Breakthrough Greater Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
This summer, I had the great privilege to work as a teaching fellow for Breakthrough Greater Philadelphia. Breakthrough serves a dual purpose as an organization: through school year and summer programming, Breakthrough partners with students from under-served communities to support them on their path to college, and also creates a challenging teaching residency for college undergraduates under the tutelage of professional, experienced teachers. This summer, I worked at Breakthrough Philly’s Drexel location, teaching eighth grade literature and participating in a rigorous, comprehensive introduction to the world of education, especially middle school. All teaching fellows received a two-week training that instruct us on Breakthrough values, routines, teaching methodology, and the general work that the organization does in Philly and beyond. After training, we embarked together on a rigorous six-week journey with over 70 rising seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-graders from the greater Philadelphia area.
At Breakthrough, each teaching fellow has two subject periods, ranging from about 10-15 students per classroom. I taught eighth grade literature, in which the class read, independently and through read-aloud, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. The students built skills in analyzing the text for theme, conflict, relationships, plot, and character. They practiced writing response-to-text paragraphs, and participated in weekly class discussions. I modified and implemented Breakthrough lesson plans to prepare the students for their upcoming eighth grade year. I learned how to design classroom activities, effectively present material, engage students, and manage energetic behavior. I am proud to say that nearly all of my students improved dramatically from the pre-assessments to post-assessments, with clear improvement on their textual analysis and written skills. However, in addition to the responsibility of running two classrooms, I also co-led a Small Learning Community, or SLC, which participated in a number of activities ranging from skits, creating weekly goals, competing for points, and academic mentoring. I had four mentees, and worked with them on their goals, homework, and general Breakthrough experience. Each teaching fellow also had academic mentoring from a certified Philadelphia teacher, department meetings to discuss the curriculum, and a self-designed elective with 10 lesson plans and a final project. I taught field botany, and worked with a group of ten students on learning plant identification, pollination, the role of trees, edible and non-edible plants, local plants of Philly, and our own role in the environment. Students completed the course by creating a poster describing and drawing a plant of their choice. In addition to these official activities and requirements, I also worked closely with the other teaching fellows and Breakthrough staff to plan field trips, decorate the site, manage a variety of student behaviors and needs, and engage the students, who are always our number one priority in the program. Because I had my own classroom, I was also able to immediately practice leading an entire classroom on my own, and teaching without another authority figure managing the kids along with me. However, I had the constant mentorship and advice from my instructional coach, who observed my classes twice a week and provided feedback, helping me to grow as a teacher and provide the best education possible for my students.
What I loved about Breakthrough was how central our students are to everything we do. The extensive workdays are to provide them with strong lessons, engaging activities, and a supportive environment in which to learn. These students are bright, excited to learn, and commit to a long school day—in the summer! They deserve our best every day, and Breakthrough taught me how to be positive, engaged, and hardworking every moment of the program. I also learned how to engage students with a variety of life experiences and behavioral and academic needs, which was humbling and demanded patience, authenticity, and kindness. I am endlessly grateful to the staff and the students that make the program a space for everyone to learn and grow. They work tirelessly all year round to make Breakthrough the program that it is, and I profoundly appreciated their commitment to the teaching fellows as well. We had a lot to learn, and for the students to get the experience they deserved, we had to do our utmost best every day. I am grateful for all the people that made it possible for the kids to have an exciting, fun, and engaging summer.
On a broader level, Breakthrough allowed me to understand the depth and complexity of education today, and why it is necessary and deeply urgent to commit to educational change. In schools, the lack of resources and overworked staff make it challenging to provide students with the education they deserve. The curriculums often fail to provide students with the knowledge they deserve, instead providing them with whitewashed history classes, literature books that do not reflect the identities of the students, and abstinence-only sex education. Teaching is an astonishingly difficult profession, but every day is worthwhile when working with the kids I met at Breakthrough. Even though there are large quantities of work beyond the classroom, like hours of grading, lesson planning, and report-writing often done on teachers’ own time, I still believe profoundly in the importance of educating both students and new teachers to continue to strive to make the education system a more equitable and justice-oriented place. I will certainly take the lessons that Breakthrough taught me into my future work and life plans.
As I look forward to my upcoming graduation, I will take all of the skills I learned in Breakthrough with me to Williams and beyond: effective time-management, positivity and enthusiasm, organization and planning abilities, and creatively teaching skills to groups of people. I now more clearly understand different techniques for teaching concepts and ideas to a variety of people. I have certainly developed more patience and humility, as there is nothing more humbling than working with thirteen-year-olds. I also have new connections in the education world, who have mentored and guided me into a fascinating profession.
Once again, I am deeply grateful and indebted to those who have supported my path with Breakthrough: my teachers and mentors at Williams, particularly my thesis advisor Professor Nimu Njoya; the staff at Williams who supported me in the process of applying both to the program and to ASIP; and the hardworking members of the ’68 Center for Career Exploration who make it possible for students like me to afford this type of work and exploration during the summer. I am deeply grateful to the O’Herron-Burleigh Internship Endowment Fund, who sponsored my internship and supported me as I seek to learn and grow, and hopefully help others to learn and grow as well! Part of making opportunities like a Breakthrough fellowship a truly accessible experience means making sure undergraduate students can afford the summer, so we can have a chance to learn valuable teaching skills and connect with like-minded peers. I am extensively grateful for all those I got to learn from, and all those I got to teach, as a result.