Blog Archive for Regional Spotlights

Our thoughts and prayers are with the students, families, teachers, alums, and staff who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy.  

Photo by David Shankone via Wikimedia Commons

Robert Cook is managing director of Teach For America’s Native Achievement Initiative.

Hau Mitakuyapi,

Recently, our youngest son began his journey as an eighth grader in the Rapid City School District and today he is firm in his schedule: pre-algebra, science, English, Orchestra, PE, reading and social studies. Last week, my wife and I had the opportunity to meet all of his teachers and tour the school and his classrooms.  I feel good about the educational opportunities provided for Caleb and his friends.  Unfortunately, that is not the case for many of our Native students here in rural South Dakota or on my home reservation of Pine Ridge, located just 80 miles away.

Aimée Eubanks Davis is executive vice president of people, community, and diversity at Teach For America. You can find her on Twitter at @EubanksDavis.

I’m immensely proud to call New Orleans a second home, and with every anniversary of Katrina’s destruction, I find myself right back in the eye of the storm. As I write this, I’m terrified that the Gulf Coast faces another tragedy in Hurricane Isaac, and I cannot imagine what will happen if this storm unleashes Katrina-level destruction. 

Credit: NASA/GSFC/GOES

My love for New Orleans runs deep. Whenever we can, my husband Marcus and I take our three children to his native city to feed our souls. We eat his mother’s 7th Ward red beans and rice; adapt our early-to-bed bodies to the New Orleans nightlife; and journey through the city to check the progress (or lack thereof) since Katrina’s devastation of friends’ and family members’ homes, churches, and po’boy shops. We miss seeing the people who never returned. Every trip, I visit former students and colleagues to hear about their lives and work. What makes New Orleans more special than any city I’ve ever encountered is the human connection; it’s a place steeped in relationships, culture, and tradition.

I’m also proud to have played a role in fueling New Orleans’ new, innovative educational system with outstanding leaders. I spent many years walking through local public schools that were abysmal. Seven years ago, the academic achievement of the city’s students was the worst in the state of Louisiana and pretty much all of America. More recently, I toured several local schools with my brother-in-law and niece, and they kept repeating that “these kinds of schools didn’t exist before.” Every time I visit a school, I look at student work, and the student work I see now is, on the whole, far superior to what I saw before.  The dramatic rise in the number of New Orleans public school students eligible for two- and four-year merit-based scholarships to Louisiana public colleges and universities has risen dramatically in the last seven years. More students are on a path to get to and through college and reach their career goals. 

Yet I’m haunted by the fact that only a small fraction of the people who led (and still lead) the transformation of New Orleans public education are among the city’s African American majority; they are not my former students, nor do they share their racial backgrounds. 

OK, Finland. We get it. You are infinitely cooler than us.

Edweek's recent article about Finland’s move from factory-style school buildings to more innovative and architecturally stimulating buildings made me green with envy. The article claims that these “contemporary campuses [will] meet the pedagogical and social needs of their students and teachers.”

Everything about the structure is intentional, and it is meant to create a more purposeful environment for teaching and learning. Sometimes this means an atrium in the middle of the school where students can get a little vitamin D between classes. Sometimes this means a teachers lounge with an espresso bar. Finland already has one of the most successful education systems in the world. Now, with these new buildings, our sexy Scandinavian friends have really outdone themselves.

Teachers and volunteers paint the walls at Henson Elementary School, Photo courtesy of Erin Teater.

But just when I was staring over the edge of an isn't-Finland-so-great-abyss, I spent a day at Henson Elementary School in Chicago and realized that visionary leaders right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A. are doing a lot of the same work. Henson is an old building, but it is full of hope and potential. In an effort to create a more joyful environment for kids and teachers, we painted the walls bright green. It may not seem like much compared to Finland’s state-of-the-art facilities, but a small change like this in a school that’s strapped for cash can go a long way for school culture. Sometimes all you need for a fresh start is a fresh coat of paint. I know that the kids will be so excited when they come back from summer vacation and see Henson 2.0.