Bringing black teachers to Seattle classrooms, if only for an hour

In Seattle Public Schools, the adult at the front of the classroom is usually a white woman — even though 53 percent of students in the district are children of color.

An event at Lowell Elementary School aims to change that, if only for one class period.

On Read Your Heart Out Day, black parents and community members are invited to take the teacher's place and read classrooms stories with protagonists of color.

Vida Sneed read her granddaughter's class Wind Flyers — a book about a little boy who grew up to become a Tuskegee Airman, just as Sneed's father did.

Sneed, a retired teacher, said she came to Lowell to show students that black grownups value education, too.

"Black adults love stories, love reading, and love you enough to be here to share that with you," Sneed said.

Down the hall, children gathered around Carrie Richardson's feet as she read them Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa.

Richardson, a career Seattle Public Schools teacher who now works as a substitute, said it's a meaningful event.

“I think it’s important, because it gives [children] an opportunity to relate to their own ethnicity, and also other people, and get to know who other people are, and how we feel about reading.”

Fifth-grader Manny Holder said he likes hearing stories about other black people.

"It means a lot to me, and it brings up the community, and brings up the school, too," Holder said. "So it’s really good for us, and telling us about black history."

Fifth-grader Nahome Mandefro says black grownups reading to their class "makes me know that other black people know that there are stories about our lives that are being told, and it’s not just us."

Eleven-year-old Feruz Tesfa says she likes hearing stories about historical black leaders.

"A lot of people know Rosa Parks, but there are a lot of people who have worked just as hard and haven’t been represented," Tesfa said. "So I feel like it’s a special day to represent those people who haven’t been represented in the past.”

Principal Sarah Talbot said she hopes when students of color see an adult who looks like them at the front of the classroom, they consider a career in education.

"I think our best bet for diversifying our workforce is starting with our students. I want our kids to be teachers."