Shared Vision of Hope

Today I visited the school where I will begin my student teaching in January.  It took me  five years, two universities, and so much support to get to this point.  It is my greatest dream to be a public school teacher and I’m 90 % of the way there.  As I reflect on my pathway to teaching; I cannot but, think that shared visions of   hope have transformed my life!

My first summer out of college I interned with UrbanPromiseCharlotte, a Christian    ministry with a mission to “provide the students and teens of our city with spiritual, academic, and social support they need to be leaders in their communities.”    My UrbanPromiseCharlotte family is part of the larger UrbanPromise (UP) organization that began nearly 30 years in Camden New Jersey.   The founder of UrbanPromise, Reverend Dr. Bruce Main has invited other faith visionaries to adapt his model to the needs of their own communities. There are now at least seven UP sites  across the country and an international chapter. 

 At the end of my orientation to prepare for summer programing I was so inspired by the promise that filled our building that I decided to write Dr. Main.  Surely, he had to know that UP was literally changing the world but I needed him to know just how deeply it had impacted my life so quickly.  (He wrote back!)  It was so special to belong here because as a disabled woman I see many parallels between my struggles and those of urban youth.  UrbanPromise was the first place where I could be a teacher that gave students true HOPE!  At UrbanPromise we know that life is challenging but there’s also a major emphasis on how students and teens are actively changing the world though character education and faith.  It’s an amazing approach to teaching, learning, and faith.   I’m so grateful that UrbanPromise was my first classroom because it’s the place that rekindled the HOPE that I was good enough to teach.  Perhaps, more importantly, it is a place where students and teens want to learn because they know they matter!  We celebrate each other in really meaningful way.

It is impossible to duplicate what it feels like to belong UrbanPromise in a public school classroom because our UP community is rooted in faith.  Still, I ended up at UrbanPromise because I developed a  teaching philosophy that is grounded in character education and understanding that every student in a school matters and their ABILITIES should be celebrated.  This teaching philosophy was strongly influenced by the Jonsten’s   Renaissance.   Dr. Larry Biddle started the character education program in 1980’s.  His mission was to motivate students.  He wanted to make school a place everyone wanted to be.  It worked!  Renaissance is now implemented in schools across the nation and internationally.  As a middle school student I attended a nationally recognized Renaissance school.  The program is ultimately what inspired me to become an educator.  As a   student who coped with cerebral palsy my teachers and administrators always aimed to celebrate my character and willingness to learn.  School was a place I wanted to be.

So last November after a visit back to middle school, I wrote Dr. Biddle a long over due e-mail for starting Renaissance.   Like   Dr. Main he needed to know that sharing his vision ha

d filled me with hope.  It represents what every school ought to look like! Walking the halls today, I wondered what would Renaissance look like here?

I want to teach because I want to give young people  HOPE.   After all, it is these shared visions of hope that have helped me achieve  the impossible.