Title: Program Coordinator
How do you identify yourself? I am a white woman from Reading, PA.
What’s your background? I was born and raised in the suburb of Shillington, PA. The closest city, Reading, was literally 10 blocks away from my street, but I thought it was a different region of the world. I was raised by two loving public educators; therefore, everything and everyone I knew was in some way connected to school and the realm of education. People say I was born a teacher, which may be true, but I was also raised a teacher. I can say that I had endless acquaintances in high school but no core group of friends. Spending Friday and Saturday nights with my family satisfied my urges for “going out” (although I was quite resistant to that when I was in my “want to be popular” phase). I was a four sport athlete which made me average at volleyball, cross-country, swimming, and track and field (I loved throwing the javelin!) I had the lead in my high school musical my senior year and found myself
I came to Penn State as an English major, determined to find some other occupation besides that of my parents, teaching. However, after my first semester, I came to terms with the fact that I was and always will be a teacher and transferred into the College of Education as a Secondary Education in English and Communications major. As part of a curriculum education class, I was required to attend a Race Relations Project session. I was one of seven strangers who sat in a circle and talked for an hour and a half about our experiences with race. I became highly intrigued that people actually talked about this stuff that I was constantly thinking about but was never comfortable expressing. I found out that SOC 119 was a course that offered the opportunity to explore race and ethnicity as well as myself and the world around me. After taking SOC 119, I continued my journey, becoming a TA for the class and later a facilitator for the Race Relations Project as an undergrad. After completing a year-long student teaching experience at State College High School, I realized that I was not yet ready to apply for a teaching contract when I graduated. I had more exploring that I wanted to do before I entered the classroom. I decided to work full-time for the Race Relations Project as the Program Coordinator. Throughout this year, I have been training facilitators, managing “the business”, and advocating for self-growth and dialogue. I am enthralled that just like literary scholars have different interpretations of novels, we all have a different interpretation of this life that we live. I find myself jumping at opportunities to continue teaching and living this work that I love!
What is your philosophy of teaching? Engaging in and sharing the process of organic learning is my philosophy of teaching.
I feel that today’s public education system is plagued by standards, testing, and an infatuation with technology. I see organic learning as interacting with the knowledge we are exposed to by taking the time to question what is around us rather than simply accept it. I hope that my teaching brings myself and others to critically think about what has brought us to the place that we are. Where do our own individual knowledges, beliefs and truths come from? By the way, Wikipedia and SparkNotes do not have those answers.
I find that I organically learn in group dialogue where I can be both a teacher and a student simultaneously and where other people know just as much as me because what we are sharing is ourselves. I find profound beauty in a circle of human beings talking, questioning, AND listening to each other. There is purity in the mere gathering of bodies and such a natural sense in the words and silence that are exchanged in the process of dialogue. I believe in organic learning – organic meaning pure and natural.
Have you always thought about race and ethnicity? No, I don’t think I have ALWAYS done anything. But I do distinctly remember the following happening in high school. I had a friend, and he was black. We would talk to each other during school, joke around at lunch, try to connect in different ways. I thought I was cool, hip, and crossing into the “other world.” One day we were talking about something that happened with his mom. At different moments in the conversation, I was relating to what he was saying. Towards the end I vividly remember saying “yeah, I get it.” To which he retorted, “NO, you will NEVER get it! You don’t know what it’s like to be me” His tone and demeanor told me “You don’t know what it’s like to be black!”
For the first time, I felt the difference I had always seen. And I wanted to know more! From that moment on, race and ethnicity have confused me, excited me, instigated me, and made me question this world in so many ways. I have found that there are no absolute truths or answers nor is there ever an end when human beings are involved. Race and ethnic relations will forever be important and will forever influence us.
What are your other interests and activities? I find freedom in being outside, no matter the weather. One of my favorite feelings is being in an expansive body of water, such as Canoe Lake in Westport, Ontario, Canada where I vacation with my family every year. Picnics with my grandmother’s baked beans and a water gun battle to follow remind me of the youthful innocence that will always be inside of me. I get extremely creative with a bundle of fresh flowers and some vases. An elegant bottle of wine and a small fire make me feel warm inside. AND, I continue to be interested by the outcomes of being as transparent as possible with the ones I love.
