Coupled with costumes, Goode and Lafayette mentioned books present extra context concerning the tales and accomplishments of present and historic figures. When Goode dressed as Ann Cole Lowe, the primary famous Black designer, she learn Fancy Get together Robes by Deborah Blumenthal and Laura Freeman to her college students. All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson by Carole Boston Weatherford and Ashley Evans paired completely with Lafayette dressing as the primary Black Supreme Courtroom justice final yr.
![Lafayette holds up Patricia's Vision: The Doctor Who Saved Sight while she is dressed as Dr. Patricia Bath, a groundbreaking ophthalmologist who pioneered laser surgery.](https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2023/10/image2-800x800.jpg)
Lafayette advisable utilizing anthologies like Goodnight Tales for Insurgent Ladies as a supply of concepts and a method to rapidly share biographies. Moreover, she makes use of a program known as Flip (previously Flipgrid) to report movies of herself studying image books about well-known figures whereas dressed up in order that college students can have interaction with the tales at residence, too.
Preserve prices low with planning
Goode and Lafayette attempt to not spend an excessive amount of cash placing collectively their outfits. Goode was capable of hold prices low by involving college students in creating her outfits, which additionally elevated their engagement. “My students were in the classroom during their lunchtime and recess time, helping me actually physically build and make these costumes,” mentioned Goode. When her college students discovered about George Crum, who popularized the potato chip, Goode dressed as a chip bag. Her college students spent every week accumulating chip baggage and used them to create a ground size skirt that Goode wore all day. Mother and father and colleagues, who see how the outfits captivated college students, are equally invested. They lend objects every time a selected merchandise is required, equivalent to a tennis racket for Serena Williams or a sizzling comb to finish a glance as Madam C.J. Walker or Annie Turnbo Malone.
![](https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2023/10/IMG_3875-scaled-e1697567666313-800x1067.jpeg)
Moreover, Goode used an Amazon wishlist so neighborhood members, colleagues and mates may assist her buy costlier objects. That’s how she obtained her Mae Jemison astronaut jumpsuit and her Jackie Robinson jersey. “Now I have them in my trunk at my house for me to be able to use for the future,” she mentioned. Lafayette accepts donations. She obtained a lab coat from a pal who didn’t want it after she accomplished a school chemistry class and used it to be Kizzmekia Corbett, a Black immunologist who labored on the coronavirus vaccine.
“My outfits a lot of times are things that I just have in my closet that I arrange in very strategic ways,” Lafayette added. As an illustration, a blazer, button down shirt and a reputation tag can be utilized to embody quite a few historic males. She makes use of her Cricut machine so as to add small prospers like Autumn Lockwood’s NFL go. “If I buy something, I make sure it’s something that could be applicable to multiple people and think about all the different ways that I could use a particular item to get the best bang for my buck,” Lafayette mentioned.
Begin small and keep in your lane
For academics who need to have interaction their college students by dressing up, Goode and Lafayette advisable beginning small. “The internet, especially ‘teacher-gram,’ can be such an intimidating place for educators, especially new educators,” mentioned Goode, referring to instagram accounts the place academics submit about how they’re innovating within the classroom. Every trainer has completely different capability and completely different wants of their classroom, she mentioned. “You are the secret sauce to making whatever you want to happen in your classroom.”
Lafayette suggested academics to set lifelike expectations for themselves by dressing up as soon as a month or as soon as every week. Honing in on a selected class could make issues simpler too. For instance, if a trainer desires to deal with STEM they could gown up as innovations or famend inventors.
![](https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2023/10/image0-800x1067.jpg)
They warning towards being too reductive or carrying folks’s tradition as a fancy dress. A superb rule of thumb is that if a trainer feels any uncertainty, don’t do it. There are methods to spotlight various folks with out being offensive. “I’m not going to come to school in a hijab,” mentioned Lafayette. “But I can make those books available for my kids and have conversations with them all throughout the year.”
Goode mentioned carrying t-shirts with figures on them is a low-stress method to introduce sure figures with out dressing up. “I had a Tupac shirt. I had a Nina Simone shirt,” mentioned Goode, who wore these when she wasn’t feeling as much as creating a complete themed outfit.