NYCore Open Invitation Meeting

Way back at the beginning of the semester I went with Nina and Jess to the NYCore Open Invitation dinner. It was basically an informational meeting where we learned a lot about the different projects that NYCore runs and participates in, and how the organization functions as a whole. It was really wonderful to share dinner with the group of people at our table. The attendees were mostly teachers (we were the only pre-service teachers). Even though I hadn’t been a full-time teacher yet, I’ve had so many experiences in the field during our program and I was able to participate in conversations about this with the people at our table. I felt that they were welcoming and open to discussion with me even though I hadn’t been in charge of my own classroom yet.

Something I thought was really neat about the organization is what they call ITAGs, an abbreviation for Inquiry to Action Groups. ITAGs are groups of people interested in a specific topic (ex. incorporating Social Justice Education into pre-existing curriculum standards), who meet eight times to discuss and learn about the chosen topic. After researching and learning about the topic, the group plans some sort of action to promote what they’ve learned from the experience.

Also at the meeting, I was able to see two performances – spoken word poetry and a section from a play. The play, “RECESS,” is a one-woman show that is performed by Una Osato. I remembered hearing about the play last year in our science class, but didn’t really know what it was about or how amazing it actually is, so I didn’t attend the performance last spring. After seeing the short part of the play that I did, I will definitely attend a full performance of it if given the chance again. I really think you all should too!