By Bianca Nicolescu
In past years, NJAEA (formerly known as the NJEA Preservice) hosted the NJEA Preservice Academy, a series of virtual professional development workshops designed for aspiring and early career educators. Noticing a recent decrease in attendance to these virtual workshops, our NJAEA leadership team was determined to revamp it.
We created the Celebration of Culture Series, which aims to build engagement, better professional development and ultimately a culture of love for learning and prioritization of cultural responsiveness. This series of advocacy events will run throughout the 2024-25 service year, taking place across North, Central and South Jersey to ensure accessibility for all NJEA members.
Serving as the NJAEA President for the 2024-25 service year, I pioneered this idea after enjoying the NEA’s Minority Leadership Training and Women’s Leadership Training Conference in January of 2022. I was moved by many educators’ own personal experiences with discrimination, gatekeeping and oppressive positions articulated by fellow colleagues.
Fanny Cruz-Betesh, a teacher in Ridgefield Park particularly inspired me to create programming like the Celebration of Culture. In her school building, she began conversations with her school administration about the lack of diversity and inclusion with regard to curriculum and hallway displays despite the district’s outward mission of cultural sensitivity. Each month, she advocated for school faculty to find ways to bring students attention to the following months that students should be aware of and that schools should recognize.
- Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 — Hispanic Heritage Month
- October — Week of Respect (Begins the first Monday in October)
- November — Native American Heritage Month
- January — Holocaust Remembrance Day, MLK Jr. Day
- February — Black History Month, Lunar New Year
- March — Women’s History Month
- April — Arab American Heritage Month, Autism Acceptance Month
- May — Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Mental Health Awareness Month
- June — LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Juneteenth
- July — Disability Pride Month
Our NJAEA series started off in September by celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Participants learned about the best practices for supporting Spanish-speaking learners in the classroom by learning basic elements of the Spanish language and how to correctly pronounce traditional Hispanic names. Attendees also enjoyed delicious empanadas and yuca from a local Puerto Rican restaurant and entered a book raffle featuring three elementary-level books that celebrate Hispanic culture. A heartfelt thank you to Jeremias Salinas for his outstanding presentation.
In October, our NJAEA Political Advocacy Committee Chair, Drew Kazim, organized a celebration of voting rights by setting up a tour of the New Jersey Statehouse and encouraging aspiring educators to vote and remain civically engaged.
This month, NJAEA is celebrating Native American Heritage Month by spotlighting the history of an Indigenous tribe. Finally, in December we will celebrate the Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas holidays with a potluck.
Members can register for these events at njea.org/celebration-of-culture-series.
Despite these months of celebration, we have to keep in mind that this history and more largely, these underrepresented groups deserve recognition beyond just one month of celebration. Whether it’s history, math, English, science or another subject area, educators have the opportunity—and the responsibility—to incorporate a range of historical narratives and ideas that reflect diverse lived experiences as well as our shared humanity.
Putting students’ intersectional identities at the forefront of learning challenges traditional boundaries of subject matter by integrating social justice, equity and elevated cultural understanding into our educational values. When we prioritize humanity over rigid curricular content and embrace creativity in lesson planning, we can transform how education is perceived and experienced, fostering more inclusive and meaningful learning environments.
Bianca Nicolescu is a senior at The College of New Jersey and is president of the New Jersey Aspiring Educators Association. Learn more about NJAEA (formerly NJEA Preservice) at njea.org/njaea.