We want to hear from you.
We want to give voice — and a platform — to students, parents, teachers, administrators, advocates and others on the front line of trying to improve public education.
Chalkbeat Colorado is reviving First Person, a standing feature with guest contributors writing about pressing issues in public education.
The idea is not to write opinion pieces of the kind you’d find on newspaper editorial pages, although you may have a point of view. (Hey, everyone has something to say).
Our goal, rather, is to explore education issues through the eyes of our readers—the successes, the failures and the works in progress. We’re looking for essays of 500 to 750 words grounded in personal experience or observation.
Hopefully you have seen our first installment of the revived First Person — an excerpt from Denver teacher Kyle Schwartz’s new book, “I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids.”
Note that Chalkbeat’s equity mission means we are especially focused on schools and districts with high proportions of low-income students. While we won’t rule out anything out, we are far more likely to accept contributions focusing on historically underserved students. We also are looking to spotlight voices that are not typically heard.
We’re open to publishing pieces that have run elsewhere if the subject is a good fit.
Have an idea and want to know whether it will fly? Have any questions? Have a finished piece?
Drop us a line at firstperson@chalkbeat.org.
About our First Person series:
First Person is where Chalkbeat features personal essays by educators, students, parents, and others trying to improve public education. Read our submission guidelines here.