Jahira

Teaching Fellows Offered a Supportive Way to Transition into the Classroom I had my dream job doing PR at Madison Square Garden, and one of my responsibilities was community relations. Every week, we had high school students who would come in. I designed a curriculum around media and interviewing for them—and that was the happiest I was. Regardless of working with celebrities and athletes and CEOs, my happiest time was working with the high school students. I think that was the universe’s way of telling me that that was my calling and my passion. I began researching teacher training programs that would truly support me in that transition. The Teaching Fellows program provided me with a network of other people who were passionate about education. Being surrounded with people who have the same purpose and the same passion to try to make public education better was the most valuable experience for me. And the summer training was helpful in that the fall wasn’t technically my first time in the classroom. So, when it’s the first day of school you feel like you already had your first day in the summer. Those butterflies aren’t as intense. I Want My Students to Question the World Around Them As a social studies teacher, I actually enjoy when students don't always agree with me. When I get students who are questioning the things that I'm teaching I think for me that is the moment when I realize that there's engagement. The questions let me know that they're thinking deeper than the surface level. My students are predominantly black and Latino, which are underrepresented populations in the narrative of history. As well as in society presently. In my class we talk a lot about social economics, we talk about mass incarceration, we talk about globalization. And some of the daily struggles that they've experienced in their communities are tied to economic issues. So that often ties things together for them and then you see a bulb go off and it's like "Wow, I didn't know this!" Culturally relevant education is so important because it gives the student an opportunity to delve into things that they were not sure about in how that relates to their everyday existence. I’m Supported to Give my Students a Great Education I'm very lucky that I have a principal who genuinely cares about not only the academic but the overall well-being of our students. He is amazing at empowering the adults in this building to put us in positions of leadership. He trusts us. And I think that's really important in the dynamic of a school building. Once he comes into your classroom, and he sees that engagement with the students, that they are open to learning new ideas, he allows you to run with that. Even if it's in an unorthodox manner, he believes that you're making the right decision for the students.