Teach Central America Week Events
Upcoming Events
Teach Central America Workshop
Monday, October 6, 2025
Join us for an online workshop on Monday, October 6 with educators who developed Central American Studies units for upper and lower elementary. They will present these lessons: “Cultural Identity Preservation Through Storytelling” and “Resistance and Advocacy of Marginalized Communities.” Hosted by the UCI History Project and the Central American Studies in K-12 Curriculum Project in collaboration with Teaching for Change.
First Grade
Unit Themes: Oral Storytelling, Cultural/ Identity Preservation, Spanish Bilingual Classrooms
In this mini-unit, Cultural Identity Preservation Through Storytelling (Bilingual), Charlene Mendoza shares how students can learn about the migrant stories of their families, their school community, and their local area through the cultural practice of storytelling through oral tradition and artwork. In the lesson, students create or retell a migrant story through a written narrative, accompanying art piece and oral presentation.
Charlene Mendoza (She/Her) I am a first-generation Mexican American. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in California. I never saw myself represented in the curriculum or materials. When I attended college and began my credentialing courses, the “diverse” resources or stories were often centered around the Mexican or monolithic “latino” experience. Now, working in the Pico Union community of Los Angeles, I see the urgent need to increase and improve the resources available to lower elementary teachers that focus on Central American Cultures.
Fourth Grade
Unit Themes: Afro-indigeneity, Resistance, Forced Migration, Erasure
Educator Nadia Gomez Orozco will present their lesson Resistance and Advocacy of Marginalized Communities (Dual Immersion Spanish) exploring the Garifuna and their history of forced migration and displacement. The lesson encourages students to study who benefits from erasure, as well as the resistance and advocacy of minoritized groups in the United States. Students listen, watch, and read multiple sources, and then create a multi-media Zine representing a minoritized group and their connection to resisting erasure.
Nadia Gomez Orozco (They/ Elle) My teaching philosophy connects deeply to my Queer, Indigenous, Mexican, Peruvian identity. As a child I struggled to feel seen, safe, and represented. Oftentimes feeling a strong sense of otherness. My students, however, deserve to be celebrated, validated, and encouraged to learn about themselves and how deeply connected we are to one another’s origin stories. Thus, working on this Central American Studies Curriculum Project has been an incredibly fulfilling experience for someone who is attempting to build puentes and plant semillas of community and connection.
Past Teach Central America
Related Professional Development
New Teach Central America Lessons
Online event series
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 4:00PM PT / 7:00PM ET
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at 4:00PM PT / 7:00PM ET
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 4:00PM PT / 7:00PM ET
For Teach Central America Week (October 7–11), Teaching for Change is partnering with the UCI History Project and the Central American Studies in K-12 Curriculum Project to share lessons developed by teachers in Los Angeles for elementary and secondary classrooms on Central America.
The lessons are on Garifuna and their history of resistance to forced migration and displacement; Afro-indigeneity; historical erasure; storytelling and oral history; Central American Indigenous leaders; the impact that the politics of El Salvador and the United States have on both Salvadoran migrants and their children; and more. The lessons use art, graphic novel development, role plays, timeline poetry, and more.
In one-hour online sessions, teachers will share highlights from their lessons and participants will engage in breakout group discussions with educators from around the country.
The sessions are free and professional development certificates are provided. Complete curriculum units will be shared with participants.
Introduction to Teach Central America Week
Friday, October 4, 2024, 6:00 PM
University of Arkansas, KIMP 410, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Join the University of Arkansas Central American Student Alliance and Jonathan Peraza Campos, program specialist for Teaching Central America to learn more about Teach Central America Week.
Participants will be introduced to the history, culture, and current events in Central America through an interactive lesson while also having some delicious pollo guisado.
We Are Also Here. Maya Migrant Stories from Turtle Island
October 4, 2024, 12:00 – 1:30PM
Emory University Woodruff Library Jones Room (3rd Floor), Atlanta, Georgia
Hear from Emil’ Keme, Professor of English and Indigenous Studies.
Las Muertes Más Bellas del Mundo Film Screening and Conversation
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2024 6:00-9:00PM
EDWARD ST. JOHN HALL, ESJ 0202
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
"Las Muertes Más Bellas del Mundo" (The Most Beautiful Deaths in the World) is a documentary film that tells the story of the Salvadoran diaspora in Washington, D.C. through the eyes of Salvadoran artists who make art out of war. The film follows a poet’s journey to find acceptance and healing through his writing, interweaving a collection of artist portraits – a photographer, a dancer and musicians – with a wider collective of voices and archival images to tell a compelling and intimate narrative of a community resolving trauma and finding identity, salvation, and joy.
