This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event. 

Charis welcomes Gholdy Muhammad in conversation with Nita Creekmore in celebration of Nurturing the Heart and Mind, a powerful new resource rooted in the Five Pursuits instructional framework.

From the best-selling author of Cultivating Genius and Unearthing Joy comes a powerful new resource rooted in the Five Pursuits instructional framework. Learn directly from Dr. Gholdy Muhammad what drives this work and how it can transform your instruction.

“This book contains sixty pick-up-and-go, discussion-based lessons that help you spread genius and joy across the content areas—in English language arts, social studies, STEM, and arts & culture. The lessons are designed to be taught in 40 minutes or less, wherever learning happens, whether it be in the classroom, the home, or community spaces. They can be delivered by anyone with a heart to nurture and engage children, which may include teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, caregivers, leaders, afterschool coordinators, and community advocates.

Centered on culturally and historically responsive education, the lessons fuel pursuit-driven learning; students focus on topics through the lenses of identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy. A rich collection of meaningful topics and texts build background knowledge and spark discussions that move genius and joy into action.” – Dr. Gholdy Muhammad

Educator Takeaways:

Each Pursuit-Driven-Lesson contains a focus text, built‑in background knowledge, and discussion prompts—so educators can deliver meaningful, high‑impact instruction in 20-40 minutes without additional prep.

Brings the Five Pursuits Framework to Life by seamlessly infusing identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy into everyday teaching. Empower educators with a powerful, flexible model for culturally and historically responsive instruction.

Pursuit-Driven-Lessons are inspired by and designed for educators, with contributions from paraprofessionals, afterschool staff, caregivers, and community educators across content areas to spark engagement, connection, and joy.

Includes a companion website with focus texts, classroom videos, model lessons, and tools for designing and assessing your own lessons.

Dr. Gholdy Muhammad is the John Corbally Endowed Professor of Curriculum and Instruction (Literacy, Language, and Culture) at the University of Illinois Chicago. She has previously served as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, school district administrator, curriculum director, and school board president. She studies Black historical excellence in education, intending to reframe curriculum and instruction today. Dr. Muhammad’s scholarship has appeared in leading academic journals and books. She has also received numerous national awards and is the author of the best-selling books Cultivating Genius and Unearthing Joy. Her Culturally and Historically Responsive Education Model has been adopted across thousands of U.S. schools and districts across Canada. Across the past five years, she was named among the top Edu-Scholar Public Influencers due to her impact on policy and practice. Her next book, entitled Nurturing the Heart and Mind: 60 Content-Area Lessons Using the Five-Pursuits Framework will be available in April 2026. In the fall of 2026, her first K-5 curriculum, entitled Genius and Joy, will be available to schools and educators.

Nita Creekmore is a highly respected literacy educator, instructional coach consultant, and teacher- and student-focused consultant with over 22 years of experience in K–12 education. Based in the Atlanta area, Nita began her career as a classroom teacher in Virginia before transitioning into instructional coaching, where she discovered her passion for supporting teachers through reflective practice and intentional growth.

Nita is the founder of Love.Teach.Bless., a coaching and consulting platform that provides professional development, strategic support, and inspiration for educators nationwide. Through this work, she partners with schools, districts, and education organizations to lead professional learning focused on instructional strategies, literacy, teacher empowerment, resilience, collaborative teacher teams, and culturally responsive teaching.

Nita is the author of Read Outside Your Bubble: Expand Your Bookshelf, Expand Your World (2025) and the co-author of Every Connection Matters: How to Build, Maintain, Restore Relationships Inside the School and Out (2024), written with Michael Creekmore. Whether leading a full-day workshop or delivering a keynote, Nita Creekmore’s work leaves educators feeling seen, supported, and equipped to create lasting impact in their schools and classrooms.

The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.

Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. 

In-person event guidelines:

All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.

We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.

This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. 

As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304.

Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org.

By attending our event, whether in person or virtually, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.

Nurturing the Heart and Mind: 60 Content-Area Lessons Using the Five-Pursuits Framework -- Gholdy Muhammad in conversation with Nita Creekmore