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Manual SVL

SCRB: STUDENT CURRICULUM REVIEW BOARD

Our Mission

“Manual High School’s Student Voice and Leadership team is committed to our mission to provide a platform for students to share their voice, knowledge and lived experiences within the curriculum in which they are being taught”

Manual SVL Team

Manual SVL students spent the 23-24 school year refining a student developed Student Curriculum Review Board (SCRB) and building a Professional Development Unit (PDU) for teachers. We had the opportunity to partner with National Geographic 2892 Miles to Go, present our research at the AERA: American Education Research Association in Philadelphia and become the teachers of teachers in our community.

This 2892 Miles to Go journey is a culmination of a 4 year YPAR (Youth Participatory Action Research) student-led initiative where we spent time researching, cultivating adult partnerships and reviewing curriculum to build a system for student feedback loops in order to implement the  Know Justice, Know Peace Resolution.  We specifically focused on 2 important aspects including: 1. consistent curriculum review practices and 2. student feedback loops. This year’s team worked on building this PDU (the 2nd student led PDU in DPS), resources for teachers and building relationships through increasing student voice in curriculum. 

From the Denver Public Schools Know Justice, Know Peace Resolution, 2020

American Education Research Association

Our team had the opportunity to present our research on the national level this year in Philadelphia at the AERA as part of Youth Teams in Education Research (YTER) conference.

Our Community

Manual High School can be found in the Whittier neighborhood in Denver, CO. Originally named Manual Training School, the school opened its doors in April 1894 as a vocational school, the first of its kind in the Denver area. At the time, Manual also became one of the few high schools to allow girls and people of color, integrated before many of the schools were required to (Mathurin, 2021). Students of color are still significant at Manual. In the 2022-2023 school year,  94.1% of the students at Manual identified as students of color (Denver Public Schools, 2023). Our student population contrasts that of the gentrification occurring in the surrounding Whittier neighborhood.

This is important to our policy and PDU implementation because voices of color have always been and will continue to be an important part of Manual history and culture. We researched our community with a focus on equity, education and how that impacts our lives and outcomes.

Our Community

Our Voices

Our Voices

Our Collaborations

This PDU would not have been possible without some of our amazing adult partnerships. Please know how much we treasure adults that know the value of building true collaborations with us. We thank you and share some highlights of our work together. We specifically want to shout out the Transformative Student Voice (TSV), Healing Justice Collective and our Denver Public School Culturally Responsive Education team. Huge shout out to our Manual teachers that believed in us and took a chance on taking our PDU.

Our Collaborations

Our PDU

Our PDU

Our Healing + Joy

How can we make space for Student Voice, Healing Justice, Mental Health & Joy in our schools?

Manual SVL Team

Not an easy question but it was at the center of our research, professional learning and goals for ourselves and our community.

Manual SVL PDU Team of students, staff, teachers and adult partners 2024

From the Denver Public Schools Know Justice, Know Peace Resolution, 2020

Manual SVL PDU Team of students, staff, teachers and adult partners 2024