I recently applied for an "Empowering Young Leaders" scholarship offered through the West Houston Area Council of Teachers of English; "Co-sponsored with Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a $1,500 award will be granted to a promising first through fifth year teacher who will teach English/Language Arts in a WHACTE membership school district this year." I decided to go ahead and post pieces of my application to give y'all a better picture of my hopes & goals as an educator.
“Why I Chose Education”
Through my travels, studies, and personal experiences, I have seen a fair amount of pain in this world, which has created in me a heart for people, their stories, struggles, triumphs, and hopes. In discerning my career path, I knew that I would work closely with others. I wanted to work in an environment that allowed my voice to encourage and inspire, to counteract the pieces of life that aren’t so easy to bear. William Faulkner refers to this same voice in his 1950 Nobel Prize acceptance speech:
[Man] has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.
I wanted the opportunity to lift others in this way, to help them not only endure but prevail in a bruised and broken world. Just as writers and poets use their voices as pillars to help their readers prevail, teachers use their voices as props to help their students triumph. Because I was seeking to exercise my voice in this way, the classroom was a logical choice for me. I was naturally drawn to youth for several reasons, though: I am abounding in patience, compassion, and am somewhat of a fireball; I knew my personality would lend itself well to the teaching world. I primarily chose education because it was the most direct way for me to lift the hearts of the people which will someday carry society on its shoulders. It is my privilege to provide a little constancy and peace for my students and a place in which they feel comfortable taking risks, asking questions, exploring their world, and simply being human.
What is your educational philosophy?
Education of the mind is important, but education of the heart must also occur. I enter my classroom each day with this in mind. If my students leave my class with a greater understanding of themselves and with a greater concern for others, it matters little to me whether they can identify the secondary characters in Shakespeare's tragedies. What matters most is that as educators, we shape a future people able to contribute to society and courageous enough to be selfless, determined, and globally oriented.
What inspired you to become an English/Language Arts teacher?
English was always my favorite subject, not because I was a particularly gifted writer or speed reader, but because it allowed me the opportunity to discuss life, the self, and the human condition. I constantly refer to Bishop Desmond Tutu’s quote, “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” The English classroom can be a place in which students discover what it means to “be human together.” We read of others’ tales of humanity, and we write about what makes up our own humanity, making connections between both. What a privilege to see students making these discoveries.
Why should you be the recipient of this scholarship?
I am surrounded by wonderful teachers in Texas, in Houston, and more specifically, at Northbrook High School. Our school has for years flown under the radar. We are not a flagship school of the district. Our test scores are not impressive, and a good number of our students will not go on to college, but I have the privilege of being a part of a wonderful team at Northbrook. Our school needs (and should be given the opportunity) to provide our students with the same hope for a future that a student “across the tracks” enjoys. My hope is that this scholarship might be used to enable students to see the possibility of a greater future for themselves. I should be the recipient of this scholarship so that students who come from the disadvantaged environment in which I work can at least see a glimpse of what more privileged students have seen since the advent of their education. I would use this scholarship to somehow dare my students to want more.
An encourager of mine always refers to my work in the classroom as the work of a farmer: I am planting seeds each day, tilling the soil, praying for rain & a plentiful crop when the time is right. I may never see some of the fruits of my labor; if I am lucky enough to witness the budding of a harvest, it may not be anytime soon. It is hard work, and "in the farming world, some soil is especially tough to till and needs to be hammered repeatedly with a pickax before anything even has a chance at taking root" (thanks, JWN). I've been doing some hammering with my pickax these past couple weeks, and I am tired. I am weary from this work, from the heavy conversations I overhear between students, from the administrative tasks we have to complete, from students' attitudes, and from my ever-present desire to inspire and yet feeling like my attempts fall flat.