On Thursday Marie Bigham will speak on the topic of “Race, Class, and College Access” in the MPR at 4pm. This is part of our Distinguished Speaker Series.  Bigham is the founder and Co-Leader of ACCEPT: Admissions Community Cultivating Equity & Peace Today.  After working as a college counselor in private schools in New York City, Bigham was inspired by a shooting at a community college in Dallas to start ACCEPT. The organization is now a collective of 4000 members from all aspects of college admissions dedicated to social justice and equity.  The organization encourages young women and students of color to apply for college and scholarships. Partnering with area colleagues, I share resources and information with counselors at under-resourced schools.

Eighth graders visited the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian on Wednesday as part of their American history class. Students learned about a variety of tribes indigenous to the United States and visited displays about Native American food, language, history and culture.

In last weekend competition for the Washington Urban Debate League eighth graders Maxwell Burton and Brandon Souverain earned an undefeated record and took 1st Place in the Junior Varsity Division. Seventh grader Aaron Smith and ninth grader Nassir Purnell Snowden earned 2nd Place. Meanwhile, Maxwell and Aaron took home the 4th and 5th best individual speaker awards in Junior Varsity as well. In Varsity, Jackson Lewis and D’Andre Person took 7th Place overall, and many Latin teams had winning records in the Novice Division.  Ms Lee-Bey, Latin’s policy debate coach, plans to hold a topic lecture at Latin PCS featuring assistant coach Jeff Hallock about immigration.