Greetings! I am currently serving and learning in the St. Albans, Queens community as a English as a New/or an Additional Language teacher. I have always loved and supported the concept of community with people. Raised by my Great-Grandmother and mother in a working class community, I learned at an early age the importance and transformative power of education. I have been to Thailand, Brazil,Nigeria,India,Guyana,Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Cambodia, France, Vietnam, Canada, United Arab Emirates, the Bahamas and more for service work , work and education,and pleasure trips where I learned and experienced living within that culture.
This “sense meaning” of possibility has followed me through my endeavors academically and professionally. I graduated from the illustrious Spelman College in Atlanta, GA where the mission is, “ enter to learn and exit to serve.” I exited college to complete 1,700 of service hours in Americorps City Year, a national educational non-profit the following year. For one year I served as a mentor, coach and educational role-model to students in a middle school in a working class community in Long Island City, Queens. What was suppose to be a “ one-hit wonder” as I pursued my PhD in Philosophy evolved into a passion and reignited my desires to work within my community with youth through education. (I will revisit the goals for obtaining a PhD in Philosophy again in this story.)
However, my visions were global and I revisited my international travels and service opportunities and redefined my limits. I had the honor and privilege to learn and teach as an English as a Foreign Language teacher in Vinh, Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh CIty, Vietnam for one year. This experience was a dream come true because it pushed me to grow in ways I never envisioned for myself. My community of supporters allowed this opportunity to come into full fruition with financial gifts. I am still indebted to the display of love and community that was shown to me three years ago. It was during this time I decided to combine my passions for Philosophy and Education. Here is where I want to speak on adversity and the beauty of time and rejection. I have had an attraction and love for Philosophy for over ten years both academically and professionally. In these ten years I have made plans and have had the Universe and Life make detours and reroutes along the way. Instead of going to a PhD program from Vietnam, I got rejected and then accepted into the New York City Teaching Fellows. A point I’m extremely proud of because it displays my growth and fearlessness in talking about failure being the lesson learned on timing and being ready. I currently hold a Bachelor’s of Arts in Philosophy from Spelman College and a Master’s of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from CUNY Hunter College School of Education. I am STILL getting my PhD in Philosophy.
Life has led me to work and learn with people all over the world in spite of our differences and certain barriers. In fact, these adversities only brought me closer to the understanding of how similar people are in this world. I love working with my English Language Learners and providing them with a second home. This is my second year in the school and the elementary school educational setting. My time as an English as a New/ or Additional Language has transformed me into a more radical and conscious educator. It has pushed me to a broader sense of advocacy by being extremely specific in the needs of my students. My students are my first priority. For them I do not believe in barriers and settling. They need proper resources and linguistic supports in order to succeed academically like their peers who have English as a Home Language. It is my hope to acquire some materials that will make my job more efficient and their learning complete by addressing the intersections of culture, language, identity and academics. I am looking to purchase a total of 6 kits which addresses the linguistic and academic challenges of the language learner in addition to providing differentiated materials for student achievement. I have personally used this system in a school where it was provided for the students and the results were positive in terms of assessment and growth academically and linguistically.
If you should decided to support the community and culture of learning I am fostering here in Queens, NY, I will assure and inform you that your funds are being used for academic and social advancement. As mentioned I will be using these funds exclusively for English Language Learners in the Elementary School setting. The link to the website where I will be purchasing the materials is : https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/series/language-power-115/#choose-level-topic My goal is to purchase six kits for the various linguistic levels and use these kits as a supplemental resource for the students. The students and I will be greatly appreciative of this support and will let you know the ways in which we are growing in language and academics on a regular basis. I have a personal printer and access to the schools printer currently. I will be able to make copies of the practice sheets and adapt lesson plans to ensure students are aligned with the standards of their peers while still receiving instruction in a challenging and educationally appropriate manner.
Our gratitude and excitement for your support is something we will strive to put into adequate words and actions. Please help me obtain these materials to connect my philosophical studies to current issues facing youth all around the world and from all around the world receive an equitable education and access to student achievement like their peers whose Home Language is English.
Thank you so much in advance!