Free and open to the general public. First come, first serve. Refreshments served following event.
Teach Central America Week: Preserving Legacy and Culture in L.A.
Thursday, October 10th, 2024, 6:00 – 8:00PM
University of California Irvine, Library Community Room B-131, Irvine California
Join the Central American Historical & Ancestral Society of California (CAHAAS) and the UCI History Project as we celebrate Teach Central America week with the Latin American Studies department and the University Library Special Collections & Archives at CSULA and hear about the various community efforts aimed at documenting and celebrating Central American history in Los Angeles. This year we are honored to highlight the community work of Dora Magaña (Nurse practitioner and artist) and Ricardo O’Meany (Salvadoran painter and activist). Participants will be able to tour a student-curated exhibit about Dora’s life as well as explore additional primary sources housed in CSULA’s special collections.
Poetry Reading: Daniel Caño
Thursday, September 26, 2024, 7:30 – 8:30PM
Emory University Ackerman Hall, Atlanta, Georgia
Renowned Guatemalan poet and scholar Daniel Caño (Q'anjob'al) read his poetry which explores themes of beauty, wisdom, spirituality, resistance and Western colonialism, and experiences in the contemporary Maya diaspora. The program was presented in Q’anjob’al Maya, Spanish, and English, followed by a conversation with Professor of English and Indigenous Studies, Emil' Keme (K'iche' Maya Nation).
The special exhibition Picture Worlds: Greek, Maya, and Moche Pottery on Level Three was be open for viewing from 6 – 7:30PM.
Beyond Heroes & Holidays: New Central American Voices
Wednesday, September 25 2024 6:30–8:30pm
Busboys and POets Brookland, Washington, D.C.
Anna Lapera, Bessie Flores Zaldívar, John Manual Arias, and Diana Rojas enchanted the audience at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, September 25. They shared stories about why they wrote their books with Central American themes, read excerpts, and responded to questions from the audience.
The session began with a welcome from Teaching for Change board member Nancy Raquel Mirabal and an overview of the Teach Central America campaign by Teaching for Change deputy director Keesha Ceran. Read more and view a streamed version of the event at the link below.
Indigenous Central America Educator Workshop
Wednesday, November 9, 2022, 7:00 PM – 8:15 PM EST
Many students in U.S. classrooms can trace their roots to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, as well as other Central American countries, yet the history of the region is largely absent from U.S. curriculum. There is even less regional-specific content focused on Central America’s rich and centuries-old Indigenous cultures, such as the Mayans.
This interactive, online session will provide teachers with strategies and resources for introducing the Indigenous history of Central America in their classroom. Participants will explore the Quiche Maya ancestral story including the Popol Vuh and the Maya origin story, which highlights the importance of corn and nature to the Maya. They will also learn about the Garifuna and other Indigenous communities throughout Central America. Connections will be made to Indigenous communities and the challenges they face today. Facilitated by Jonathan Peraza Campos, middle school teacher and Teach Central America program specialist with Teaching for Change. Workshop recommended for grade K-12 educators.
LA MANPLESA: An Uprising Remembered
Documentary Film Streaming NOW
On May 5, 1991, people took to the streets of Washington, D.C.’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood to protest the police shooting of a young Salvadoran man, Daniel Gomez. Through testimony, song, poetry, and street theater, this film weaves together the collective memory of one of D.C.’s first barrios and dives into the roots of the '91 rebellion. Streaming on PBS, America Reframed.
Tejiéndonos en Náhuat
Facebook Live Event, October 7, 2022 7:00 PM ET
A Spanish language event about the revitalization of the Náhuat language in El Salvador hosted by Casa de la Cultura El Salvador as a Facebook Live event.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day Curriculum Teach-In
October 1, 2022 | 12: 00 PM - 3:00 PM ET ( 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM PT)
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and Teaching for Change hosted an online teach-in with a series of workshops and keynote speaker, Rebecca Nagle.
Workshop on Indigenous Central America
Teaching Central America program specialist Jonathan Peraza Campos led a workshop that provided teachers with strategies and resources for introducing the Quiche Maya ancestral story in their classrooms. Participants explored the Popol Vuh, the Maya origin story, which highlights the importance of corn and nature to the Maya and other Indigenous communities throughout Central America. Connections were made to Indigenous communities and the challenges they face today.
The Color Line Belts the World: Race, US Empire, and Children's Literature
(Presentation at 1:04)Connected Diaspora: Central American Visuality in the Age of Social Media keynote address by Mauricio E Ramírez. Moderated by Teach Central America campaign advisor, Dr. Ana Patricia Rodriguez.
La Historia Oculta de la Bandera Salvadoreña. Hosted by Casa de la Cultura El Salvador