By Matt Barnum, Chalkbeat, July 8, 2021
Mackee Mason says families choose his Austin, Texas charter high school because it’s safe, with little bullying or fighting. Mason, the school’s principal and football coach, credits its ethnic studies courses.
The two classes, which students take in ninth and then 11th grade, feature discussion and instruction in LGBTQ history, colonialism, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, police brutality, and exclusionary immigration policies. That allows students, who are predominantly Black and Hispanic, to reflect on their own experiences and learn about others’.
“I know without a shadow of a doubt that that is the number one reason why we have such a special place,” Mason said. “We have these honest conversations that at times can be uncomfortable but we push through that to make a better space.”
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