On a different note, Ryan has been hired as a math teacher at Achievement First Bridgeport Academy (AFBA). He will be teaching 7th grade math along with me! Achievement First is a charter school with locations in NY and CT. It is a non-profit organization with a single goal in mind - to deliver on the promise of equal educational opportunity for all of America's children. I am so excited about this job for him. Not only does it work towards his goal of being a teacher and have purpose, but he is continuing to amaze me with the passion that is coming from him as he learns more and more each day about educational inequity. In all honesty, I think he might possibly have learned more in the past two weeks than he retained from college due to the pertinence of the material! He comes home spouting off information about the achievement gap, techniques for the classroom, and sharing inspiring movies. I am sitting here tonight with Ryan and our good friend Liz, and he says, "the achievement gap - we are all three working against that!"
I am so proud of the hard work that he is putting into his new job. He will be the first one to tell you that his major was not work intensive, and I never really saw his hard work in football because I didn't watch him practice, and a game is just a game to me (no offense Ry). Needless to say, I have never seen him work this hard and have such enthusiasm about the work that he is doing. I have a feeling that AFBA is really pleased with their choice in him. His enthusiasm towards closing the achievement gap is inspiring to me! He is seriously owning his work, his goals, and his love for education, and I could not be more proud! As he speaks about teaching and pedagogy, all of the vocabulary that I learned last year during TFA training is coming out of his mouth.
I am very thankful for the opportunity that he has been blessed with. He is coming into his own, and this is the best thing that could have happened for him. It is inspiring his intellectual side, and challenging him every day. Tonight he told me his aspirations to go on to get his doctorate and work in school leadership someday!
We are both going into the battlefields together, fighting the achievement gap. Too many people in America are oblivious of the fact that our education system is failing our children. Those who do recognize it are doing one of two things: 1. Making sure that the laws that that keep teachers protected and students 'moving on' OR 2. Working relentlessly to ensure that all of our students are given the opportunity to obtain a great education - at any and all costs.
Please click on the link below to get an idea of exactly what I am talking about.
Please continue to pray for our children who are underprivileged. Love to you all!
God Bless,
Emily
