Nurturing Future Activists”: Inside the Plan to Turn Preschoolers Into Political Organizers

...The Rutgers Connection The approach also appears in university-produced teaching materials.

Rutgers’ 2023 elementary curriculum names Philly Children’s Movement as a partner on page 13. Page 9 lists the morning-meeting framework among its teaching practices.

...Natalie Winters

“Nurturing Future Activists”: Inside the Plan to Turn Preschoolers Into Political Organizers Its “Radical Morning Meeting” program has already been piloted in four Philadelphia public elementary schools. 3 hours ago

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Preschool teachers were offered training to prepare children for what organizers called:

“a lifetime of justice work.”

The phrase appears in the published program for an April 18, 2026 educator summit hosted by Pennsylvania’s School in Rose Valley. Organized by the Greater Philadelphia Diversity Collaborative, the event targeted teachers working with children from preschool through second grade.

The workshop’s title was explicit: “Nurturing Future Activists.” Participants were to develop classroom plans for building the skills and attitudes needed for sustained activism, with practices they could introduce immediately.

Its listed instructor, Jarrod Green, is identified on the school’s staff page as a kindergarten teacher and former preschool director.

The same summit advertised another session introducing Philly Children’s Movement’s Radical Morning Meeting framework. Facilitators Sam Gerlach and Carrie Ryter were scheduled to demonstrate the approach and help educators plan its use in their classrooms.

That group has already taken its work inside Philadelphia public schools. Its own records describe classroom coaching, children writing demands to elected officials, and a strategy for changing society by changing how children are raised.

Turning Morning Circle Into Activist Training Philly Children’s Movement traces its origins to a January 2015 children’s march supporting Black Lives Matter. The organization subsequently expanded into workshops, consulting, and work with students and school administrators.

Its explanation of its mission is unusually direct:

“in order to create systemic change, we must change the way that people raise children.”

The organization describes young people as “co-conspirators” in reshaping both their thinking and the wider society.

Its classroom strategy uses routines already built into the school day. A November 2023 account identifies morning circles, community time, social-emotional learning periods, and advisory sessions as opportunities to introduce the framework.

Through a multiyear partnership with Partners in School Innovation, the group said it would coach kindergarten-through-eighth-grade teachers on implementation.

By February 2024, it named four participating Philadelphia public elementary schools: Alexander Adaire, Vare-Washington, General Philip Kearny, and Spring Garden.

At Adaire, the organization described a coach working with a first-grade teacher on lessons involving Nina Simone, Ruby Bridges, the civil rights movement, and the children’s story Hair Love. It characterized the work across the four schools as a pilot.

These are identifiable classrooms and an implementation arrangement, giving parents concrete places to examine how an outside activist organization influenced instruction.

Kindergarteners Writing Political Demands The same February account describes a separate Martin Luther King Jr. Day activity involving students, families, and educators at C.W. Henry Elementary School.

Children as young as kindergarten wrote letters to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker. According to the group, their demands included protecting Chinatown, combating book bans, addressing hunger and gun violence, and preserving school services.

This was an MLK Day activity involving families; the account does not establish that it was a required classroom assignment. It does show the organization translating its approach into young children addressing a public official about policy.

Outside schools, its past-events page documents participation in protests against Moms for Liberty and activities teaching people about the organization’s opposition to that group. Its community offerings have also included miniature protests using toys and kits containing small protest signs.

A seven-year-old’s letter asks Philadelphia’s mayor to raise the minimum wage during an MLK Day activity involving C.W. Henry School families. The politics surrounding its educational work are visible in its own event history.

The Rutgers Connection The approach also appears in university-produced teaching materials.

Rutgers’ 2023 elementary curriculum names Philly Children’s Movement as a partner on page 13. Page 9 lists the morning-meeting framework among its teaching practices.

On page 11, the guide asks educators:

“Am I engaging students in activism and taking action in their schools and communities?”

The document includes a third-grade unit titled “Becoming an Activist for Racial Justice.” Its activities include producing chants, songs, or protest signs. A concluding assessment asks students to present what they have learned about antiracist activism, including information obtained from community activists.

Rutgers describes the project as university-funded. It brought together faculty, kindergarten-through-fifth-grade teachers from five partner districts, and community organizations to develop lessons that teachers piloted and revised.

That establishes a further route into education: an activist group recognized as a curriculum partner, with activism incorporated into published learning activities and assessments.

Who Supports the Work? The Patricia Kind Family Foundation’s grant database lists a $10,000 general operating grant approved for Philly Children’s Movement in June 2021, followed by approval of $15,000 annually for three years in January 2023—another $45,000.

In July 2024, the group also announced general operating support from the Greenfield Foundation. I

“co-conspirators”

/

So,,,not theory,,,but admission !!!

...Natalie Winters

Read distraction-free on Substack
“Nurturing Future Activists”: Inside the Plan to Turn Preschoolers Into Political Organizers
Its “Radical Morning Meeting” program has already been piloted in four Philadelphia public elementary schools.
3 hours ago

32

12

13

Preschool teachers were offered training to prepare children for what organizers called:

“a lifetime of justice work.”

The phrase appears in the published program for an April 18, 2026 educator summit hosted by Pennsylvania’s School in Rose Valley. Organized by the Greater Philadelphia Diversity Collaborative, the event targeted teachers working with children from preschool through second grade.

The workshop’s title was explicit: “Nurturing Future Activists.” Participants were to develop classroom plans for building the skills and attitudes needed for sustained activism, with practices they could introduce immediately.

.

It’s time to end the publik skools.

Lesso #1 - White peebles is de enemy
Lesso #2 - Punch dem in dey heid n takes dere sheet o put dem im frun ob trane
Lesso #3 - Run

Knock out Game 101
Mini-mart Mob 102
Food Court Fracas 201
Waffle House Wastings 202
....

Yep.

Philly ping. What a disgrace.

A seven-year-old’s letter asks Philadelphia’s mayor to raise the minimum wage during an MLK Day activity involving C.W. Henry School families. The politics surrounding its educational work are visible in its own event history.

Was it written in CRAYON? Or was it in ink? Or in pencil?

Mr. Maier, please raise the minimum wage for our mommy n daddies (who r dey?).

Sorry I can't write like a 7 year old... But you got the point!!

I doubt a 7 year old in that preschool couldn't count to 7!

Another reason to HOMESCHOOL!!

Forget calling them schools. That is an indoctrination center. I wouldn’t let my children near the place or the evil people running it. they act more like Hitler every day.