Mayor Bowser hosts back-to-school pep rally for D.C. educators 

By Megan SaylesAFRO Business Writermsayles@afro.comAs summer comes to a close and the new school year approaches, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee held a back-to-school pep rally for District educators on Aug. 19. The event preceded a week-long professional development series that D.C. teachers will participate in ahead of the start of school on Aug. 26.& Lewis D. Ferebee, chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, speaks during a back-to-school rally for educators at Alice Deal Middle School, imploring teachers to take care of themselves in the 2024 – 2025 school year. D.C. Public School students will return for classes on Aug. 26.The rally took place at Alice Deal Middle School in Ward 3, which was named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education in 2019.& “I want to thank you for your commitment to public education and to training, loving and challenging our young people in Washington, D.C. so that they can have a phenomenal school year but also a phenomenal future,” said Bowser. “We are just so grateful.”“We spend all year making sure that our schools have their budget, that our buildings have what they need and...