“Sara! I am so inspired!” That is what I heard each month when my colleague, Rebecca Oravec, would call me after her CommunityShare Fellowship meetings a few years ago. Our principal sent out an invite to participate in a monthly fellowship focused on student voice, community partners, and real world projects. When I heard about it, I knew I wanted to be involved. However, the meetings were an hour away from me so I had to pass the first year. So I lived vicariously through Rebecca’s participation in the Fellowship. She would call me after each meeting on her drive home and share about what CommunityShare is. And since then, we have been working to bring the CommunityShare model to teachers and classrooms around our district.
CommunityShare is several things but it is primarily a nonprofit organization that started with the vision of creating a human library. As teachers, we are the experts in our students and pedagogy but sometimes we don’t have all the content knowledge answers. But what if we could find a volunteer to come to our classroom that had that expertise? CommunityShare created a website where teachers and Community Partners can sign up to connect over student projects. Teachers create a project on the website where they describe what type of partner would be the best fit. Then they can send that project to a community partner or community partners can initiate communication with the teacher.
From there CommunityShare created a Fellowship where teachers could gather to learn how to create classroom projects that give students real-world learning experiences, are codesigned with the students and the partner and include student voice and choice throughout the process to elevate student engagement. I am part of the fellowship in my district in Southern Arizona. Each month, we meet to plan our projects, collaborate, and grow as educators. The teacher that would call me about the fellowships is now the Facilitator and Program Manager for the fellowship that helps 20 teachers in my district participate in CommunityShare Projects.
Evan Grae Davis (left), Sara Mora (middle), Dustin Williams (right)
My projects in the past have brought lawyers into my classroom to teach my students about mock trials. Last year I had several storytellers help my video students learn the art of telling a story and a professional videographer, Evan Grae Davis (pictured) gave them feedback on their video promotional video projects for different clients around our school campus. Mr. Davis is the owner and filmmaker behind the scenes of Tucson Media Studios. Mr. Dustin Williams, Pima County Superintendent, came to visit my class the day that Mr. Davis came as well.
To learn more information or to sign up, go to https://www.communityshare.org/.
Sara Mora
Sara Mora has been living her dream of being a teacher for the last 12 years. She studied Elementary Education at the University of Arizona and was selected as a Rodel Oustanding Student Teacher. Sara taught 1st grade in Nogales for 3 years before moving to 2nd grade in the Sahuarita Unified School District to be closer to home. In 2017, she obtained her Master’s in Educational Technology from Northern Arizona University. This degree opened the door for her to move into a brand new position at the newest K-8 in Sahuarita. Sara was tasked with designing and implementing a middle school Career and Technical Education program geared towards college and career exploration. And though not required, Sara worked towards getting certified in Career and Technical Education so that she could do justice to her position. After her first year in this position, she was selected as an Arizona Education Foundation Ambassador of Excellence Teacher of the Year for 2021. When she’s not teaching, she’s advising her Video Production Club and facilitating Technology Professional Development for her district. In her spare time, Sara also works as a health coach, enjoys volunteering her tech skills at church, traveling with her husband and son, reading, and making Tik Tok videos.
Comments 1
Connecting with the community is so important! We are having a career day presentation and trying to connect with our community in that way. I love that you attached the website. I will be sure to give it to our family support specialist to see if she can get some more support and community involvement in the community near our school.