Language Arts Journal of Michigan Volume 35 Issue 2 Article 3 5-2020 Empowering English Teachers to Contend with Gun Violence: A COVID-19 Conference Cancellation Story Steven Bickmore University of Nevada, Las Vegas Gretchen Rumohr Aquinas College Shelly Shaffer Eastern Washington University Katie Sluiter Wyoming Public School District Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/lajm Recommended Citation Bickmore, Steven; Rumohr, Gretchen; Shaffer, Shelly; and Sluiter, Katie (2020) "Empowering English Teachers to Contend with Gun Violence: A COVID-19 Conference Cancellation Story," Language Arts Journal of Michigan: Vol. 35: Iss. 2, Article 3. Available at: https://doi.org/10.9707/2168-149X.2281 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Language Arts Journal of Michigan by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. FEATURE ARTICLE Empowering English Teachers to Contend with Gun Violence: A COVID-19 Conference Cancellation Story STEVEN T. BICKMORE, GRETCHEN RUMOHR, SHELLY SHAFFER, AND KATIE SLUITER n March 11, 2020, less than twenty-four as we consider the difficult topic of gun violence. All evidence hours before boarding the plane to attend suggests that keeping students safe from gun violence will the Michigan Council of Teachers of English still be an issue as communities return to “normal” patterns of 2020 Think Spring Conference, we found social engagement, and we see this article as an opportunity for ourselves cancelling our flights in response proactivity in such an endeavor. to a global pandemic. We had looked forward to a robust Knowing that we have the opportunity to broaden our Oconference—and the discussion, discovery, and connections (cancelled) conference audience, we follow a less traditional that would accompany it.