Our Work
Enjoy full access to this curated body of work, including co-creations from Kass and Cornelius, their collaborations with educators and media outlets from around the globe, as well as their individually published works and curriculum resources!
Podcasts
Ep. 72: Liberate & Chill–Embracing a Mindset of Possibility
In this episode, we interview two of the four co-founders of the collective Liberate and Chill “an immersion online learning experience for anti-racists educators.” Kass and shea walk us through the inception and development of this new collaboration. As we consider this current place and time, we are looking towards the future not as a “return to normal” but a “turn to better.” We’re reminded albeit contradictory, liberation looks like both joy and rest.
#ItsPersonal II 42. Kass Minor talks being a busy mom, strong family values and education.
Kass Minor is a rockstar teacher. She is also a ROCKSTAR MOM. Kass chats how she navigates it all in the busy city of New York. She shares how she met her husband and what they do as a family to keep strong family connections and traditions.
S9 Episode 3: Creating a Culture of Inquiry with Kass Minor and Trevor MacKenzie
Brianna Winiesdorffer returns to 3Ps in a Pod to talk with hosts Danielle and Kathleen about her first year of teaching as she nears the end of the school year. 3Ps in a Pod first featured Winiesdorffer in March 2020 as she neared her graduation from Northern Arizona University. Danielle and Kathleen then caught up with “Ms. Winnie” a few months into her teaching career last December…
Articles, Interviews, & Panels
Making the Most of Parent-Teacher Conferences During Distance Learning
Partnering with families is one of the most powerful ways to promote a sense of communal ownership in a child’s learning experience. How we partner with families has evolved as we experienced remote and/or hybrid instruction. Maybe we’ve met our students’ families through our email inboxes, or maybe there’s been the luxury of an in-person meeting at the school yard or in years past…
Black Boys and White Educators
Asa white educator who works to build inclusive spaces with many teachers, students, parents, and school leaders, I grapple with the concept of critical humility: the paradox of knowing and not knowing at the same time (European-American Collaborative Challenging Whiteness 2005). I accept that my knowledge is partial but continue moving forward…
Published Works
The “Transforming Systems” primer is designed to accompany Kass’ book, Teaching Fiercely: Spreading Joy and Justice in Our Schools. Consider using it as a launchpad to a book club, or on your own to journal how you are thinking about your sphere of influence towards school change.
Outside, Inside Curriculum: A Resource for Reflective & Strengthened Literacy at Home and at School
The Outside, Inside Curriculum, co-created by author/illustrator LeUyen Pham and educator Kass Minor, and sponsored by The Author Village, includes rich conversation, and multimodal activities to help caregivers and educators develop a foundational landscape for engaging kids in authentic conversation and reflective practice grounded in and connected to the 2020-21/Global Pandemic teaching and learning experience.
Grow Your Family’s Reading Life! An Intergenerational Author Study on Meg Medina
This Spring, I had the great privilege to work with Newbery Medalist, NY Times best-selling author Meg Medina! The Author Village supported us in this very special endeavor, where we worked together to create robust and joyful literacy resources, free, for teachers, kids, and most of all-families!! I’m so proud to announce that this 40-page Author Study, Grow Your Family’s Reading Life: An Intergenerational Author Study Featuring Meg Medina is available now as a FREE downloadable guide to be shared widely!
Love as a Qualifier: Building Literacy Culture Across a School
Becoming literate is emotional work. From the time we are born, we engage in multiple literacies, constructing new knowledge and powerful ideas that, together, bridge new understandings. With those new understandings, we are constantly being challenged and provoked with new information. The authors, two educators who have taught…
Making the Most of Parent-Teacher Conferences During Distance Learning
Partnering with families is one of the most powerful ways to promote a sense of communal ownership in a child’s learning experience. How we partner with families has evolved as we experienced remote and/or hybrid instruction. Maybe we’ve met our students’ families through our email inboxes, or maybe there’s been the luxury of an in-person meeting at the school yard or in years past…
So You Want to Do ABAR Work: A Resource Guide for Investing and Sustaining Anti-bias/Anti-racist (ABAR) Work in Schools and Communities
Kass Minor, Kelly Hurst, and Liz Kleinrock, developed this guide to supplement content within the “So You Want to Do ABAR Workshop” delivered on July 7, 2020. The objective of this guide, when used in tandem with workshop content, is meant to equip educators and all those who participate in schools with deeper, more nuanced knowledge about ABAR learning…
Engaging in Community Literacy with Fortitude in Racially Divergent Times
We offer this short guide as an incomplete blue print for moving forward as anti-racist people working to build communities that support and actualize anti-racist schools. This guide is organized with immediately recommended actions first, suggestions for group processing second, considerations for content third, and finally, our reflection on commitment and fortitude for systemic change in the current paradigm.
