Center X News

Long Beach Commission Women and Girls

Congratulations to Vanessa Mosqueda, PLI Cohort 22

Congratulations to Vanessa Mosqueda on her appointment to the District 5 seat on the Long Beach Commission for Women and Girls, a commission with the commitment to advocating and advancing the well-being of Long Beach women and girls.

A path through plants in a greenhouse

What matters and what does not?

We can be filled with longing for something we cannot have, and simultaneously we can be grateful for what we’ve got — aware of what really matters and what doesn’t. – Lennon Flowers, CEO of The Dinner Party. This blog post reflects on the complex emotions that accompany the beginning of a new year, written by Natalie Irons, Associate Director of Instructional Coaching.

Sid Thompson

Remembering our friend and colleague Sidney Thompson, 1931 – 2023

His legacy speaks to everything we work to embody in our program, he was an innovative leader who disrupted systems to make change, he was a trailblazer being the first African American Superintendent in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and most importantly he was driven by his strong belief in the power of young people.

PLI and Partnership for Los Angeles Schools Celebration

The UCLA Principal Leadership Institute and the Partnership for LA Schools celebrated their ongoing collaboration to prepare the next generation of school leaders.  The two organizations have worked together since 2015 to build a better future for LA Area schools and the students and communities they serve, with funding from the Nicholas Endowment.

Between Mothers: The Power of Creativity Event

The Culture and Equity Project hosted “Between Mothers: The Power of Creativity” on October 14, 2023. The event not only connected hearts and minds, empowering and uplifting each woman, but also provided space for often-overlooked narratives – stories deemed unworthy but profoundly worth hearing.

Opening Doors of Connection

An alternate view of Halloween as a holiday overly focused on candy and commercialism was noted this week by Melissa Kirsch of the New York Times. She writes, “On Halloween we have a script for deliberate connection: I knock on the door, you answer the door, we connect in real time.”

Do We Always Have Choices?

Summer fun, adventure, and the heat (maybe) are now well in the past and the days have begun to shorten. As this transition of the seasons is upon us, what might be changing for you in your work?

New Grant to Build Pipeline of Middle School Teachers and Leaders

We’ve been awarded a five-year grant to build a pipeline of well-prepared middle school teachers and leaders with the knowledge and skills to serve in high-need schools and further positive outcomes for middle school students. This collaborative partnership project is intentionally interdisciplinary, with a focus on racial and cultural literacy and adolescent literacy.  

How we can make access to computer science education in California more equitable

Paula Nazario, Assistant Director of the Computer Science Equity Project, advocates in EdSource for two proposed California bills which aim to require all California high schools to offer computer science courses and widen the pool of authorized computer science teachers, with the goal of promoting equity and expanding educational opportunities in the state.

Check out our ‘Just News from Center X,’ a weekly web post and email news blast. It’s a great way to learn about issues of education and justice.

We are excited about the publication of  Preparing and Sustaining Social Justice Educators edited by our former executive director, Annamarie Francois, along with UCLA Center for Community Schooling director Karen Hunter Quartz.