Bio
From the author: Raised in wealthy Greenwich, Connecticut, and educated in all-white schools, where she earned two Master of Education degrees, Chrystal Schivell was nevertheless inspired by the civil rights movement. Before having children, she taught English and special education in all-white schools in Massachusetts and Illinois. When the family moved to Princeton, she finally saw her chance to “help black people” by teaching in Trenton. She arrived at Trenton Central High School naïve and unaware of her ignorance. Although she taught at Trenton High for 23 years, her memoir is based on those first ten years that opened her eyes to her assumptions about race.
Since retiring, Chrystal has led voter service for the League of Women Voters of the Greater Princeton Area, blogged, ushered at Richardson Auditorium, and supported the family of one of her students. Recently she’s been cheering on Trenton High’s swim team and its new lifeguarding program.
Book: Baffled by Black and White: Teaching in an Urban School and Unlearning Assumptions about Race