Welcome to the Essence Program.
Program Overview
The ESSENCE Program is a curriculum and professional development 501c3 not-for-profit corporation that operates in three components. The ESSENCE Teachers' Academy, a week-long summer seminar, is a mechanism for systematically conveying native-centered content to teachers. During the morning sessions of the Academy, teachers listen to presentations by African American Louisiana performance artists, authors, and musicians; librarians and curators; and cultural and legal historians whose scholarship focuses on the experiences of people of African descent in Louisiana. Each afternoon, the teachers break into small groups based on their grades and, with the Louisiana comprehensive curriculum in their subject areas and grade level expectations at hand, develop lesson plans based on the native-centered content they received during the morning sessions.
As follow-up to the Teachers' Academy, the teachers participate in Professional Development Workshops during the academic year. The workshops are structured like the Teachers' Academy, with presentations in the morning that introduce new native-centered content and afternoon breakout sessions during which teachers refine existing, and develop new, lesson plans.
ESSENCE Assessments measure and document the knowledgebase and skills teachers can be expected to demonstrate as a result of their participation in ESSENCE throughout the year. They supplement state-administered standardized tests by measuring the impact of ESSENCE on student performance and classroom culture over the course of the academic year. They also empower teachers to contribute to the assessment process by collaboratively constructing, administering, and measuring the impact of supplemental instruction on their students' total classroom performance.
