Home News RICHLAND TWO TEACHER NAMED ONE OF THE TOP 30 EDUCATORS UNDER THE AGE OF 30

RICHLAND TWO TEACHER NAMED ONE OF THE TOP 30 EDUCATORS UNDER THE AGE OF 30

1/19/2023

Award-winning Jackson Creek Elementary School teacher Valente’ Gibson has been named to the list of Top 30 Educators Under the Age of 30 by the International Literacy Association (ILA). ILA’s 30 Under 30 list celebrates rising innovators, disruptors, and visionaries in the field of literacy.

A fifth-grade teacher in Richland Two, Gibson’s research focuses on helping teachers develop racial and social education practices that celebrate black and brown learners, by promoting equity in the classroom. Gibson’s approach to teaching allows learning in a non-traditional way, emphasizing students’ individual strengths by incorporating culturally relevant writing practices in the classroom.

As a young student, Gibson said he remembers encountering only a few male educators of color and understands first-hand the importance of seeing himself and people who look like him in education. Gibson’s students benefit from practices including close connections with his student families and the freedom to write conversations in their home language.

Gibson believes that educators can adopt culturally relevant and inclusive practices if they critically explore and question cultural biases in their own practices. “The conversations that avoid in-depth discussions about racism and discrimination harm our schools,” said Gibson. “They give students the understanding that everything is OK. Perpetuating stereotypes to make our schools look inclusive is not the answer.”

In 2022, Gibson was named a Champion of Equity by the American Consortium for Equity in Education. In 2021, he was one of four teachers in the country to receive the Literacies and Languages for All (LLA) Reclaiming the Joy of Teaching Award from NCTE. Gibson was the Richland Two 2021-2022 District Teacher of the Year. In 2020, Columbia Business Monthly magazine featured him in their Best and Brightest 35 and Under publication.

His hope is that his presence in the classroom will inspire children and men of color to become educators.