All Blog Posts by Ursa Scherer

Ursa Scherer

 

On a magical winter’s morning at the tail end of the 1970s, Ursa joined the world as Ursa Minor (if you will).  She grew up in a small, rural town in western Massachusetts, where she attended a regional public school and dominated the basketball courts.  As she became Ursa Major, she headed to an engineering school, eventually earning a BS in nonprofit management.  Ten days after graduating, she headed to Kenya as a Peace Corps volunteer on a rural health project. Ursa has supervised an HIV prevention program, worked as a counselor with at-risk groups, and managed a dance studio. She first joined Teach For America as an office manager on the Connecticut regional team. She has also worked as a member of the Human Assets Business Partner team. This summer, she is transferring to a new role on the Teacher Preparation Support & Development team, creating a fellowship program for TFA's Teacher Leader Development staff.  Other things to know about Ursa:  she got married a couple years ago, and just bought her first house back in Western Mass!  She enjoys reading light fiction and whatever Huffington Post puts on Twitter. Each year she volunteers at a local Garlic & Arts festival and is proud to support TFA, NPR, and various animal rights groups. You can follow Ursa on twitter @ursaursabobursa.

All Posts by Ursa

Blackface at a High School Pep Rally: Go TEAM?

October 18, 2012

 

If you’re on Huff Post’s website you’ll see which headlines of the day are being shared most widely—lots of stuff on Tuesday’s presidential debate, links about ‘Binders Full of Women’, and apparently J-Lo had a wardrobe malfunction. What you might also see is a story coming out of Waverly, NY where a regularly held pep rally included, for audience entertainment, a skit reenacting domestic violence between pop stars Chris Brown and Rihanna.

Weird yet?  Add in that this school is predominantly white, as were all the actors, who wore blackface for the skit. Wait for it—here’s the thing that really made my jaw hit the floor—in a pep rally with students (obvi) there were also parents, faculty, members of the media and community in attendance—and no one stopped the skit.

Photo via WikiCommons. Warner Bros. publicity photo for the film The Jazz Singer (1927), featuring Al Jolson as Jack Robin, in blackface, performing "My Mammy"

 

 

Read More ››

LeBron Can't Win Alone, and Neither Will We

August 14, 2012

I’ve soaked in every sweat-filled, pride inducing moment of the Olympics. I’ve laughed at Samuel L. Jackson’s tweets, groaned at every sexist moment of coverage celebrating female athletes for their bodies versus their talent (THEY’RE AT THE FREAKIN OLYMPICS!), celebrated every underdog’s victory, pounded my fists at the smog of racism that permeates so much of the American coverage, and misted up each time an athlete hugs his or her parents.

And finally, in the rare chance to watch an actual live-telecast event here in the US, I closed out the Games with the gold medal men’s basketball game between the US and Spain. I write this deep in the 3rd quarter, where the US team is up by 3, and I can't tell you, at this moment, who is going to win the game.

The Olympic Rings on Tower Bridge in London. Photo by Gonzolito (via WikiCommons).

Here’s what drives me crazy with this men’s team—and where I see so many parallels to education in our country.  They play in fits and starts.  There are moments when they come together as a great team—but all too often the team misses an opportunity to go on a run.  These are great individual performances.  Durant, Bryant, James—they are playing great basketball—but they tend to do so in turns.

Over the last 25 years, we’re playing a similar fits and starts game in education.  

Read More ››

Three Reasons I'm Glad I Failed Calculus

August 2, 2012

OK, maybe I’m not glad I failed. These are more like three reasons I’m a better person for having failed calculus. When I shipped off to college, 18, full of promise and enthusiastic to cover everything in my dorm room with leopard-print fabric, I knew one thing emphatically: Having 8 a.m. Calc was not a good thing. My headline may have given it away—I failed that class. It’s the only class I’ve ever failed. But I’m a better person for having taken it, struggled with it, and failed it. When Andrew Hacker contended recently in the New York Times that algebra isn’t necessary, the memory of this class rang loudly in my ears.



Mr. Hacker’s op-ed is well worth the read—and if you fall into the majority of American adults for whom the subject of math “is more feared or revered than understood,” you may find his take extremely compelling. I had plenty of moments where I was nodding alongside him myself. In fact, I’d sign up on the U.S.S. NoMoreAlgebra tomorrow but for these three reasons:

Read More ››

I Ride for Sally

July 24, 2012

Monday marked the all too soon end to a life I have admired for the entirety of mine.  Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, passed away after a long battle with cancer.  Sally was my president, my rabbi, and the keeper of my dreams. Offering inspiration for a generation of girls, her accomplishments made the stars feel in reach for one young girl in a small, rural western Massachusetts town. A girl who sits here as a woman, now the same age as when Sally first went into space, deeply thankful for the inspiration that came from the worn pages of her copy of Ride's children's book, To Space & Back.

Sally Ride in space. Photo courtsey of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

When I was younger I pored over each page of that book.  Every word was a passport to outer space.  But what I loved most were the pictures. Each nook of the shuttle, every cranny in the gadgets—they filled my mind with possibilities.  Seeing the crew together, all so smart, all in the same flight suit—it didn’t matter how much money you had.  And growing up in a low income community, the image of achieving something so great and not having it matter what you were wearing was intoxicating.

Read More ››

About Us

We believe education is the most pressing issue facing our nation. On Pass the Chalk, we'll share our takes on the issues of the day, join the online conversation about education, and tell stories from classrooms, schools, and communities around the nation.

Learn more about Teach For America. 

Contact

We want to hear from you. If you have a question, a comment, or an idea, please get in touch »

Disclaimer

The thoughts, ideas, and opinions expressed on Pass the Chalk are the responsibility of individual bloggers. Unless explicitly stated, blog posts do not represent the views of Teach For America as an organization. 

Read more »

Archive

Blog Roll