On the Road with the #OptOutBus2016: Coast to Coast Free Books for Kids Tour
Editor’s note: Susan and Shawn Dufresne are social justice and education activists. A brief introduction:
Susan DuFresne – Integrated Kindergarten Teacher with General Education and Special Education endorsements – 7 years in the Renton School District, Teacher of Professional Conscience, Co-Owner of the Opt Out Bus, Social Equality Educator, Artist, progressive and social justice education activist, unionist, mother and grandmother – The views I express are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer. #FreeSpeech
Shawn DuFresne – HVAC Technician, Co-Owner of the Opt Out Bus, progressive social justice and education activist, father, grandfather “I love giving free books to children who need them and allowing them to choose which book they’d like to read!”
My favorite part of the Opt Out Bus travel log are the personal stories Susan documents. They’re raw, honest, and sometimes heartbreaking. I hope you enjoy them as well and consider supporting the Opt Out Bus. -coeditor, Carolyn Leith
Shawn and I are on the #OptOutBus2016 Coast to Coast Free Books for Kids Tour.
We’re looking forward to meeting new families, giving books to kids along the way, sharing the#OptOut message, and getting together with fellow activists in cities hit hardest by corporate education reform.
Like the #OptOut movement- good things take time – and though we all want high stakes testing to be gone already, we accomplish more through standing strong together and living with each other through the process.
Day One
We stopped in Spokane, Washington to visit a dear friend, who is a fellow teacher, and her two beautiful, brilliant, kind, and loving daughters.
They all added to the bus with their ideas, including Lacy – Mary’s 3 year old who was able to phonetically spell and write “Lion” after she drew one and had asked, “Can someone write on the bus?”
Briyana – a 5th grader – wrote two messages. “Don’t make school boring.” and “Multi-age rocks!”
Mary wrote, “I teach children, not test-takers.”
Mary has embraced Project Based Learning for several years now, and although she teaches 5th grade and I teach kindergarten – we are able to collaborate across the state. I’m looking forward to dipping into PBL more this year with my kinders!
Shawn visited with several people about high stakes testing and why it is important to On the Road with the #OptOutBus2016: Coast to Coast Free Books for Kids Tour | Seattle Education: