Westwood Community School District

This initiative created the first Wayne County Teaching Diverse Histories Summit. This event convened by Westwood Schools and Wayne RESA occured August 13-14, 2025 and included a two-day professional learning experience designed to strengthen educators' capacity to teach inclusive, comprehensive, and community-centered histories. The Summit addressed critical educational challenges in Wayne County, including low student engagement, gaps in K-5 social studies instructional time, aimed to improve teacher familiarity with the C3 Framework, and confidence in teaching difficult historical topics that aligned with Michigan's social studies standards. Serving 250 participants from over 60 Michigan districts, the event featured a keynote address by Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries, diverse breakout sessions, and immersive, place-based experiences at local historical and cultural sites. Backed by robust partnerships with external experts and a Community Resource Fair, the Summit provided teachers with curated professional texts, media, and lesson plans to support classroom implementation. Evaluation data revealed immense success and increased teacher confidence following this event.

Partnerships

Resources that informed this project