Research Associates and founders of A Queer Endeavor Bethy Leonardi and Sara Staley met at the School of Education in 2012 while pursuing their doctoral degrees. Both graduated in 2014 —Bethy earned a PhD in Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice, and Sara earned a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction, Literacy Studies.
While in the program they discovered they both had a strong interest in centralizing gender and sexual diversity in schools, but they realized in order to make a difference they needed to create an opportunity for educators to listen to young people’s experiences. They reached out to Gay-Straight Alliance sponsors, who connected them with local youth. While interviewing youth, they decided to make a film to honor these voices and share the stories more broadly. With the help of James Hoppe and Randy Clapp of the Twisted Foundation, the film Breaking the Silence was born – and soon thereafter Sara and Bethy launched A Queer Endeavor.
Through this initiative, it became Bethy and Sara’s mission to support teachers and school communities around topics of gender and sexual diversity. Currently, the school is working with Bethy and Sara to grow the A Queer Endeavor initiative into a sustainable center for gender and sexual diversity in education. Learn more about Bethy and Sara and how their love for teachers and education brought them together.
Briefly describe how you met and your story leading to the School of Ed.
I (Bethy) expressed interest in Sara's dissertation, “Beyond Common Sense: Pre-Service Teachers’ Negotiations of Quality ELA Teaching in an Era of Accountability” and that felt unique, given that we can sometimes dig our heels in and focus on ourselves and our own work. The dissertation process is a lonely one, so I think Sara welcomed the opportunity to share what she was up to. Her dissertation, like mine (“Tilling the Soil for LGBTQ Inclusive Policies: A Case Study of One School’s Attempt to Bring Policy into Practice”) was also about teacher learning, and as we say below, we both identify first and foremost as teachers and care a lot about supporting teachers. In short, we made a film (Breaking the Silence), met some angels (Randy and James of the Twisted Foundation) and became A Queer Endeavor.
What do you love about your work in education?
Teachers. We find so much inspiration and hope in the incredible educators we get to hang out with. We started really developing these relationships through our work as A Queer Endeavor.
Can you talk more about your work with educators?
While in school, we began by hosting free teacher institutes at the School of Education. We had our first three rounds in 2013 and they were full each time. We then created a cohort of 50 teachers who met monthly for deeper dives and an inquiry group with 10 teachers who have met for 3 years now. Last year, we started a partnership with Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) and also with St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD). We've worked twice now with all principals in both districts. This is our second year running Teacher Institutes in BVSD and our first year in SVVSD. We’ve visited many K-12 schools for facilitations, worked with all counselors in Adams 12, all bus drivers in BVSD – we even did a 3-hour facilitation for all of the faculty in the Education and Human Development program at University of Colorado Denver. Overall, we've worked with 3,000 educators in the past 3 years. This has greatly impacted our mission, as we think of A Queer Endeavor as a community initiative; we believe that 'the work' is rooted in deep partnerships, and we continue to learn from and with our partners.
How does your work impact your relationship?
Because much of our work is done together and is queer-focused, it’s both challenged and deepened our relationship. We wear this work heavy on our hearts and bodies. Each opportunity we have to work with teachers or folks in education on any level, we see as a privilege, and the stakes feel really high. So, sometimes it feels like the pressure is always on— to get a foot in, to develop genuine connections, to listen really well, to take the back seat, to push or challenge...so it's emotional work, and that, of course, complicates our relationship. We also facilitate together, so we continue to create that dance that happens in really dynamic and often complicated and vulnerable spaces. And, we have a great therapist.
What are your dinner table conversations like?
Dinner involves trying not to talk about work. Mostly, we talk about politics, our rad community, and how much we love our dog Fran.
