As you may know, the academy was created by UTSA MAS faculty in 2014 as part of the statewide movement to bring MAS to Texas Prek-12 public schools. The only academy of its kind in the state, the MAS Teachers' Academy is a scholar-teacher-community powered effort that provides educators with foundational content and curricular support to teach MAS in our schools. The academy also introduces teachers to Chicanx Studies pedagogies and teaching/learning approaches that speak to MAS' commitment to student academic success, community empowerment, and social change. 

This year’s theme of “Floricanto” will highlight children’s and young adult literature, poetry, storytelling, teatro, performance, and other creative expressions as humanizing pedagogies and will focus on: 

- Celebrating heritage and cultivating social consciousness
- Recovering lost histories, preserving ancestral knowledge and storytelling, and inspiring social justice 
- Engendering self-reflection (dialogue with the heart) with students as a way of deepening knowledge of the self in relation to community, the world and all our relations
- Cultivating a sense of belonging and sacred purpose 
- Creating spaces of collective joy, imagination, and beauty as "creation resistance" to borrow from Dr. Roberto "Cintli" Rodriguez

You don’t need to be a MAS teacher to attend! All teachers are welcome. We’re excited to have an outstanding line-up of Chicanx Studies scholars who will share their scholarship, and primary and secondary education teachers who will facilitate curricular workshops and share TEKS-aligned lesson plans that center literacy, language, history, and culture. Please use the QR code on the flyer to register or the link below: https://tinyurl.com/MASTARegistration2024 

Registration for teachers: $127

Registration for pre-service teachers and community members: $50