Annual program raises awareness about education


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EdMonth is a monthlong program at USC dedicated to raising awareness about the state of education in the United States. It will be hosting an event every Thursday from now until March to spark conversation about education on campus. The EdMonth theme this year is “Spark a Movement — from Classroom to Community.” The executive board hopes to bridge the gap between USC and the local community with its creative new plans for this year.

“It’s an annual tradition at USC and it started three years ago by a group of students in USC Program Board,” said Hannah Nguyen, the Executive Director of EdMonth. “It’s meant to empower [students] to become advocates for educational justice no matter what they go on to do in their lives.”

The first EdMonth only consisted of about five speaker events, in which students came to listen to educational leaders. The program has gained momentum over the past three years and the board plans to further the original mission of EdMonth while bringing more variety to their events this year. There will be more than 15 events in March, including the annual kick-off panel and a new signature event, an outdoor arts in education festival.

The arts festival will be EdMonth’s first physical exhibit. It will bring the work of more than 500 local students to the University Park campus and emphasize the value of arts and creativity in the U.S. educational system.

EdMonth has already hosted events such as “The Danger of Silence: An Evening with Clint Smith” at Ground Zero last Wednesday. Clint Smith spoke on his experiences as a teacher and advocated for the importance of youth empowerment, especially during the Black Lives Matter movement. The first seminar, DebatED, was also held last week. It consisted of a panel discussion about Teach for America featuring Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig. Other EdMonth seminars that are part of the EngagED series will be taking place every Thursday until March.

The EdMonth board members plan on stressing student and community voices this year since they believed there was not enough local community presence in previous years. The board is striving to expand the EdMonth program each year with more speakers and larger events.

The program’s board has been working to expand the promotion of EdMonth to attract more people’s attention. Nguyen ahopes that their events before and during the month of March will stimulate ongoing conversation about the political and social issues surrounding education today.

“We want this to be a place where the community voice can be elevated,” Nguyen said. “So many students here at USC go to work or volunteer with the community and local students through JEP and other programs. We want to service a lens into that community to help people better understand the conditions of schools and empower them to further education and be a part of the movement.”