Teaching Our Children Well: A SF Pride Month Miracle

By Doug Litwin

Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful references to contributions by people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ community in history and social studies curriculum. As a testament to the Flynn community, there was no measurable negative pushback from the parents after receiving these letters.

Band of San Francisco—to come play for the event, and the band has been back for every Rainbow Day since.”

Something amazing took place at a San Francisco public elementary school on April 21.

On this day, the Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School held its annual Rainbow Day, as part of their 7th Annual Rainbow Week. Serving 430 students from the Mission District and other neighborhoods across the city, the school enrolls grade TK (transitional kindergarten) through grade 5 students. With LGBTQ+ visibility in K–12 education under attack in Florida and other places across the country, this Pride event speaks highly of the Flynn community and is a great example of San Francisco family values.

Letters from Flynn Principal Tyler Woods informed families about the Rainbow Parade event and how it was in line with SB 48, the FAIR Education Act. Authored by Senator Mark Leno in 2012, SB 48 amended the California Education Code to require the inclusion of Fair,

On Rainbow Day, each grade level comes to class dressed in a different color of the rainbow. The highlight is the afternoon Rainbow Day celebration on the schoolyard. Woods dresses in a costume as mascot “Flynnda the Eagle,” wearing a Rainbow Cape and directing the festivities. Students line up in their grade color forming a giant rainbow flag. The event then transforms into a school parade, where the students and teachers parade in a big circle around the yard while the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band (SFLGFB) plays peppy music. Finally, everyone dances the “Cupid Shuffle” together.

Gretchen Schuessler, math teacher and parent at Flynn, has taught at the school since 2001. She is also a member of the SFLGFB, where she plays trombone and percussion. According to Schuessler, “Flynn started celebrating Rainbow Week and Rainbow Day in 2017. It was spearheaded by Allison Shoule, who was our PE teacher at the time and now works for the SFUSD Student and Family Services Division. In her current role, she supports Pride Clubs in schools across the district. That first year I invited the SFLGFB—the Official

As a Flynn teacher and musician, Schuessler stated, “Having the SFLGFB there is a very special part of the event. In 2022, students really loved that we played ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X, and this year the big hit was ‘Industry Baby.’ Students always get excited to see me playing, and I think it’s good for students to see their teachers proudly and openly celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.”

This year, the Band was joined by the inaugural performance of the Flynn Pride Band, consisting of 4th and 5th grade students who learned violin, trumpet, or flute for the performance. Playing in an ensemble for the very first time, the Flynn Pride Band members joined SFLGFB in a rousing rendition of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”

Mike Wong, Artistic Director of SFLGFB’s Marching and Pep Bands, said, “Playing at Rainbow Day at Flynn Elementary is always a highlight of our year, and fulfills a critical part of our mission of spreading joy and LGBTQ+ visibility through music. This year it was so special to have the Flynn Pride Band join us, and to get the entire school to play the percussion part to ‘We Will Rock You’ by stomping and clapping. It was also great to see how much work the Flynn Pride Band members put into learning their parts so they could play with the Band, as they made leaps and bounds from when I first heard them a few weeks before the event. I encouraged them to keep practicing, and maybe one day ten years or so from now they can join the Freedom Band!”

Michael McNamara, Paraeducator at Flynn Elementary for the past two years, co-founded the Flynn Pride Club in 2023 with Schuessler. Aimed at students in grades 4 and 5, the club met monthly, with some meetings having as many as 28 students. According to McNamara, in addition to the creation of the Flynn Pride

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