Welcoming Our Newest Advisory Board Member
The California History-Social Science Project is pleased to announce our newest Advisory Board Member, Shomara Gooden! California's Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond, recently appointed to the Board Gooden, a veteran teacher with deep roots in the CHSSP teacher-leadership network. Gooden has worked as a 7th-grade history teacher with the Lynwood Unified School District for over twenty years. At Cesar Chavez Middle School, she has served as Department Chair, a Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) provider, and the Gifted and Talented School Site Coordinator (among other roles).
We asked Gooden to share an important experience she has had with the CHSSP and she shared this with us:
One collaboration that has had special meaning for me has been when I had the opportunity to work with historian and author Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson and a fantastic group of educators from Santa Monica. Together we worked on a curriculum development project that explored the history of the early African American community of Bel Mar in Santa Monica and neighboring beach communities such as Manhattan Beach. UCLA History-Geography Project Director Dr. Daniel Diaz supported and worked with us until we completed every aspect of this unique project...In working with Dr. Jefferson, I have learned so much. However, I am still curious about the lives of California's early African American communities and other communities who have had land and property unfairly taken away from them. Hopefully, sharing this history with teachers and the public will make it that much harder for this to happen again.
In addition to this experience, Gooden has supported the CHSSP as a teacher leader for more than fifteen years writing curriculum, appearing as one of our most popular presenters, and serving as a teacher coach. Appointed by Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, we are grateful that she has joined our Advisory Board and look forward to the leadership she will continue to provide!