Cherese Smith

Cherese Smith teaches eighth and ninth grade history at Ozark Junior High School in Ozark, Arkansas. She has a Bachelors Degree and Masters in Teaching from the University of Arkansas.

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From Arkansas to Boston: Learning Across the Conservative/Liberal Divide

Posted by Cherese Smith on July 9, 2018

Last summer, Catherine Epstein, a Facing History middle school teacher in Boston, Massachusetts, posted a request on Facebook. She was looking for teachers who might be interested in starting a pen pal project with her students. She wanted to give young people the chance to interact with other peers from an entirely different background, with the goal of building empathy. As a teacher in Ozark, Arkansas, a rural, conservative town, I thought my class would offer the right contrast to Catherine’s urban, liberal environment. It was a refreshing idea and the start of a wonderful friendship for the two of us—and our students.

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Welcome to Facing Today, a Facing History blog. Facing History and Ourselves combats racism and antisemitism by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe.

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