What’s the Heartbeat of Your Classroom
Jennifer Ochoa’s classroom, shared with two other teachers, is full of busy whispers and intentional talk. The learners, sitting in heterogeneous groups split between three tables, are working together thoughtfully, each led by a different educator — Jen at one table, her co-teacher at another table, and the speech therapist at the third table…
Moving Towards Restorative, Healing Pedagogies
We at TCICP know that creating and sustaining inclusive practices for students who display all kinds of differences and labeled disabilities is powerful, but we also recognize that it does not come without costs. The cost of energy, spirit, and sometimes even the will to keep on keepin’ on can be detrimental to the individuals supporting the complex…
To Matter. To Connect. To Be Heard: How Shaping Authentic Experiences for Teacher Learning Drives Accessibility and Student Engagement
The former George Washington High School sits on top of a hill near the Cloisters, appearing palatial and important. Walk upwards and you’ll find The High School for Media and Communications (HSMC). While the grandiose exterior of HSMC is stunning, the synergy created within between students and staff is the thing that really permeated my soul…
An Open Letter to Teachers
Like most educators, I look forward to the renewed sense of hope and productivity that every September brings us. Students are bright-eyed and ready to learn, and teachers are well rested. Three weeks into the school year, classroom communities across the city, built with care and fortitude, are bursting with potential, love, and a new found familiarity. Teachers, we’ve been fed!
Literacy knows no boundary.
Through The Minor Collective, we partner with learning communities across the globe. With each other, and with YOU, we look forward to infusing joy in literacy and learning to create sustainable change for all.
Kass & Cornelius
Co-Founders, The Minor Collective
What Educators Are Saying About Us
When it comes to the interests of educators and when it comes to the interests of kids, Kass does not waver. I’m constantly awed by her unflinching and genuine commitment to prioritizing their interests in every situation. Knowledgable and compassionate, Kass’s willingness and ability to provide practical and relevant information in a heartfelt and meaningful way is unparalleled. She’s a living utility belt equipped with the tools and instruments that educators, parents, and caregivers need to thrive in our constantly changing world and always looking for new ways to share them.
Kass Minor has a powerful way of keeping equity, love, and reflection at the center of her work. She moves with integrity and a deep commitment affirming the humanity of all children. Whether it is through her publications or curriculum design, Kass pushes educators to examine their own beliefs, biases, and practices. She has extensive experience in nurturing partnerships among educators and school communities while navigating a range of lived experiences and perspectives.
As a creator of children’s books, I can say that Kass is a very unique observer of this world. She has a way of seeing your words and art for exactly what they are, for understanding the meanings of your words and the nuances of your art in exactly the way you would hope they would be perceived. And then she takes that and builds on, finding connections to children’s needs as well as the teacher’s needs, in ways far beyond what one would have that possible from the book alone. It is the difference between reading a book and experiencing a book. Kass finds ways to do just that, and that ability is invaluable.
Kass Minor has an intellectual curiosity and truly generous spirit that is unmatched in the field of education. Her insight, commitment, and compassion for equity and justice are the cornerstones of every interaction she has with teachers, youth, families, and community organizers. I am beyond grateful to have collaborated with Kass for well over a decade: learning alongside her and puzzling through the most challenging of situations in the complex terrain of education. Kass is always a learner and is fierce in her willingness to show her vulnerability and fight for what is right for ALL youth and educators.
