In celebration of Black History Month, we are acknowledging and uplifting Black teacher residents who are part of NCTR Network teacher residency programs, eager to begin teaching a class of students as a teacher of record and make a difference in their communities.
Meet Cassandra Watkiss, Chicago Teacher Residency Program
Career changing is difficult in many ways (financially for sure) but if I can be honest I would not change the space I am in for the world. Though the transition has it challenges the journey is rewarding.
Why the “do over” you ask? In short, my son Alexander. I decided to become a mom late in life. I was corporate career oriented until Alexander came at the age of 42. Until then children were not even on my radar. Once Alexander was born it was like I grew a “sixth sense” and saw little people everywhere. Once that sixth sense became a part of my DNA it never went away.
By the time Alexander was 2 or 3, he was diagnosed with a condition called Nystagmus (dancing eyes) the condition causes his eyes to shake (or dance) unless he looks at things at an extremely close range. Where normal vision is 20/20 and legal blindness is 200/20, Alexander was born at 155/20. This vision difference became a game changer in PreK. His teacher Ms. Phillips noted the difference and pushed for an IEP. I pushed back for a 504 and for her team to work harder at giving Alexander personal support. Growing up IEP’s were stigmatized in a way that I did not want for my son and I was already having a hard time adjusting to his educational journey.
Ms. Phillips continued to be the face and voice of reason for his educational team. She periodically asked me to reconsider and with every IEP meeting she brought a fresh sense of reasoning behind her thought process along with others to help back it up. Over time, I let my emotions take a back seat to her logic, and Alexander’s educational journey has benefited ever since. The interest the school has taken in his educational process from the very start made me realize that if I could ever have a “do over” I would become a teacher.
In 2021, my health took an unexpected change in direction, and with it, so did the career that I had been cultivating for over 30 years. Staying in that hospital room (for several months) I had time to think about what I wanted out of my life and I took a leap of faith and applied for the CPS Residency program. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I knew right away that my track would be special education. Alexander helped me to understand in a way that I never had before that ALL individuals learn differently from others. Understanding the “how” in each individual helps them to achieve their own personal levels of success.
With that thought process in mind, I started the journey and have not looked back. One of the coolest things ever is that I got chosen for my internship at Alexander’s school. Though I do not work with his grade level (on purpose for his growth and mine), it is so nice to see him in the hallways and to be able to watch him grow from an entirely different vantage point. The second coolest thing is now my world is FILLED on a weekly basis with over 200 kids that I do my best to help make a difference in their lives. I connect with parents who are apprehensive about the educational process for whatever their reasons. I do my best to be as professional and purposeful as Ms. Phillips was with me in order to service their needs and assist their children in whatever they might need to feel successful within their day. It is a great feeling to know that not only have I been of service, but I have done so within my own community that is filled with brown-skinned children who quite often see way too many negative images of their brown-skinned counterparts. I am honored to provide a balance of positivity in their daily dynamic.
The program has been supportive at every turn and recognizes that just as the student body that we serve has its day-to-day challenges, we as educators face our own. When those challenges arise, I have had no problems reaching out to those who can be of support and they have provided it.
As a Black educator among a building full of Black educators and administrators, I have to admit this climate is very different for me. I am usually in the minority populous wherever I have been employed and to be surrounded by brown-skinned excellence on a daily basis has been an awesome experience thus far.
As the journey continues I believe that schools and districts can help support Black educators by ensuring that we have access to the resources that many schools have outside of predominately brown-skinned districts. I am new to researching the financial metrics, but at first glance, it appears that those in higher property tax brackets push more funding towards their schools than the districts of their brown-skinned counter parts. Establishing more funding opportunities to provide a more enriched educational experience that connects to curricula rich in science, social studies, and arts would allow us as educators the opportunity to engage with our students in ways that seem to be somewhat limited from my also limited preview. I recognize this is a process, one that has many different moving parts, but engaging in the conversation must also be a part of the process.
At the completion of the program, I look forward to (after taking a moment to exhale and go on a family trip to celebrate my accomplishment) continuing the conversation as it relates to funding opportunities, while helping to create partnerships that bring new and exciting educational experiences to the institutions in which I serve. I look forward to seeing my students graduate and become positive contributors to their respective communities. I hope to be an educator like Ms. Phillips, whom the kids remember as someone who changed their lives for the better. I know I can’t change the world, but I hope to make a difference one child at a time. for the better.
Posted February 28, 2023