Goellner Public Education Scholarship

During my Junior year is when I really began finding my passion. I switched schools for a year, and throughout that year I experienced a lot of different things that changed how I viewed the world and the things around me. One thing that changed me,was realizing how much I missed my teachers at my old school. I never realized how much they changed and improved my life on a day to day basis. Even the teachers I would deem “annoying” I missed. I also became more of an analyzer, I started looking at people differently. My first question when meeting someone was now, “Why are you the way you are?” I never asked this to anyone directly but it was always an internal thought. I saw kids at my school that some people would assume are “thugs” or even a “bad kid” and asked myself the same question, “Why are they the way they are?”. I quickly found the answer to this: every single thing that happens in your life affects you. I quickly stopped seeing these kids as bad kids but rather troubled kids who really just needed guidance. This realization became the driving factor of why I want to teach today. I look at peers I go to school with and ask that same question. I find that they are all missing something that others might have. I find the school I attended so interesting. It was a mix of the most spoiled kids and the most troubled kids all put into one space.This diversity is something West Allis Central really takes pride in. Seeing this diverse group of kids made me notice a common pattern. I realized the kids who were more involved in sports and had more involved parents or even had a role model that pushed them seemed to have less behavior issues and perform better academically. The kids whose parents involved them in sports from a young age and helped run fundraisers were the kids that thrived, but the kids whose parents weren't as involved and didn't live in a two parent household seemed to sink. This realization made me realize that some kids really just need a male role model–especially one that is young and relatable. I especially feel that the mass population of Black American students also are in need of a Black Male role model. For over a year, I have been employed at the WAWM Recreation Department working with many kids throughout the district. I met a kid at one of the camps who, I could tell, was a troubled kid. He was only eight years-old and many people had labeled him as a bad kid, even on the roster that was given to the employees. He had a note on his name highlighting him for behavioral issues. After spending a week with this kid, we had grown pretty close, and he told me I was his favorite leader, which meant a lot. His behavior issues definitely went down and he almost never misbehaved with me. I never realized how much of an impact I was making on this kid until I met his dad. He praised me, thanked me, and even called me a superhero. That moment has stayed with me since. It really opened my eyes to see how much I was changing the life of this student.