In collaboration with the Central High School National Historic Site, the Civil Rights Educator Institute brought together educators, community workers, and cultural workers from around the country to exchange knowledge and experiences, and to learn with and from each other in an intensive week-long learning community. The curriculum was co-designed and co-led by Kayhan, and grounded in place-based and story-based learning anchored by visits to important civil rights and human rights sites such as Central High School and the Rowher Japanese American Concentration Camp. Incorporating stories from and meetings with survivors and local residents grounded interpretive materials about “history." 

Using Theater of the Oppressed methods, story circles, and other humanities-based tools, participants took a critical look at race, resistance, and history to bring difficult topics into their classrooms. The institute ran from 2013-2018 and was contracted by the National Parks Service.