Teaching Social Issues Educator Series
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.
With Fatima Saidi (Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition) and Patricia Sprague (Ocean Avenue Elementary School)
5:30-6:30 p.m. November 9, 2021
Free, virtual program
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.
With Terence Miller (Preble Street) and
Matthew Tanzi (Portland High School)
5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Free, virtual program
Terence Miller is the Advocacy Director at Preble Street, a non-profit human services agency in Portland, Maine. In that capacity he directs Preble Street’s public policy portfolio on the local, State, and Federal levels. He has twenty-four years of experience as a senior international officer at Marquette University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Ramapo College of New Jersey. In those positions he provided oversight for education abroad including SIBAYNE, a community-based learning program in Cape Town, South Africa; strategic international partnerships; and recruitment, admission and visa advising for undergraduate and graduate students. He received his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Peace Studies and Government from Manhattan College in Riverdale, Bronx. He is an attorney receiving his Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University in New York City. He was a criminal defense attorney for the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn, N.Y.; a human rights attorney in Chile investigating and documenting the disappeared and executed under the Pinochet regime for the Commission of Truth and Reconciliation; and directed an international public policy office in Washington, D.C. Presently, he is Legal Advisor and ex officio Board member for the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA), a Board member for the International Institute of Wisconsin (IIW) and Maryknoll Lay Mission Association. His research interests are human rights, rule of law, restorative justice, and poverty law.
Matt Tanzi is a practicing artist and educator currently working in Portland, Maine. After earning his Master of Fine Arts degree from MECA&D in 2015, Tanzi spent his career supporting the arts community through workshops, afterschool programs, and his work as a teacher at Portland High School. Tanzi's studio practice is rooted in animation and he is currently developing a graphic novel with the intent to inspire youths to share their voice through art.
With Kristel Thyrring (NAMI Maine) and
Tracey Menard (Deering High School)
5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 18, 2021
Free, virtual program
NAMI Maine’s Youth Mental Health Program Director Kristel Thyrring (she/her/hers) is a licensed social worker and nationally certified instructor for a variety of evidence-based trainings. Thyrring has been in the social service and mental health field since obtaining her degree in Social Science in 2014. She dedicated to bettering the lives of our young people by amplifying voices, encouraging advocacy, and providing education.
Tracey Menard has been an educator for 14 years. For 12 of those years, she has been creating an Alternative Ed Program at Deering High School in Portland. She chose to teach Alternative Education because she enjoys helping students achieve the high school diploma despite the many obstacles they may be facing. She also enjoys this niche in education because it allows her, as an educator, the freedom to operate a democratic and responsive classroom. When she is not teaching, she is taking forest baths, reading wonderful books, and enjoying friends and family.
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
