Erin demeo11/14/2023 ![]() ![]() “Not everyone in the class subscribed to the same ideology,” said Griffiths, “but everyone felt comfortable in the class.” That also meant cultivating an environment where students felt comfortable talking about difficult topics in an open format, even if they ended up disagreeing on the issue at hand. “We told the kids, ‘You’re part of this with us,’” said Demeo. “A lot of the kids would pop in during those periods and talk.” “Every other day, we would have a block (of time) where we would work on the course, where we would tweak it,” said Griffiths. ![]() The two educators, for instance, solicited feedback from the students after the first semester, and found that they wanted to discuss more current events as part of the class, and students were encouraged to participate as much as possible. “Erin is such a great teacher, it was pretty genuine when I was asking questions,” Demeo responded.īut for the most part, the students helped drive the direction of the course, Demeo and Griffiths insisted. “(Dawn) was a great student,” said Griffiths, laughing. She also served as a valuable questioner throughout the duration of the course. Throughout the year, the students would be assigned a book by Demeo that tied in with the subject matter being taught, and Demeo would often refer the students to something more modern, whether a movie or Podcast, that touched on the themes related to them by Griffiths. Griffiths and Demeo taught the class together, with the two focused on their particular areas of expertise. “I think there is a dominant narrative in history and in literature,” added Demeo, “and this course offers up a counter-narrative.” ![]() “This class gives us a chance to talk about that history and the contributions of those (communities).” ![]() “The history of (Black and Latino communities) is not given enough attention (in the standard curriculum) for a variety of reasons,” explained Griffth. Griffiths, who teaches American history, explained that the idea was to give students a more robust understanding of the past. The course was conducted over both semesters and included a wide variety of topics that touched on the history of Black and Latino culture in America, how they have been represented in literature, and issues pertaining to the Black and Latino communities that continue to impact current events. Cheshire wasted no time, adding it at the beginning of this past school year and naming Demeo and Griffiths as the two teachers to lead it. Ned Lamont who, in July of 2020, issued an order stating that, by 2022, all districts in Connecticut must offer such a course. The Black and Latino Studies class was implemented this year in response to the statewide mandate by Gov. “The kids were so invested,” added Griffiths, a history teacher. “It was a challenging curriculum, so we have to find ways in, and I believe we did a good job of meeting the kids where they are.” “The (first year) really went well,” said Demeo, an English teacher at the high school. Yet, as the two navigated the new Black and Latino Studies course, offered as an elective to CHS students for the first time this past school year, the educators admitted that the instruction and the way they approached their lessons grew organically over time. Erin Griffiths and Dawn Demeo are veteran teachers at Cheshire High School who know their way around a classroom and a curriculum. ![]()
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