What is your personal ‘why’ for doing this work?

Being a person of color lets me see how society is set up to disadvantage people with regards to things like community, education, and criminal justice. Seeing that and its impact on people of color, I've learned how education is a huge gatekeeper when it comes to opportunities. 

While teaching during my second year in the corps, this concept became real for me. I saw students that had never passed courses before, get excited about education in new ways. I imagined what that could look like in a school happening all of the time. Education can change the trajectory of a person's life, an entire family, a whole generation. It has a ripple effect to elevate people of color in a world that desires to suppress them

How does your school/school model meet the needs of all students?

Our vision is that make sure students are college-ready, culturally-conscious, and career exposed. Those three things together are extremely transformative in any person.

I remember going to college and having to choose a major, which requires thinking about what I want to do long-term. I thought I wanted to pursue law because there was a TV show about a Black male lawyer - I saw that was possible. In a similar vein, we want to expose students to various career fields to see people of color in those fields. Before students walk through the door in the eighth grade, they'll have taken career trips across city and seen black lawyers, bankers, and more. We want to make sure students know that where they're coming from serves as inspiration and make sure stories aren’t being untold of people who came before them to pave what we're able to do now.

Our belief is doing right things well. We make sure students get in class, have rigorous classrooms, and engage in conversations and texts that are collegiate-level. They meet with advisor at least twice a week, and we aim to sure all students have a GPA of at least 3.0, action-planing to close that gap with advisors if not. We teach students to advocate for themselves.

What are the greatest lessons you’ve learned from experience as a corps member and school leader?

The importance of perseverance and leaning on others.

Building a brand new school, there were things we thought we thought we were going to get right, that we didn't. I didn't imagine scenarios that came up. Perseverance is about stopping, reflecting, then pushing forward. Don't get stuck in the problem - the problem is there, and we have to push through for our students.

Another big lesson is leaning on others. I feel blessed to be connected with several school leaders in this city that I genuinely love and respect. People come in this building all the time, tour, observe, and give us feedback. One texted me yesterday out of the blue just to encourage me. Other leaders in this city made this work - I feel supported. A friend of mine is opening a school and she will take the time to give me feedback, connect me to resources, and be available if I call her with a problem. It's not a competition here--it's about our kids. Being in a city with school leaders who care about supporting all kids, rather than having a ‘my school better than yours’ mindset, is a breath of fresh air. This level of investment and collaboration, I've never seen it to this extent anywhere else.