In my previous life as an English teacher, I left the word “Why?” in the top right hand corner of my dry erase board for the entire school year. As a teacher, I felt that I had one responsibility: teach my students to think. I wanted my students to never feel satisfied with a simplistic answer, but instead to question, “Why?” Of course this pertained to literature, but it also meant the world around them, the people around them, and themselves.
In my real life, I often ask “why?” to what I see in my professional surroundings: the inequitable world of urban education. Last year, I moved to Boston to study Education Policy and Management, so that I could continue to chip away at the inequities that I have seen. Even though I have an M.A. in English from Seton Hall University and a B.S.Ed. from Bloomsburg University, I think that maybe this degree might do the trick. I’m currently a Family Engagement Coach, and I work with school leaders and teachers to rethink how they engage with their families — because why continue the same processes when they aren’t working effectively?
infused is an organization that encourages its participants to ask, “Why?” –about their organizational culture, values, mission, vision, perspective of leadership – but also about themselves and their backgrounds. “Why” am I a part of this organization? Because I believe that in order to grow personally and professionally, we must continue to think, evaluate, and question – which is what infused is about.