The story's been told before. Single mom, small money but a large extended family with not a college graduate among them, old books, even older schools and few classmates performing anywhere near grade level. But there were variations to my chapter. Two dedicated elementary school teachers, a grandmother whose mantra was, "Education is the key to unlock the future you desire," and me, a little Black girl who saw education as the pathway out of poverty and toward hope. Age fourteen was a turning point. My mom enrolled in college full-time at the age of 31, moved us out of lower working class into on campus family housing at a private university located in a very wealthy NJ suburb. It became apparent I wasn't in the neighborhood any more and the evidence was conclusive. Schools with swimming pools, Latin classes, and AP everything. "I got this!" I thought out loud. But the remedial classes they placed me in said otherwise. I struggled both academically and psychologically. “Why don't I know any of this stuff?” I said to myself. Which led to the even more pressing question for me at the time, "Was it because nobody thought I could do the work?" I began to get what I needed as I became the driver of my own change. I moved into honors classes, causing me to hold myself to higher standards. That same tenacity accompanied me to college, where I not only did well, I was well because my eyes were opened to the radical act of helping students acquire the skills necessary to be successful in the 21st century.

My student teacher experiences as an undergraduate Education/Child Study major at Smith College, and my field experiences in Boston Public Schools as a graduate student helped me answer questions about my own education. My passion for educating students in urban settings now fueled, I was clear - every student, regardless of family income, location, or educational history should have access to a quality education. This passion led me to the Boston Public Schools, where I have spent the last ten years working to ensure that children gain the skills needed to become lifelong learners and problem solvers. I know firsthand, as a student and educator, the tremendous impact a teacher makes.

I began my teaching career in the Boston Public Schools as an intern in an Advanced Work class at the Josiah Quincy Elementary School. During that internship, I was a student at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, where I researched the social and cultural factors that affect African-American and Latino students’ achievement motivation. After earning my M.Ed. from Harvard, I taught first grade for three years before moving to my current role as a teacher in an integrated K1/K2 program at Young Achievers Science and Math School in Mattapan, MA. I entered teaching with a passion to make a difference. I still have that passion and am constantly trying to improve my craft. My urgency for creating responsive, institutional change is what drives me. And so my experiences have inspired and challenged me to think beyond my classroom and find ways to build my capacity as a leader in an effort to move the work of my school and public education forward.

My mission to close the achievement and opportunity to learn gaps for all students ignited my desire to pursue my administrator certification and become a Principal Resident last year. As a Principal Resident and Kindergarten team leader, I led a project that focused on strengthening literacy development and practices in our early childhood program. I facilitated team meetings on curriculum and data inquiry to improve teaching and learning and monitored interventions of our struggling students. As a result, I constructed a comprehensive plan for literacy instruction focused on clear outcomes for year one and consequently developed and co-wrote a new vertically aligned literacy curriculum. Additionally, I co-facilitated team based inquiry cycles to solve problems of practice, particularly in literacy learning for Kindergarten-2nd grade students and helped create a model that provided more structure and coherence to planning, assessment, and analysis through professional collaboration amongst the Kindergarten-2nd grade teams in my school. As a member of my school’s Educational Leadership team and School Site Council, I have been actively involved in school policy and management decisions. In addition, I have worked with colleagues to plan professional development that links social justice and student achievement in order to ensure equitable outcomes for all students.

In addition to working as a teacher leader in my school, I enjoy leadership activities outside of the classroom. Named as an NBC “Education Champion” and recipient of the Sontag Prize in Urban Education, I also served as a Boston Teaching Policy Fellow with Teach Plus, providing input into educational policies at the state and local level, participating in conferences and panels such as NBC’s “Education Nation” and co-authoring memos and briefs on topics ranging from evaluation reform to the effects of inequitable teacher pay. This year, I served as one of two teachers on the MA Task Force on Educator Evaluation charged with recommending revisions to the regulations that guide educator evaluations in Massachusetts’ public schools.

I have an undying belief that all children can learn and am committed to providing an outstanding public education to all students, one that is critical to a just society and affords every individual a full range of opportunities in life. Like my grandmother and mother, I see education as the pathway to unlimited opportunity by building skills, knowledge and belief in one’s self. It is with this purpose that I became an educator and was led to the U.S. Department of Education‘s Teaching Ambassador Fellowship where I hope to impact students’ lives from a policy perspective.