The Children’s Opportunity Fund of The Greater Washington Community Foundation and National Education Association invite you to join us on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 -- for ‘What a Wonderful World! A Celebration of Cultural Relevancy in Education through Reading in Montgomery County’.

The event is part of Read Across America Day -- the nation’s largest celebration of reading which inspires individuals, both young and old, to pick up a book and read.

Hear from speakers including Montgomery County Council President Gabe Albornoz, Montgomery County Public School Board of Education Member Shebra Evans, Black and Brown Coalition Co-Founder Diego Uriburu, and others as they discuss ways to welcome our youngest learners to the wonderful world of reading.

Speakers will highlight the relationship between representation, literacy, and students’ academic success while drawing from their experiences at the local and regional levels. There will also be a read-aloud activity in both English and Spanish.

This event will be completely virtual, with new content released on our social media platforms (@communityfndn) at the top of each hour from 9:00am to 5:00pm.

Even though the event is virtual, parents, students, and educators are encouraged to participate by using the hashtag ‘#ReadAcrossMoCo’ on social media.

We hope you will join us for this celebration of reading in our community!

Join our quarterly Book Group to read and discuss The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones. Building on the award-winning work of The New York Times Magazine’s "1619 Project", this new book weaves together essays, poems, and works of fiction that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America and illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.

Our special guest speaker, Professor Anthony Cook of Georgetown Law, will offer reflections to help us think critically as we explore the implications of The 1619 Project for our aspirations to close the racial wealth gap in the Greater Washington region. Professor Cook is one of the founding stakeholders in the Critical Race Theory movement, teaches courses on Race and Democracy, and is the founder of the Georgetown Coalition for Racial Equity and Democratic Economy (CREDE) that focuses on building reparative and sustainable economies to close the racial wealth gap.

This quarterly Book Group series is designed as a space to foster growth, learning, and collaborative action among our donors and community partners of all races, places, and identities. We hope to promote courageous conversations as we come together to explore and reimagine the issues affecting the quality of life in our communities.

Our goal is to inspire and motivate our community as we work together towards creating a racially equitable, just, and thriving region where everyone prospers.

We hope you’ll join us!

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis, we were compelled to convene our community for a time to lament, heal, and hope together.

Reflections were led by:

• Rabbi Shira Stutman, Sixth & I Synagogue

• Rev. Aundreia Alexander, Esq., National Council of Churches

• Imam Makhdoom Zia, MakeSpace

• Tamara Wellons, Singer, Songwriter, Producer

• Rev. Raedorah Stewart, Reverend, Scholar, Author, Writing Coach