerian comic book creators founded Panaramic Entertainment in 2007, with a mission "to tackle the high illiteracy rate in Nigeria and enable Nigerians and the rest of the world engage in our rich history & culture, helping to promote and preserve it."

"I got into reading proper through comic books at about age 5," said editor-in-chief Tunji Anjorin. "I feel like the combination of images and words creates a story in still image format capable of entertaining and teaching readers/audience in a fun way. It's an affordable form of low-income entertainment that can bring value to both the readers and creators, and the next edition is always something to look forward to."

Their flagship comic book series, "Okiojo's Chronicles," recounts the history of a different Nigerian culture in each issue.

The publisher has so far released three quarterly issues chronicling the struggles of the Yoruban emperor Oduduwa, the fall of the Benin Empire at the hands of the British, and the legendary exploits of Amina, the warrior queen of Zazzau.

"A 10-year-old who grows up reading 'Okiojo's Chronicles' for 10 years would have read 40 different ethnic groups comics and he would have a better understanding of the people who are left and right to him and [of] Nigeria as a whole," Anjorin told U.S. News.

But even those 40 comic books would barely scratch the surface of the more than 250 ethnic groups recognized in Nigeria.

And yet, that daunting challenge is not enough to keep Panaramic from pursuing their ultimate goal of publishing a comic book for every single ethnic group, so that future generations can learn about and from the histories of each splendid culture. (Even if it does take 60 years or more.)

"If you just look at the past, if you look at when we started democracy, we seem to be making the same mistakes over and over again," said Oriteme Banigo, the series' creator. "In our stories we emphasize ... why this has happened, why we should remember it, and how we could stop ourselves from going through the same issues moving forward."

Comics aren't just a sneaky-clever way to get kids into history. For Nigerians, they also represent an opportunity to reclaim their country's narrative and share their own stories with the world.

Another new publisher called the Comic Republic recently launched the first-ever all-African superhero universe, full of colorful heroes of color to rival the massive world building of companies like Marvel and DC.

And a Nigerian creator named Roye Okupe also founded his own YouNeek Studios and launched a sci-fi comic called "E.X.O."

"I want [audiences] to see a different side of Nigeria, our booming tech industry, amazing city architecture, unique culture, African humor, Afrofuturism … a side that is not regularly shown in mainstream media," he told The Guardian.

From Tunji Anjorin's upcoming Panaramic superhero comic "Omo Boy."

Comic books are surprisingly effective tools for education, empowerment, and change. They engage readers with their stunning visuals, and challenge different parts of our minds to work in tandem to comprehend the combination of words and images.

It doesn't hurt that they're affordable and accessible to everyone. "A reader of any age can usually interpret the message," Anjorin told Upworthy over email. "Comics are also easier to share through digital format."

Currently, Panaramic's comics are available in print at schools, bookstores, newsstands, and even through a local restaurant chain in Lagos. But as the company tries to break through to the international market, they're also offering their books online for the low, low price of $1.

"Every comic book industry has their own signature, so we would be bringing in our own way of depicting ourselves and the rest of the world as well as our culture and ideologies," Anjorin said in an interview with Spaceboy Nigeria. "So I took it upon myself to create my own comic book universe and introduce the average Nigerian and the rest of world."

Preserving history. Changing a global narrative. All with nothing but paper and pencil.