Free, Virtual Program
This three-part discussion series for K-12 educators will explore the images and diverse social issues documented by Walker Evans and how they relate to contemporary challenges. Educators will be paired with representatives from community organizations to form new connections and conversations around several topics ranging from social change, immigration, and trauma and resilience.
Fatima Saidi from the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition will be in conversation with Patricia Sprague from Ocean Avenue Elementary School.
Fatima Saidi was born in a small village in Ghazni, Afghanistan. In 1996, at the age of two, she became a refugee in Quetta, Pakistan when her family took refuge from the Taliban. Fatima came to Lewiston, Maine as an international student at Bates College in September, 2013. While in College, over the summers, Fatima has held internship positions with the International Institute of St. Louis in Missouri, United Nation and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission in Kabul, Afghanistan, and the World Hazara Council in Vienna, Austria. In 2017, Fatima graduated from Bates College with a double major in political science and religious studies.
After college, from August, 2018 to September, 2020, Fatima worked as the Development Coordinator and the Grant Writer at the Mayor’s Office of Financial Empowerment in the City of Boston. In October, 2020, Fatima and her husband moved to Biddeford, Maine. On December 8th, 2020, she joined Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (MIRC) as the Grants and Contracts Manager.
Patricia Sprague is an educator in the Portland Public Schools, and is a member of the district Social Studies Vertical Team, which is developing a pre-K through Grade 12 social studies framework. She works at Ocean Avenue Elementary School as an instructional coach and the coordinator for the school's International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program learning model. She also serves as the Outdoor Learning Liaison for Ocean Ave School. Patty has been a classroom teacher and a literacy coach in middle and elementary schools, and has also done grant-writing and institutional development at an art museum and other non-profit organizations.
Additional events:
5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 10 | Teaching Social Issues Educator Series: Terence Miller and Matthew Tanzi
5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 18 | Teaching Social Issues Educator Series: Kristel Thyrring and Tracey Menard
Based on an exhibition originally organized by The Museum of Modern Art, New York and organized by Sarah Hermanson Meister, former Curator, with Tasha Lutek, Collection Specialist, Department of Photography, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Support provided by Art Bridges
