Dear Progressive Education Network of New York Supporters and Extended Community Members,
On Friday, January 20, 2017, we are asking all those who support education for democracy to take positive action on Inauguration Day to affirm our belief in the power and promise of progressive education. To this end, we ask that on January 20th, you post to Twitter and Instagram pictures and accompanying text from your school and classrooms that show examples of learners engaged in experiences that are grounded in progressive pedagogy and, if possible, connected to the election and education for democracy. Please use the hashtag #PENNYaction and mention @PENNYcollaborative as well. Feel free to add additional hashtags for your other communities so that we can extend the reach of the tweets and hopefully get #PENNYaction to trend. Our goal is to increase the visibility of our progressive best practices on this important day.
We believe that this action is important to:
1. Bring Our Community Together so that we can continue to advocate more broadly on behalf of the learners with whom we work
2. Continue to Build Coalitions with those who are concerned about the future of education in America
3. Provide Concrete Examples of the power of progressive education to members of our local, state, and federal governments who are responsible for creating policy that will impact the work and lives of learners both young and old in our schools
If your school has plans to engage in any learning/action on Inauguration Day or leading up to it, please post this info on the PENNY listserv (see below) so that we can all “share the well.”
We also hope to use this day to build momentum for the ongoing work that is at the heart of the mission of The Progressive Education Network of New York (PENNY). PENNY is a collaborative of educators, parents, students and community members from the public, charter, independent, and teacher education sectors working towards the advancement of progressive education. You can learn more about PENNY by subscribing to our listserv at penny-collab@googlegroups.com.
Please spread the word to your other networks and progressive minded colleagues.