I am writing this from
within the walls of our freshly painted, brand new school, KIPP Destiny. After
much reflection, I realized how becoming a kindergarten teacher at KIPP truly
is my destiny. A destiny in which I hope to leave a legacy. When I was five
years old, I struggled through my parent’s divorce and thankfully was supported
by my very own kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Jackson. Oddly enough, the name of my
current co-teacher is… Ms. Jackson.
After having our first week
of professional development training, I already feel like my KIPP family has
become my second home. My principal and co-teachers are such inspiring and
growth oriented people. It has been such an eye-opening experience to think of
the potential that has been gathered to implement change and build a foundation
for the future of this school and the south Dallas community. It is incredible
to think that the thirteen of us are building the culture of a school that will
begin our Dallas Fort Worth KIPP region. It truly is a dream and the beginning
of a legacy.
Currently 1.6% of students
in south Dallas are considered “college ready.” KIPP is working to ensure that
our children do not fall into this statistic. In fact, KIPP is working to
eliminate these statistics and intends to open about seven new KIPP schools
within the next ten years. I feel incredibly honored and humbled to be apart of
this journey.
Not surprisingly, I still
think through my “Eller business” lens and could not feel more blessed to be
working at a startup school. A great deal of my passion for business directly
aligns with my entrepreneurial experience at KIPP through building a school
culture, a school vision, “selling our mission” to the community and analyzing
the data of our students to determine how we can continue to innovate. The
education gap was spelled out more clearly in business terms after our manager
showed us the following TED talk. If you have roughly five minutes, this will
reshape how you view the priority of education in our nation.
Some of the founding teachers with our principal in the new building
Our beautiful school
Being welcomed into the KIPP family
The TFA KIPPsters
No comments:
Post a Comment