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United Airlines made a major misstep this weekend, one that may be familiar to school administrators.

Something was different at the school cafeteria. The menu included a vegetarian meal of elbow macaroni with cheddar cheese and broccoli. There was also a choice of a 100-percent-beef burger (without pink slime!) on a whole-grain bun. And there was ginger-carrot soup, whole-grain breads, leafy green salads, black beans and shredded cheese.

My middle school students had started to use words like “bum,” “creeper,” and “hobo” to describe people who are homeless in our city. To my eighth-graders, it was comic relief.

A school district in the midwestern town of Erie, Ill. found Todd Parr’s award-winning children’s book objectionable because it included references to gay and lesbian families. The school board gave in to pressure from a small group of outspoken parents and decided to remove The Family Book, written and illustrated by Parr, from their elementary school’s social and emotional development curriculum. According to school district Superintendent Brad Cox, the concerned parents took issue with the fact that "the book references families with two mommies or two daddies."

A family of four came to speak to my high school juniors and seniors. Two dads and their 16-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son talked about their family, the adoption process and their experiences with discrimination and prejudice.

Incorporate the ABF into your community and classroom with these activities.

Stories from the past, like those of Freedom Summer, serve to remind us that change happens when everyday people create it.

Help kids navigate our sometimes-violent world.

When LGBT teachers have to live in fear of being outed, their capacity to service students in an authentic way is diminished.

Introverts are often pushed to be talkative and outgoing. Doing so devalues their identities.