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Home > The 21st Century Classroom > #vted Reads: Dig


	Podcast:		The 21st Century Classroom
	Episode:		#vted Reads: Dig
	Category:		Education
	Duration:		01:10:04
	Publish Date:		2022-01-27 18:20:57
	Description:		Listeners, I’m going to ask you to bear with me on this one. This is one of my favorite episodes we’ve ever recorded because in it, you’ll hear students at U-32 school in Montpelier, Vermont, get to bring their questions about the book “Dig”, by A.S. King, directly to the author. If you haven’t read it, “Dig” is a powerful young adult novel talking about white experiences of white supremacy in the United States. And from the questions these students brought author A.S. King, it resonates deeply with students as they work to dismantle racism in this country. So why am I asking you to bear with me? We recorded this conversation over Zoom, and all the students in this episode, along with fabulous librarian Meg Allison, were in their school, so all were masked. Let me draw you a picture, listeners: A.S. King in her attic bower, me in my lovely home recording space, and Meg and her students gathered around a library table in the school library in Montpelier. As the students all come up to the laptop to talk with King, you may hear chairs scraping or shoes scuffing, the laptop being jostled — the whole deal. That’s why we’ve also made this episode available as a full captioned video on our YouTube channel, so if that’s more your speed, you have that option available. Thanks for bearing with us and remembering how much educators and students have to bear right now. I’m Jeanie Phillips, and this is Vermont Ed Reads, talking about what educators and students in Vermont are reading. Let’s chat. https://soundcloud.com/innovativeed/dig?si=672b0036b26547f2b99837fbffbd90e8&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing Meg: To be able to talk to the author of Dig! We have spent the last month talking and reading about it, and it has sparked so many conversations. Students are invited to come up and ask a question. Really, thank you so much, Amy, I want the kids to take this away. Amy (AS King): I have a question, though, for you. What made you decide to do this? What made you like, what started this whole thing? Meg: After I had read this book, I found it like it's an essential book. It's an essential book for young people to read. And so, we are hosting book groups here as well. It's just, I think it actually should be like a part of our curriculum. And I know some of our students are going to talk to you about that. But especially in Vermont, we are a school that flies a Black Lives Matter flag out on our flagpole. Amy: That’s why I want to move there Meg, that's why I want to move there. Meg: We’re a school that successfully raised a student-led campaign to ban the Confederate flag on our campus, not just the parking lot, but on campus. And it sparked conversations in our school. And as we evolve in these conversations towards equity and racial justice, really thinking about like, what is our role as white students, white people, white humans? And in your book, just like Jeanie, and I were speaking before you get on the call, we can't think of another book that unpacks the roots of white supremacy and the way that you do. So, this is conversation sparker that we hope continues throughout our building. Amy: Awesome. All right, let's give it to the students. And thank you for that explanation, because I didn't know where exactly this started. So good morning, guys. How's it going? How's Vermont today? Students: Cold. Amy: Awesome. Throw questions at me. Ask me whatever you want. I'm an open book, no pun intended. Elijah: Yeah. So I'm Elijah. And so my question basically comes down to this. So I I'm currently talking with English teachers here about putting this book as part of our curriculum, because it's far better than some of the other books we're reading. But I want to know about your decision to write it as a young adult book? Amy: Ah, brilliant question. Excellent. Thank you. Nice to meet you, Elijah. Great question. Well, here's,
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