Pin@y Educational Partnerships is an organization of educators, scholars, creatives, and activists that  serve youth in the San Francisco Bay Area by addressing pertinent student and community issues in the classroom setting. Aiming to transform the community, utilizing the Ethnic Studies as the primary critical lens, the organization has spread from teaching classes a single site, Balboa High School in 2005, and has expanded into four K-12 schools in the San Francisco Unified School District, Skyline College in San Bruno, San Francisco State University, the University of San Francisco, and City College of San Francisco. 

This selection of images were made during my own experiences after joining as a teacher in  2010. I have experienced many facets of the organization first hand--witnessing the dedication the organization's directors, coordinators, and teachers have for the work that they engage in, while also creating a tightly knit community that provides support for one another beyond the classroom. . 

The typical PEP experience starts with an interview with experienced PEP Teachers, Coordinators and Directors, at the home of founder Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales. 
Brian Deguzman prepares for another sessions at the interview table.
Site Coordinators and the Directors Allyson, Rod, and Arlene, discuss plans for the upcoming semester, ultimately attempting to get a gauge as to which incoming teachers should be at which site. Teachers come in on a voluntary basis and all positions are unpaid which makes the appointment of each teacher dependent on various factors such as personal preference, scheduling availability, and level of experience.
Teacher rosters being decided after teachers, coordinators, and directors deliberate over the week's interviews.
Director Arlene Daus-Magbual does the honors of cutting the pony tail off Deodor Tronco, who has grown his pony tail out for years. While a lot of business takes place at the interviews, community building never takes a back seat. Traditionally, the interviews week is a time for on-boarding new teachers, but also an opportunity relished by current teachers as moments to build bonds with one another.
Dr. Dawn Mabalon, Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, and her daughter, Mahalaya Tintiangco-Cubales.
Shortly after the interview process, Teachers quickly engaging in training. The first sessions of training are known as Tibak-- short for the Filipino term "Aktibista" or "activist." Directors, Teachers, and Coordinators use these sessions to better understand the groups ideology, and engage in co-generative dialogue with the understanding their mission, vision, and purpose for the upcoming semester while also getting a sense as to how they plan on putting their thoughts into praxis.
The first week of school at the Skyline College Site. PEP Director Dr. Rod Daus-Magbual is the teacher on record at this site. While PEP does focus on Filipino American issues, many of our students actually aren't Filipino. However, students still find themselves connected to communities of Filipinos in America and the issues we experience. At the Skyline Site, the group of enrolled student can be quite diverse in both ethnic background and age. In this particular semester the age group ranged from late teens to mid-60s.
Dr. Allyson-Tintiangco Cubales at a weekly meeting of PEP faculty. These meetings typically take place at San Francisco State University and are utilized by teachers as a space for weekly planning, reflection, and personal and professional development. 
PEP teachers Von Torres (left), JJ Tintiangco (right), and Alaina Moguel (below).
Being connected to the community is Integral to the work that PEP does. In this instance we have Anthony Pele Navarro talking about his work with the group Salugpongan International, which is working on a campaign that aims to expand and preserve intellectual and cultural wealth through education in Mindanao, Philippines..
Dr. Jei Africa (above) and Artnelson Concordia (below) doing workshops with teachers on Mental Health and Causality respectively. These sorts of professional development workshops happen roughly once a month during the weekly Wednesday night meetings that each PEP teacher commits to attending.
Aside from San Francisco State University, another space heavily used by PEP is the headquarters of the Institute for Sustainable Economic, Educational, and Environmental Design (I-SEEED) located in downtown Oakland. 
The event and presentation PEP Teachers are working with there students in these images was a pre-AERA (American Educational Research Association) that was in celebration of the life and legacy of pedagogue Paulo Freire. Some participants of the event in addition to Pin@y Educational Partnerships, were Step to College Oakland, Leadership High School, and a special performance from Young Gifted and Black.
PEP has a serious presence in the communities they serve. In regards to the San Francisco Unified School District, the organization has had an integral role in the establishment of Ethnic Studies as a high school graduation requirement, and has been heavily involved in the critical development of the Ethnic Studies curriculum at the high school level. These image are from a rally during the SFUSD Board Meeting on which the move to institutionalize Ethnic Studies in all SF high schools was to be voted upon by the school board.
Gabe "Delrokz" Dela Crus taking a turn at leading the rally in call and response chants.
Artnelson Concordia and Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales meet with community and school board allies before the vote takes place.
PEP teachers, students, and community members speaking on the importance of Ethnic Studies being implemented into the SF high school curriculum during an SFUSD school board meeting.
Of course, all of PEP's work centers around the classroom. Much of my own time in PEP was spent at Philip and Sala Burton High School, and in partnership with our sponsor teacher Theresa Quindlen (above). Many of the PEP teachers I worked with I had the pleasure of watching grow. Jessica Petalio (below) is just an example of one of these teachers. She has now moved on from the PEP space and is working towards her doctorate at the University of Alaska Anchorage under one of the leaders in Fil-Am psychology E.J.R. David.
While many PEP teachers come through the space, serve their community teaching and organizing, then move on, many teachers do come back to share their stories and advice with fellow teachers and students. During this particular week, past PEP teachers came back to the PEP space to speak on a panel about what it's like to apply and go to college, and what that means as a person of color. PEP teachers, past and present also bring experiences and talents that they have that may seem unrelated to the class at first. Below is an example, as Grace Alvarez, former Burton Teacher, and current Director of MEnD Dance Theater and instructor at CSU East Bay, is teaching students in a dance workshop that will later be helpful to the culmination of the PEP Community Show, which is an annual show that utilizes creativity and performance to present PEP's research, theory, and experiences to the larger community.
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Geraldine Punzalan and Grace Alvarez reflecting on class that day (below). Meanwhile, JR Arimboanga, James Dumlao, and Roderick Daus-Magbual troubleshoot tech for the Community Show (below). This year the show is a critical spinoff of the well known Dr. Suess story, The Lorax. PEP calls their verson the PEProx.
A behind the scenes look at the Community Show. This image features students from Longfellow Elementary school as they practice one of the songs they've prepared for the show.
A very important component to PEP teacher training is also the retreats that happen every semester in PEP. Teachers in PEP attend the weekend long event where they workshop, learn, reflect, and discuss issues and theory that is pertinent to the classroom. In many ways these workshops are highly interactive and often require more than just listening to a lecture. Many times teachers end up practice teaching, putting on skits, or teaching a component of a workshop of their own.