We are NTA

“At NTA, themes of resistance and social justice run through Kibblewhite’s teaching. The nuclear discussion was a way to pull these themes together.

“It was gratifying to see students weave in all that knowledge at the end of the school year,” she said. “Students were really thinking about why the issue is so deeply complex, not just echoing the common narrative.”

In Gluckman’s classroom, the sixth graders examined the use of nuclear energy to reduce carbon emissions. Students studied the benefits of nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels. But they also explored the human impact of uranium mining and nuclear power plant disasters such as Chernobyl.

At NTA this school year, all four sixth grade classrooms will use the new nuclear curriculum. Kibblewhite and Gluckman are planning to add a call to action: Students might host a symposium for peers, parents, and teachers, or create poetry or art, or hold a press conference on the University of Chicago campus, home of the Manhattan Project.

“We want to support students to feel like activists, changemakers, and leaders,” Kibblewhite said.”

Chicago educators create new lessons on Asian American history, nuclear power

In 2018, a Circuit Court judge blocked a controversial plan by CPS to convert the National Teachers Academy, 55 W. Cermak, into a high school. When CPS decided within hours not to appeal the ruling, the plan was scrapped.

NTA remained an elementary school. As a high school, it mainly would have served the rapidly growing South Loop, as well as Bridgeport and Chinatown. Two years later, the Illinois General Assembly set aside $50 million in a new capital budget for a new high school to be built on the Near South Side, to the delight of Chinatown residents.

At the time, proponents acknowledged CPS would still need to commit upwards of $60 million for the project to have any chance. No apparent progress had been made since then, with a CPS spokeswoman saying this spring, “If state funding is re-appropriated, we are committed to assessing the feasibility for a new high school to service the region.”"

CPS sets aside $70M for long-sought Chinatown H.S., millions more for school playgrounds in new capital budget The funding was revealed Tuesday in the district’s proposed capital budget, which details construction and maintenance spending for the upcoming fiscal year starting July 1.

"These folks that fought for NTA are true heroes. They’re superheroes. We talk a lot about superheroes in movies, Marvel movies, or whatever. We got some real-life superheroes here. That’s the folks from NTA."

'Let The Little Light Shine' documentary follows the fight to save a public school to premiere in Chicago • The TRiiBE Chicago native Kevin Shaw hopes his new documentary inspires everyday people to step into their power.

Column: ‘Let the Little Light Shine’ takes on gentrification through one special public school Kevin Shaw's documentary on the struggle of Chicago's National Teachers Academy is a deep dive into gentrification. It is also an emotional roller coaster.