Her Story
About Amanda
I've been teaching for 13 years, and I'm currently an art specialist at the middle school level, where I've been for 3 years. My journey to education was unconventional - my initial degree was in political science and international relations, and I worked in a construction firm in Chicago and then in the restaurant industry. While waiting tables, I served the president and people who ran the local college, and they told me I should attend, so I went back to school to get my education degree and art degree, because all I've ever really wanted to do was help people through education, political science, and art. In addition to my public school work, I run an adult learners program where I mentor Burmese refugee teachers living in refugee camps in Malaysia online. I teach them on Saturday mornings at 7 a.m., and I've been doing this for about a year and a half now. My brother, who is a Reverend Doctor doing work with the Baptist Association and peace talks in Israel, recommended me for this role when he was at the United Nations and they were looking for a teacher with a poli-sci background, mentor teaching background, and virtual school experience. I traveled to Malaysia last summer to teach my students there in person. Throughout my career, I've had some incredible opportunities, including creating ornaments for the 100th year tree lighting for Washington, D.C. with my high school students, working on a water reclamation authority mural, and being part of the install crew for June Saguguchi's Tales of the Land piece at the Clinton International Airport. My typical day involves teaching 6 classes with 2 different sections, supporting students through the arts and their other interests, and helping with their mental, physical, and educational well-being. On Fridays, I close down the restaurant where I wait tables on weekends, and then I work on my lesson plans for Malaysia. I'm passionate about transitioning into adult learning in the private sector, corporate, or nonprofit space, because I've really enjoyed working with my Burmese teachers and getting such joy out of that work. I love working with adult learners because they're more ready and hungry to hear what you have to say, and you can see more immediate fruition of your work versus waiting 10 years to see how students did.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amanda
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Join your professional organizations and know your rights. Don't be afraid to speak up. A lot of women get taken advantage of in their professions, or get played emotionally, and I just want to say that no is a complete sentence. You don't have to take on these extra duties. As the woman, no, you're not the mom of the thing and have to plan all the parties, so just do your job and don't let them bully you into other things.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Education in general has gone through, since I started teaching, a mass segregation movement, which was known as the charter school movement, and we got the public and national language changed to call it what it was. There's a lot of legislation that is giving charter schools the same rights as public schools, but they don't have to follow the same rules, but they get all of our funding now, and that's just been really hard to deal with. They passed the Learns Act in Arkansas, and it's just funneled half of our public ed money straight into these elite private schools that already have the money that they need to operate. The best way for most people to understand that is if they've ever seen the documentary called A Backpack Full of Cash, because every student is worth $6,000 to $10,000, and when you do the warm body count in October, your school has allotted the funding based upon your student count. Charters will hold the kids till October 1st, get the money, and then send half of them back into private school. So then we're flooded in October with charter school kickouts, but we don't have the funding for them. Funding and laws have a lot to do with so many professions, and that's why I was saying, know your rights.
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