Who Am I?

Well, certainly not Petey Pablo (either you get it, or you don’t). By day, I teach 5th graders about important things like how to solve fraction word problems, the difference between a warm front and a cold front, that it’s okay to dream, to never stop believing in themselves, and that if a wood chuck could chuck wood, it probably wouldn’t be much because wood is disgusting. Not up for debate. By night, I serve as a part-time life counselor with absolutely no credentials, freelance critic of poorly written tweets and bad music, make-believe ESPN analyst, fruit ninja, and a full-time husband.

I graduated from NC Central University in 2014 and I’ve been on a mission to change the world through shaping young minds to understand that knowledge really is power, and the world really is theirs (not on a Napoleon or Hitler level-that would be bad). In my extensive two-year teaching career, I’ve noticed that while I’ve been able to help students make a lot of growth academically and socially, a lot of my students have trouble finding their place in the classroom. Many of them come in lacking either the will to learn, the confidence to put forth the effort in the classroom, or both. It’s always heartbreaking for me to see this because I know that if no one steps in and makes a change before middle school, these students will continue to feel out of place for the rest of their lives, no matter where they go.

Okay, so what does Kenan Fellows have to do with this?

Great question, my friend (you’ve made it this far into my blog site-we’re friends now). I decided to pry my way into the Kenan Fellows Program because I knew that this experience would aid me in my journey of becoming an educational leader, master empower-er of students (yes, that’s a thing), expert math and science nerd, and guru of all of things Google. The unexpected bond that I’m forming with this amazing network of some of the best STEM Educators across the state is an added bonus.

Okay, enough about me. Just kidding- this whole blog site about me and my experiences throughout my fellowship, Building Community Through Cyber and Fiber.