Hi all,
I've been away from thinking about education for a bit - gaining perspective by being education adjacent. Perhaps Upward Bound gave me the ability to see what students need that teachers can't always provide. My Upward Bound classroom became a cute little coffee shop, staffed cleaned and set up by students who just wanted a home away from home. They made soup nearly every day, cared for each other and me, and ensured everyone felt safe in the space. I wasn't responsible for their education, but I tutored them in whatever class they were struggling in, helped them learn about college and life, and filled in the gaps in their educations as best I could.
I'd like to say I added to the school and the program, but one can never really know. I recruited a few good teacher/tutors and planned and executed a trip to some colleges they might not have considered otherwise. This included Bates, Dartmouth and UMass Amherst.
Anyway, the pay was too low for me to stay in the nonprofit sector. So I am back to teaching math full time, at a great magnet school with caring staff and students who (sometimes) want to learn. I am hoping I bring to that assignment some of the socioemotional learning lessons I took from my time at Upward Bound.
