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Emily Dech, who is a second-grade teacher in the St. Paul school district and a graduate student in the MAEd program, led a breakout session at the recent Coalition to Increase Teachers of Color and American Indian Teachers in Minnesota conference. The session was entitled “Supporting Teachers of Color Through Affinity Groups.” She writes:

“I am half-Chinese and never saw myself in my education growing up. I did not have any teachers of color and was not represented in my school’s curriculum. I don’t want any of my students to experience that. Instead of mulling over how I didn’t fit into my education, I wondered how to create a space for fellow teachers of color and me. This project on affinity groups is the result of this curiosity.”