Join us for another EDTalks event as we continue to explore our season theme: Big Challenges, Realistic Solutions. This event will feature Dr. Rose Chu, Joshua Crosson, Haben Ghebregergish and Jocelyn McQuirter who will discuss the reasons why the teaching profession continues to lack diversity and what we can do to fix it.
Founded in 2002, EDTalks is a dynamic happy hour event that raises public awareness of critical topics and strengthens community engagement and advocacy with and on behalf of our young people. It also provides a platform for creative leaders to showcase innovative ideas, share successes in their work, gain insight and feedback from colleagues, connect with community audiences and identify growth opportunities.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with complementary hearty appetizers and drinks available for purchase. Our program begins at 6 p.m. sharp with our two EDTalks presentations, followed by Q & A that allows opportunities for audience conversation with our presenters and deeper dives into the evening’s topic.
EDTalks #1
Title: Shifting the Narrative About the Teaching Profession
Speaker: Dr. Rose Wan-Mui Chu, Educator, Consultant and Project Lead, Elevate Teaching
Despite the critical role educators play in shaping our young people, the teaching profession in the U.S. has been losing respect and admiration, with negative messages perpetuating an unflattering and incomplete image of a viable and impactful profession. Increasing teacher diversity is a critical component in the effort to elevate the teaching profession. The research is increasingly clear: a racially diverse teacher workforce benefits ALL students, especially students of color and American Indian students. Yet Minnesota schools have 38% students of color but only 7.3% teachers of color. This lack of teacher diversity is a significant contributing factor to our state’s sizable racial gaps in educational outcomes. This EDTalk will focus on Elevate Teaching, part of a state-funded teacher recruitment and marketing campaign and a movement to shift how we view, talk about and relate to the teaching profession to include the profound impact teachers have in our society. Come learn how you can be a champion of the teaching profession for the success of our students.
Dr. Rose Wan-Mui Chu is a fierce advocate for elevating, demystifying and strengthening the teaching profession and has dedicated her professional life to the tireless pursuit of education equity and excellence. A first-generation immigrant from Hong Kong and first-generation college graduate, her original engineering background and experience at Honeywell, coupled with her most honored role as a classroom teacher at Plymouth Youth Center and Minneapolis Public Schools, have continued to ground her life’s work in educational reform and transformation.
Dr. Chu is professor emerita of Urban Education at Metropolitan State University and a former assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education. Rose is also founder and president of Plum Blossom Strategy LLC, and the visionary and project lead for the www.ElevateTeaching.us movement to restore the prestige of the teaching profession. She serves as subject matter expert for Generation Next’s priority area in teacher diversity and teaching diverse learners. Dr. Chu is currently an elected school board director of the Roseville Area Schools and is a 2022 Bush Fellow.
EDTalks #2
Title: What’s Keeping Teachers of Color Out of Minnesota Classrooms and How We Can Fix It
Speakers: Joshua Crosson, Executive Director, EdAllies, Haben Ghebregergish, Lead Math Facilitator, High School for Recording Arts and Jocelyn McQuirter, Engagement Manager in local government
Although Minnesota has started to move the needle on teacher diversity, we still have a very long way to go. Over the past few years, policymakers have created a variety of incentives to increase the numbers of teachers of color in our state—along with some changes to teacher preparation and licensure systems—but too many obstacles remain. To better understand these barriers and their impact, Josh Crosson and Haben Ghebregergish convened a group of people of color who seriously considered entering the K-12 teaching profession in Minnesota but ultimately decided on other career paths. In their EDTalk, the three will share what they learned from these conversations and how recurring themes aligned with barriers at both the policy and program level. They will also discuss realistic solutions to address these critical gaps and help ensure that Minnesota’s increasingly diverse students are represented at the front of the classroom.
As executive director of EdAllies, Josh Crosson is dedicated to ensuring that all Minnesota students, especially those who are most underserved, have access to a great education. Josh transformed his passion for public policy into a fulfilling vocation during prior work in Washington, D.C. at the Human Rights Campaign, where he spearheaded student outreach operations and expanded the organization’s mission to incorporate LGBT students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He then spent four years writing legislation and advising his hometown U.S. Congressman Rep. Adam Smith (WA-9), on labor, health, budget and tax issues before relocating to Minnesota. In his spare time, Josh operates an adult LGBT sports league that benefits local charities throughout the Twin Cities.
Haben Ghebregergish is a proud educator of nine years who has had the distinct pleasure of teaching high school mathematics in Detroit and St. Paul. She is currently a learning facilitator at the High School for Recording Arts, where she delves into her passion for social justice mathematics. Haben’s student-centered and problem-driven classes allow students to take ownership of their learning by exploring topics that are important to them. Haben also serves as a coach and mentor to youth advocates at Bridgemakers, a youth-led nonprofit that works on issues such as education reform and economic justice for marginalized Minnesotans ages 14-25, and Reconnect Rondo, whose mission is to revitalize the Rondo community of St. Paul, a once thriving Black neighborhood that was devastated by the construction of I-94.
Jocelyn McQuirter’s background pays homage to a lineage of Black educators who emphasize(d) knowledge is power, and that to rise, we need each other. As an African American and product of Minneapolis Public Schools, Jocelyn is an alumna of Clara Barton elementary and North High School. Across the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs, Jocelyn spent more than 5 years in the education system as a substitute teacher, tutor, community partner, guest speaker, and intern supervisor. She currently works as an engagement manager in local government where she leads behavioral health projects diversifying, contracting and elevating community voice. Her work earned a 2023 National Association of Counties achievement award for expanding mental health access by investing in culturally specific mental health providers. She’s a 2023 New Leaders Council Fellow, a lifestyle blogger, and proud mother to a breezy kindergartener.
Tickets are $5, but all are welcome. If this event is cost-prohibitive but you would like to attend, please reach out to Heidi Draskoci-Fricke at hdraskoci-fricke@achievetwincities.org.