Her Story
About Katina
I have been in education for 21 years, and my journey began in an unexpected way. I was working in the medical field when my mother, who was an aide at my old high school, suggested I come substitute. While subbing, one of my former teachers, Ms. Russo, who had become the curriculum director, saw me naturally managing a classroom of senior boys and told me 'go back to school, you are natural.' I didn't immediately listen, but after taking a full-time teacher's aide position in special education and working with a wonderful teacher named Stephanie King who treated me as her co-teacher rather than just an aide, and then having multiple people at church tell me I taught well, I finally heard God's message and went back to school. I earned my Master's degree with honors while simultaneously caring for my terminally ill mother, my grandmother, and my daughter's baby, and while having a freshman in college and a senior in high school. After my mother passed away, I moved to DFW and started subbing to find where I fit in. A great principal, Dr. Carroll, hired me at Trinity Leadership charter school even though I wasn't certified yet. I was struggling with passing the math portion of my generalist certification, and a teacher on campus tutored me three days a week for free until I passed on the first try. I have taught 6th grade World Cultures (an AP class), worked as an ESL-certified teacher, and now teach 6th grade reading at East Graham Preparatory in Dallas under Cityscape Schools. I am currently working on my doctorate and will defend my dissertation in early January. I have also started an LLC for educational consulting, curriculum writing, and speaking. The beauty of having a career backed by all my hard work is that I have choices - if I'm not valued where I am, I can find a place where I'm needed for more than just being a warm body in a room.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Katina
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received came from my sister's professor, and I tell this to my students and would tell it to anyone going into teaching: the way you will know if teaching is for you would be if you wouldn't mind doing it for free. I like teaching so much, I can make a little bit of money, or I can make a lot of money. It doesn't matter to me. If you like it enough that you're not going into it just for the money, then you know you like it. People think they want to go into teaching like, oh, you get summers off, you get all these vacations, but the 187 days where you are with students - if you like children enough that the vacation is not what you're going into it for, then you know you like it. Lots of people teach, and they really don't even like children. You need to like children to go into teaching.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The way you will know if teaching is for you would be if you wouldn't mind doing it for free. I like teaching so much, I can make a little bit of money, or I can make a lot of money. It doesn't matter to me. If you like it enough that you're not going into it just for the money, then you know you like it. I think people think they want to go into teaching like, oh, you get summers off, you get all these vacations, or whatever. But the 187 days where you are with students - if you like children enough that the vacation is not what you're going into it for, then you know you like it. Lots of people teach, and they really don't even like children. You need to like children to go into teaching. You must like children.
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