On behalf of the middle schoolers I learn with, Thank you! They love going outside to the park to play and explore. You and your friends and colleagues are the reason for their joy. The outdoor course was inspiring, validating, and replenishing. Thank you for all the support and understanding you showed to all participants. It meant a lot to me to hear you repeatedly recognize our humanity and that these are hard times.
Working with The Minor Collective has been a transformative experience for our school community. We’ve been able to build capacity within our equity team, revise curriculum using an anti-racist lens, have courageous conversations with our staff, families and students about race, racism and oppression, do a deep inventory into our school policies to address biases and structures that have created harm and disproportionately. They have supported us in doing really brave, hard work and have been very compassionate and patient along the way. They show up with a ton of passion, insight and resources while ensuring all voices are heard. One of the most impactful experiences we’ve had with The Minor Collective is the work in classrooms and teacher inquiry groups. They model instructional practices that bridge the gap between theory and practice. They truly tailor the experience to meet the needs of individual school communities. We so appreciate them and hope to continue this work as partners in the years to come.
Cornelius and Kassandra Minor have become a part of our Noblesville community. Over the past 4 years, we have worked closely with Cornelius. He has stood by our side for district strategic planning, professional learning for staff, student learning, and community conversations. Corn is responsive to our needs as we share the latest issues and successes in our literacy and equity work. His heart and passion come through during each visit and he leaves us with sustainable energy and actionable steps. We have grown tremendously because of his influence and will continue to grow as we strive for our community to be a place where everyone is valued, seen and heard. Kass has supported Cornelius while he is here and has provided responsive professional learning for our staff in the summer. This is a couple that I wish I could be a fly on the wall during their ongoing conversations at home. They are a powerful duo out to change the landscape of education where children have a voice and are at the center of every decision. In my 20 years of education, this partnership has had the most positive impact and return on investment ever. Everyone needs a Cornelius and Kass in their community.
District 2 has had the honor of working in collaboration with The Minor Collective since the Spring of 2019 when Cornelius and Kass began leading a professional learning community, representing 12 schools across the district, committed to developing culturally responsive and sustaining practices through an collaborative inquiry approach. The student and family centered inquiry that The Minor Collective engaged our District leaders, teachers and school leaders in has improved the quality of our school equity teams, the practices implemented in our classrooms, the tools that our district has to interrogate and change inequitable practices and most importantly the experiences our students of color have in our schools. In addition, in one year we have seen a significant decrease in the number of Special Education referrals in the schools that have been working with the Minor Collective and we are thrilled to continue our partnership.
In the short time I’ve had with you Kass & Cornelius- I’ve learned & grown & been inspired by you in many ways. It is always refreshing to be in your company as you help remind us of what it means to be human – to see the value in that in ourselves & our students and how to approach the day as a teacher holding that awareness. It’s incredibly simple yet missing so often. I look forward to continuing a partnership. You are incredible!!
Thank you for bringing your light and care to us. As teachers we needed that level of empathy and care. I appreciate you both more than words could ever express. During this time, you have been my lifeline and I am forever grateful for your partnership and friendship.
It has been an amazing time sharing with all of you; it was too short. Your willingness to not only hear us but to support us and provide new ideas in a world of uncertainty has been a saving grace. It is always amazing to hear and see that it is okay and necessary to step back and open the doors to being human and listening and just caring and with that we will be able to provide the support our students need and receive the support that we too need. In a time where we are all just in a world of constant flux, it was good to know that we would have another opportunity to get together again and learn and grow.
Working with Cornelius Minor has been like working with a close friend. Cornelius quickly assessed our district needs by practicing research-decide-teach to tailor his professional learning to meet district, school and most importantly student needs. He coached district and school personnel through a student-centered lens that allowed participants to go forth and put into practice research-based strategies and techniques. We are grateful for our partnership with Cornelius and look forward to continuing the collaboration for years to come.
Cornelius shines a big bright light on how educators can bend culture, curriculum and methodology towards what is most consequential for kids. He reminds us that seeing our students in our work is a way of prioritizing equity.