This month's resource is provided by Kurt Ostrow (MA '22), of Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia. Contact Kurt if you have a unit or teaching idea you'd like to share in a future issue.

Looking for literary texts that meet the moment? I recommend Danez Smith's "An Elegy for My Neighbor, Renee Good," whose rhetoric I analyzed with my 11th graders in AP Lang, but which I also excerpted with my 7th graders. To think about contextualizing the elegy in a larger conversation of how artists respond to current events—especially as witnesses—you could also compare/contrast it with Smith's 2014 "not an elegy for Mike Brown." Or you could listen to Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Minneapolis." I haven't taught it, but I believe students would have polarized reactions to the song. Following a class discussion/debate, you could read this New Yorker article about what we want from protest songs as well as this positive review in The Guardian. 

We ask current BLTN fellows to submit their mid-year reports by today, February 15, 2026. These reports help us to make connections across the network, plan content, and share your learning and work with fellowship donors. The BLTN Mid-Year Report form can be found here. 

For one of her BLTN projects this year, Sara Taggart of Mifflin High School in Columbus, Ohio invites you and your students to submit to a literary magazine showcasing points of view about the purpose of schooling. 

Submissions are due by March 13, 2026 and can be emailed to Sara at staggart792@columbus.k12.oh.us. 

"We seek to lift the voices of those involved in public education. What’s it like
to be a student? A teacher? What happens to you in this space? What are your connections to it? What do you wish others knew?" 

Read the full flyer about A Place for Us.

This fall, students in my English classes engaged in a unique college-community partnership through collaboration with Middlebury’s Beyond the Page (BTP) program, via the Bread Loaf Teacher Network. Our project at Aiken High School centered on a rigorous research process where students identified and analyzed pressing local issues within our community. To move beyond traditional reporting, students translated their findings into original scripts, using theater as a medium for dialogue and social reflection.

The partnership was deepened by the residency of Craig Maravich, Beyond the Page’s director. With support from a BLTN grant, Craig worked directly with the students to bring their scripts to life. His expertise helped the classroom transform into a production company, teaching students how to work together on a deeper level. By focusing on the relationship between the performer, the message, and the audience, students learned how to communicate complex community issues in an interactive, accessible way.

The impact of this collaboration was most evident during the final performances for an authentic audience, including Aiken community members, parents and organizers from multiple Aiken non-profits and agencies. The process of taking a local concern from a research paper to a public stage allowed students to see themselves as active agents of change. Reflecting on the experience, student Paul Hale shared:

"Learning how to act on stage really solidified the companionship within our classroom community. Sharing with an authentic audience made me realize how impactful we can be as teenagers."

Through this partnership, the "conflict" of local issues was transformed into a bridge for understanding, proving that when students are given the tools of artistic expression, they can advocate for a better community.

(A version of this article is featured in Middlebury College's February, 2026 Conflict Transformation Collaborative Newsletter.)

From left: Dr. Michelle Bachelor Robinson, Mackensi Crenshaw, Katie Cheng, and Donté Tates

Celebrating the life, legend, and legacy of the anthropologist, folklorist, writer, and change agent, Zora Neale Hurston, in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, high-school educators and BLTNers Donté Tates, Mackensi Crenshaw, and Katie Cheng joined BLSE professor Dr. Michelle Bachelor Robinson on a panel exploring Hurston's continuing legacy in and beyond the classroom. Michelle convened the panel titled "Woman on the Mountain: Exploring Hurston at Middlebury College, Bread Loaf School of English and Beyond.” Donté presented “Hurston, Progenitor of Womanism, the Liberation of Mules, and ALL! The Unapologetics of Black Womanhood in the Works of Zora Neale Hurston." Katie and Mackensi (whom Michelle credits with coining the term "Zoraverse" at Bread Loaf) both presented on how Hurston's ethnography has inspired podcasting projects they have introduced to their students, celebrating the empowerment that comes when students are given the opportunity and freedom to study their own communities.

Bread Loaf Professor Dr. Eric Darnell Pritchard's Community Literacies Collaboratory (CLC) recently announed its spring grant offerings. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/CLCgrants. The CLC's February newsletter offers resources for Black History Month, and short descriptions / promotions of recommended texts, including Dr. Pritchard's Clothes to Make You Smile: Patrick Kelly Designs his Dreams . 

Congratulations to Dr. Kayla Hostetler, one of three winners of the Hindman Settlement School's Oak Ledge Residency Writing Contest! 

Kayla wins a week at Hindman's James Still Cabin, where she will work on crafting a novel in a setting previously occupied by "numerous Appalachian literary giants." 

Read Hindman's announcement, and learn more about the contest and residency. 

Are you a dedicated educator passionate about shaping a peaceful future? If you’re committed to fostering critical thinking and civic responsibility in your students, BLTN's Middlebury Institute of International Studies colleague, Masako Toki, invites you to attend "Educating for Peace."

About the Conference (APRIL 25-26, 2026 in Cambridge, MA with optional dinner on Friday, April 24). 

This annual weekend-long conference seeks to bring together and empower middle and high school teachers to explore effective ways to teach students about the threats and historical legacies of nuclear weapons and instill in them a sense of shared responsibility and commitment to safeguarding the future of humanity’s peaceful existence. Conference sessions will include presentations by educators who are developing/implementing disarmament curricula in their classrooms as well as other nuclear disarmament experts. The conference will also feature workshops for participants to brainstorm and discuss lesson plan ideas, potential barriers, and how to grow and sustain a network of dedicated teachers. Apply here! 

If you haven’t yet done so, it’s time to re-enroll in BLSE!  Summer 2026 re-enrollment forms are now available on your portal, and dates and fees are posted on the website. We encourage you to apply early for the best funding options. The BLTN admin team begins reading the first round of fellowship applications next week.  See the Special Funding page for fellowships and scholarships. California teachers may be interested in the Global Change Fellowships for California Teachers, especially since this looks to be the final summer of our Monterey campus. The full list of 2026 courses and faculty is now live on the website. 

Note that special funding requires applying to Middlebury College's financial aid first. Financial aid and special funding applications are awarded in two rounds, mid-February and mid-April, then rolling, on a first-come, first-served basis. Please review aid and special funding application deadlines here.

Have you received a Change Action Grant, or a BLTN Fellowship that asks you to share the work you've planned with students? BLTN editors Tom McKenna and Kurt Ostrow are ready to help you find creative and succinct ways to share your work in the BLTN Journal. While we're especially eager to help develop pieces collaboratively authored by students and teachers, we'd also love to work with you to share work in other formats (teacher-authored pieces, annotated slides, video work, etc.).

Please reach out to us (Kurt and/or Tom) with your ideas, however tentative or well-developed. We'd love to help you craft something that shares your students' work with a wide audience. 

Please notify us of accomplishments you’d like to share in the monthly newsletter. Contact Tom McKenna if you’re interested in publishing in the annual BLTN Journal.

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