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Teacher, Leader, and Mom

Danielle (D.C. Region ’19) explains what it’s like to be a mother and a corps member.

Joining Teach For America as a Parent

As a new corps member, Danielle shares how Teach For America pushed her to think outside the box both as an educator and a parent.

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‘My Kid Our My Biggest Cheerleaders’

Everything that I do, I do it as Danielle, but I also have to do it as a mother. It is a big part of my identity. It’s not my full identity, I am a person, but I am also a mother. My kids, seven and four, have been the biggest cheerleaders for me. They love school, right? They are seven and four—they are so excited. And they’ve cheered me on when I took my Praxis exam. I came home, and they said, ‘Did you pass your test?’ And I said, ‘I did,’ and they were like, ‘Whoo-hoo!’ My daughter is seven, and she actually came home the day after I passed my Praxis test with notes from every single one of her teachers that said congratulations. And I realized that in that moment--okay, I am doing something right. As I’m learning things, as I’m taking all of this in, I realize that I can now teach this to my own children. I can teach them tolerance and inclusiveness. And I’m doing that in our everyday lives, but Teach For America has pushed me to think outside the box a little bit more, and so I have a toolkit. I have lots of tools in it, and I feel they are adding to my toolbox.