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I wanted to become
a teacher when I graduated from college. Instead, my career took a very different
path.
During a break from almost 20 years
of full-time corporate life, I had the chance to become involved with educational issues in my community of Plainfield,
NJ. I
- chaired a team of teachers,
artists, and residents exploring the role of the arts in the city's K-12 public school curriculum;
- wrote an Arts-in-Education
Report for the Plainfield, NJ Superintendent of Schools;
- read aloud to students in a local elementary school; and
- tutored immigrants in English and reading.
Education is not
the filling of a pail,
but the lighting
of a fire.
William Butler Yeats
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In 1996, I moved to Maryland and joined a volunteer tutoring program right
away. In addition, I signed on as a volunteer teacher’s assistant in the
Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) Adult ESOL and Literacy Program.
Soon, I became a part-time instructor for both the MCPS Adult
ESOL and Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) Citizenship Preparation programs.
When circumstances presented me with an opportunity to consider
a new career, I knew that the time had come to pursue full-time teaching in the public schools.
A Bachelor's degree in English and a Master's in Business left me
unqualified for an immediate move into teaching. However, when I learned about
George Washington University's Teachers 2000 program and its partnership with MCPS, I knew I had found
my road to the classroom.
Now, after six years in the classroom, I can
say, "I am a teacher!"
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