Editor’s note: The author of this essay prefers the pronoun they. In a poignant letter to their teenage self, Jey Ehrenhalt—a transgender educator and advocate—recalls jarring and painful experiences of their youth and describes how many schools urgently need to become more welcoming and supportive places for transgender students.
In this activity, students in the middle and upper grades will explore whether Obama's selection as the president of the United States marks a new era in America, one where race doesn't matter.