12 PM    EASTERN STANDARD TIME

Welcome & Digital Vision Board Making with Dr. Khadijah Ali-Coleman

Create a digital vision board using Canva while meeting other homeschooling parents. This session is the event kick-off led by Dr. Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman, founding director of Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars, LLC. Dr. Ali-Coleman homeschooled her daughter off and on for 13 years and graduated her from their family's homeschool in 2021. Dr. Ali-Coleman is a scholar, writer, and performing artist. She is the 2023-2026 Poet Laureate of Prince George's County, MD and the executive director of the Hurston/Wright Foundation.

1PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME-   (Session A) 

Using AI to Homeschool Better with Carlos Birdsong

Carlos Birdsong is an experienced IT professional with over 20 years in software development, network engineering, and IT education, holding a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Middle Tennessee State University. A veteran and holder of multiple certifications from Microsoft and Amazon, Carlos is also a dedicated homeschool parent and blogger, focusing on the integration of AI and education to promote equitable access to technology and information.

1PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME-   (Session B) 

Curriculum Activities for Children's Books & YA Books by Black Book Authors

The Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation (Hurston/Wright Foundation) is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization that honors, discovers and mentors Black writers. The Feb-June 2023 Hurston/Wright Writer-in-Residence, B. Sharise Moore, created a database of children’s books and Young Adult (YA) books by Black authors with corresponding curriculum activities that she developed for Hurston/Wright's #ReadBlackBooks initiative. She debuted this database in June 2023 during the inaugural #ReadBlackBooks hybrid conference presented by the Hurston/Wright Foundation. This BFHES Teach-In session will feature books from the database and include an overview of the database which includes curriculum activities. Get ideas for your homeschool planning and learn how to access and use the database.

B. Sharise Moore is a multi-genre author, curriculum designer, and Poetry Editor for FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction. B. Sharise Moore served as the judge in the Speculative Fiction Category for the 2023 Hurston/Wright Foundation's Legacy Awards.In 2020, she received the Sustainable Arts Foundation Award for YA Fiction and her poem, "Black Beak" was nominated for a 2022 Dwarf Star Award. In 2022, she edited Conjuring Worlds: An Afrofuturist Textbook for Middle and High School Students. Her forthcoming books include Fangs, Feathers, and Folklore: a field guide of African mythological creatures (Algonquin Young Readers, 2024) and Fatimah’s Fantastic City, a picture book from HarperCollins (2025). B. Sharise is a writing coach and has taught virtual writing and professional development courses with Hurston/Wright since Fall 2022. In addition, she has taught language arts instruction to homeschooling children for the past three years.  She lives in Baltimore, MD with her husband, son, and daughter.

2PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME-   (Session A) 

Why Black Homeschoolers Should Be in the Metaverse with Tracie Yorke

Tracie Yorke (she/her/ella) is a researcher, technologist, educator, and artist. She embarked on her homeschooling journey during the pandemic and currently serves as one of the directors in The Genius School’s Metaverse community. With a rich background spanning two decades, Tracie has served in various leadership roles in public and private education. Presently, she works as a freelance instructional consultant and serves as an adjunct instructor at Point Park University. Tracie is actively pursuing her doctorate in community engagement at Point Park University and concurrently holds the role of Scientific Literacy Graduate Research Fellow at the HBCU STEM US Research Center, housed at Morehouse College.

2PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME- (Session B)

Homeschooling While Running a Business with Jade Weatherington

Jade Weatherington, M.Ed, serves as the CEO and Founder of Teacher Jade's Writing Academy. With fifteen years of online teaching experience, she transformed her side hustle of teaching online into a thriving business following her departure from a traditional teaching role. This was when she began her homeschooling journey as well. Beyond her academy, she also guides aspiring entrepreneurs in creating, marketing, and selling online resources.

3PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME-   (Session A) 

Teaching History to Kids Under 10 During An Age of Book Banning with Dr. Sherri Mehta

Sherri Arnold Mehta is a Virginia-born and Maryland-based educator, researcher, presenter, and homeschooling mom with over twenty years of English teaching experience.  She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from Morgan State University, and completed her undergraduate degree at Hampton University.  
She homeschools her own elementary aged children and offers online classes to other young learners through Outschool and her own business, Freedom Fighters, Freedom Writers.  Additionally, she conducts presentations that specialize in the lives and letters of African American men who served with the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War.   As a homeschooling mother, she combines her love of literature and history to create a rich, immersive, and relevant learning experience for her children and those she is entrusted to teach.  She has several published articles, encyclopedia entries, and transcription work; has presented at various local, state, and national conferences, local museums, research centers, universities, and community spaces; and has appeared in various print articles and podcasts.  She currently serves as a volunteer with the Prince George's County Lynching Memorial Project that sponsors an annual racial justice essay and creative arts contest for local high school students in Prince George's County, Maryland.

3PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME-   (Session B) 

Homeschooling for High School

Homeschooling for High School doesn't have to be challenging! Whether your child is on a college pathway or preparing to enter the workforce immediately upon finishing, there are some options that you have to choose from based on your child's needs, interests and strengths. Also, let's be real, homeschooling depends on your strengths, too! The facilitator of this session will give a quick overview of how they keep track of it all! 

Kendra Price, a former public school chemistry teacher turned homeschool mom, is in her tenth year of homeschooling. She has four children and graduated her first college-bound homeschool graduate last year. Kendra believes homeschooling is an opportunity to love on your children, spark a love for learning in them, impart your faith, values, and heritage in them, and reclaim quality time as a family unit. She also believes that homeschooling is a solution to the school-to-prison pipeline, systemic discrimination, and low expectations associated with the public school system. Kendra is passionate about sharing her knowledge, homeschool resource
reviews, and experiences through her blog at www.aheart4homeschool.com. She also hosts A Heart 4 Homeschool Podcast and Clubhouse group, where she highlights the experiences of other black homeschool families to encourage others along their journey.

4PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME

Deschooling, Unschooling & Secular Homeschooling:
Navigating the Homeschool Landscape as a New Homeschooling Parent
with Dr. Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman

Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman, Ed.D. is a Maryland-based educator who graduated her daughter from their homeschool in 2021. She is a cultural curator, media professional, community organizer, nationally recognized speaker, and writer. She is founder of Liberated Muse Arts Group, executive director of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, the Poet Laureate of Prince George's County, MD and she maintains the youth development blog, So Our Youth Aspire (SOYA).

Dr. Ali-Coleman's work centers the social and political life experiences, history, and culture of the people of the African diaspora. Her academic work has been published in The Journal of Higher Education Politics & Economics, and the book Afrofuturism in Black Panther: Gender, Identity and the Remaking of Blackness. Her journalistic bylines have appeared in more than a dozen publications, including Ebony, Romper, The Grade, The Washington Informer and The Afro. She has been quoted in the media as a homeschooling expert, interviewed by Slate, Wired, The Washington Post, NBC and more. She is co-editor of the book Homeschooling Black Children in the US: Theory, Practice and Popular Culture. Her dissertation research study was titled, Dual Enrolled African American Homeschooled Students' Perceptions of Preparedness for Community College. 

Dr. Ali-Coleman will discuss ways to navigate the homeschool landscape as a new homeschooling parent, including going over terms and concepts commonly used within the homeschooling culture. 

4PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME

Creating a Homeschool Community Beyond the Internet
with Joyelle Naomi

Joyelle Naomi is a homeschooling mama of two children. She is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Denver Independent School and the visionary behind the Black Homeschooling Sustainability Initiative—an organization passionately committed to empowering and supporting families of color in their homeschooling journey. Joyelle is passionate about creating equitable and liberated systems of access and support for homeschooling families of color. Joyelle’s work includes advocating for and mentoring single, working homeschooling moms, curating STEAM education for students, and designing education spaces that support parents in cultivating sustainable home schools. Joyelle enjoys engaging audiences on various topics including faith-based homeschooling, practical strategies for homeschooling success, holistic approaches, and navigating homeschooling during challenging times. 

A proud Denverite, Joyelle loves the Colorado outdoors. She is a die-hard Trekkie famous for saying, “There’s a Star Trek episode for that!”

5 PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME

BFHES Teach-In Closing

As the teach-in ends, share closing thoughts with facilitators and learn how to stay connected with Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars, LLC

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