LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Safe Students, Empowered Educators. That’s the goal, and also the title, of a conference hosted at the University of Kentucky on Saturday. Hundreds of teachers from across the Commonwealth came together to learn from one another.

“What can we do now to make sure that we are not stepping across that line but still making sure our kids know what happened in the history?” asked a teacher in the crowd during one of the conference’s lectures. “I think that’s the challenge. I mean, that’s really the challenge,” answered UK Associate Dean of Inclusive Equity Christia Spears Brown, Ph.D.

At the Safe Students, Empowered Educators Conference, there were many conversations about how recent Kentucky legislation has affected teacher speech. “Teachers are particularly under attack,” said Spears Brown.

The conference is focused on dismantling hate and violence in Kentucky’s schools, something Spears Brown says is critical.

“We know that kids in Kentucky are being harmed by hate and violence in their schools and are seeing it happen everywhere kind of around them,” said Spears Brown.

She says there’s also an increasing number of political debates about what can and can’t happen in schools. Specifically when it comes to sexual orientation, gender identity, racism, and race. Even what kids can read is being questioned by the legislature.

“A lot of the hullabaloo, if you will, around book bans has to do with the fact that there are so many adults who have forgotten what it was like to be young, but none of it is actually helpful to the people who are young now,” said New York Times Bestselling Author, Nic Stone.

Stone is the author of one of America’s most banned books: ‘Dear Martin.’ It’s about a 17-year-old African American boy who experiences racial profiling and begins writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“It’s really all about him trying to figure out his place in the world, and I think when it comes to young people, that’s really what they’re all trying to do,” said Stone.

Stone has spent a lot of time visiting schools and connecting with her young audience. “It’s always such a gift to me to be able to converse with them and hear what’s on their minds and to just kind of validate them in their experiences,” said Stone.

That’s why she was invited to share the lessons she’s learned with Kentucky’s educators. “I’m going to require you all to step outside of your typical way of thinking,” Stone said to the crowd.

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