The closing of a TFA chapter

Today signifies the closing of a big chapter for me.  Today is officially my last day on staff with Teach For America.  It’s an understatement to say I owe a lot to this organization, and more importantly to the people I have encountered through this organization, so I can’t let this day end without sharing some reflections and expressing my gratitude. 

First year at LMS

It is a rare occasion to be able to say with conviction, “_____(fill in the blank) changed my life” but I can sincerely say this about TFA.  As an idealistic and restless senior in college, my future felt open to just about anything, from joining the Peace Corps to going to law school to becoming vegan and living in a commune.  But a k-12 teacher?  Not so much.  I literally have a visual of myself riding along on the “bike path of my future” or as a passenger on the “train of life” (really, any moving vehicle will accomplish the metaphor – you get the point) and then TFA comes into the picture, switches up the course and I pull a complete 180. And what do you know?  I love teaching.  Through TFA, I have learned some indispensable lessons, at least 3 of which will have a lasting impact on my life:  1.  I love students, I love to teach and I get extra fired up for the special needs population.  2.  Educational inequity is the greatest injustice that exists in the United States.  3.  I’m going to be involved in education reform for the long haul. 

For those of you who don’t know, I was lucky enough to stay on as part-time staff with TFA working from Colombia.  Back in April or so, as my d-day for moving to Colombia drew nearer, I started wondering what Teach For America really meant when they said “location flexible” in the description of my role. Does that mean I could work from the moon?  How about Colombia?  YES! Great idea, and you know what? It was a success!  Despite a few webmail outages, pesky Mac/PC incompatibilities and a couple of dropped skype calls, I was able to stay onboard very part-time, working very remotely from Colombia! 

We're so LA.

I’ve been extremely thankful for this work the past couple of months.  My teachforamerica.org email account has strangely become a sort of security blanket, a familiar tie back the US.  Through this account I have not only been able to continue to do meaningful work and stay in touch with my superb team, I also got to keep doing all these fantastic “American/TFA things” - such as yammer and feedback cycles, and tracking changes on those feedback cycles, and “checking in” and action-planning and prioritizing and google sites and vimeo and opening emails with phrases like, “I just wanted to touch base…”, and giving ‘shout-outs’ and aligning objectives and acronymizing EVERYTHING… (and making up new words, apparently) :)

In all seriousness, what I will hands-down miss the most are the many people I’ve had the privilege of working with over the years who have challenged me, inspired me, encouraged me, mentored me, laughed with me, and befriended me. I haven’t yet figured out if it’s a good idea to give personalized “shout-outs” on the worldwide web via a blog, but you know who you are and I hope you’re reading.  I cannot thank you enough for being my friend and partner in this important work.

Dhouse!  2009

I’ve had a lot of “TFA goodbyes” over the past 4 years: sad but relieved goodbyes to my 2007 Los Angeles Institute friends (or perhaps more accurately, my lifelines) at the end of the most rugged 6 weeks of any of our lives. Tearful goodbyes to my students after 2 remarkable years of teaching.  Hugs and heartfelt farewells on the steps of LMU to my fearless 2009 corps members at the close of my LA Institute experience as a Corps Member Advisor. I sent out the “farewell-and-thanks-for-the-honor-of-working-with-you” email to the spectacular Los Angeles program team when I transitioned to a new role and moved to Phoenix.  And another farewell email to the Phoenix team at the end of last year.  But there was always an ellipsis hanging over these goodbyes; “I’m still on staff, I’m still with TFA, I’ll still be around, I’ll see you at conferences, etc.”  I feel there still exists an ellipsis of sorts (still part of the movement, still involved in education) but it is different this time because I honestly don’t know what the future holds for me after this year in Colombia. 

Studying and doing research in Colombia has already opened up a world of new thoughts, insights and knowledge regarding my understanding of both educational inequality and the powerful role of education in any society. This will likely shock precisely none of you, but educational injustice exists here in Colombia as well. There are two types of schools here – public and private- and the estrato in which a student lives (basically Colombia’s equivalent to zip code) largely determines which type of school he or she will attend.  Tuition at private schools in Colombia can be more expensive than most universities in the US but offer a world-class education to kids whose families can pay a pretty penny. Everybody else attends public school, where the quality of education varies immensely. When you consider the fact that the average monthly salary in Colombia is about $250 USD, you start to get a picture of the gaping class divisions in this country.  Bogotá is divided according to a six-level index (known as estratos), which indicates the socioeconomic status of the residents in any given area.  Estrato 1 is the lowest and therefore covers areas excluded from urban planning norms with restricted access to public services.  Two-thirds of students living in the lowest 2 estratos attend public schools whereas only 37% of students attending private schools live in the lowest two estratos – many of whom were granted a spot in a private school on a voucher (source!).  Just as is the case in the US, access to high quality education for all is a far cry from reality in Colombia.  Therefore, it does not seem much of a coincidence that Colombia recently joined the growing Teach For All network and this year marks the debut of Enseña por Colombia (Teach For Colombia).  Needless to say, there is much to be learned and many already existing networks to partner with while I’m here and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have this opportunity.

While I do feel sad to be saying this farewell, I am also extremely excited to be 100% present in my life here.  So Colombia: I’m all in.  I’m yours.  Let’s do this.  And America: If I didn’t bleed red, white and blue before joining TFA, I do now on behalf of the kids whose futures are getting short-changed every day on account of our failing education system. My email may no longer end in teachforamerica.org and my business cards may now only be good for games of paper football, but you better believe I’m still part of the movement of ‘One day’...

My gorgeous kids enjoying a day at Knottsberry Farm

Dorsey!  LA Institute 2009

Christmas 2007

A really precious math equation