“What can a white guy teach me about African American literature?”
Josh Andrew ’14 faced this challenge when he walked into a class of fifteen African American high school seniors at Colby High School in Detroit. The seniors laughed when they saw that their teacher was a white man.
Since September 2014, Andrew has taught English Language Arts and African American literature. Andrew is member of Teach for America corps (TFA), a program that takes bright college graduates and places them in urban inner city schools for two years. While teaching, core members attend classes to earn their teaching certificate.
For Andrew the experience has affirmed his conviction that his future lies in education.
“The most difficult thing I have encountered is learning to teach kids to be successful students, but also adapting to their community and showing them how much their community is already supporting them and celebrates education,” Andrew said.
Approaching students in a humbled posture has helped Andrew earn his students trust.
One day in his African American Literature class, Andrew scratched his lesson plan for the day and asked the seniors to teach him how to dance.
In the morning before classes begin, Andrew will have a number of students in his classroom watching ESPN highlights with him.
Andrew remembers a question that Professor of English Justin Jackson asked which has helped earn the trust of his own students.
“He asked me: ‘How’s your family doing?’ He didn’t know anything about me, but that question struck me so profoundly,” Andrew said.
Hired by TFA in January, senior Arielle Mueller plans to teach high school Spanish in Washington D.C.
A history major and Spanish minor, Mueller transferred to Hillsdale after a year at the University of Minnesota.
As a freshman, Mueller tutored Mung and Muslim students in reading.
“My students could count on me arriving at 3:30 every day. They would run out to my car calling for Miss Mermaid as they rushed to give me a hug. Getting to know them for who they are made my time worthwhile. And I love that they called me Miss Mermaid,” Mueller said.
Mueller applied to TFA because she wanted experience.
“When I was tutoring in the inner city, I learned to love those students. While I know it will be a challenge, it’s an opportunity I’m excited about pursuing,” Mueller said. “I want to be just like Dr. Wyatt-Hayes when I grow up. She cares so much about everyone, demands a lot, and has a passion for what teaches.”
Mueller’s teaching role model, Professor of Spanish Carmen Wyatt-Hayes also had Andrew in her classroom.
“Arielle cares deeply about people and she’s very bright. I have a sense that she will succeed in whatever she does,” Wyatt-Hayes said.
Wyatt-Hayes remembers when Andrew would come into her office frustrated with his Spanish grades, but by the end of the course, had fallen in love with the language.
“Josh is an excellent student and can do anything,” she said.
All three agree that success in teaching begins and ends with loving students.
“Teaching is one of the hardest things that anyone could ever do,” Andrew said. “Approach every student you meet with the mindset that you are showing them what they already know. When they start to realize that, then the whole experience is nothing but rewarding.”
