Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

As a former teacher myself, I can attest to the challenges faced each and every day in the classroom - the long hours, the test prep, the occasional behavioral issues (who hasn't had their lip split open by a head-butting 4-year-old?). While in theory we should appreciate teachers every single day, at the very least we can all agree to take a little time this week to show some gratitude to the teachers in our lives, past and present.
Even when times do get tough for teachers, the good news is that there is always a good story to tell. With that in mind, we are happy to pass on a great new event from our friends at SpeakeasyDC, who have been voted the “Gold Standard” of the storytelling genre by The Washington Post. The event, After-School Special: A Night Of True Stories By And About Educators, will be taking place at the Atlas Theater on H Street in Washington, DC on this Friday, May 9th at 8pm.

A cast of 8 educators and students will tell their poignant, comical, and sometimes harrowing true tales from inside and outside the classroom. DJ EZ Street of local radio station, 93.9 WKYS, will host the event. There will be a fundraising reception prior to the show whose profits benefit Teaching for Change. A discussion will take place after the show for the general audience. The educators that make up the evening’s cast come from various schools across the DMV including DCPS’s Woodrow Wilson High School and Alexandria Public Schools. The cast will share stories ranging from a teacher protecting a gay student from being bullied, to a Martha’s Table volunteer teaching a class on recording a hip-hop album.

As a show of their appreciation for teachers, SpeakeasyDC is offering the special discount code for educators. That code is: 'teach4change'. We are looking forward to the event and hope to see you there!


And, here is some press we were able to secure for the event:

• Tune in on Tuesday at 2:30 pm to here storyteller, Chris Obermeyer on WPFW's Sheila Alexander Reid LIVE, talk about his experience coming out of the closet to defend a gay student at Wilson High School from being bullied. 

• Watch Amy Saidman, SpeakeasyDC's Artistic Director of Let's Talk Live on Channel 8 this Wednesday from 11am to noon. 

• Check out The Gazette on May 8th to read about storyteller, Clint Smith, a Prince George's Public School teacher and his passion for spoken word. 

• Find a mention in the Washington Post's Weekend Guide.

• Read more about storyteller, Chris Obermeyer in this week's MetroWeekly and The Washington Blade. 

• Stay tuned to watch Alison Starling highlight Teaching for Change's Allyson Criner Brown on ABC's Working Women segment later this month.