Educator & Student Voices

“It is surreal to me that I got Teacher of the Year this year… This is my fourth year in DC. For my first two years, I was at the lowest point of my career. I attribute turning that around to Center for Inspired Teaching. I want to make my classroom the most joyful place. Inspired Teaching helped me do that.” Read more from Ms. Jan Schuettpelz, a 2015 Inspired Teacher Leader, science teacher at Alice Deal Middle School, and 2016 DCPS Teacher of the Year.

“Now as an Inspired Teacher, I work with kids who come from a lot of different backgrounds, with different needs. It’s just as important for all of my kids to have someone who is pushing them to be their best self as it would be for someone who is coming from a very affluent background, who doesn’t have the same kinds of needs.” Read more from Ms. Jessie Curry, a 2012 Inspired Teaching Fellow, teacher at Capital City Public Charter School, and Vice President of the Fellows Advisory Board.

“Those with equal rank or higher remember him by his nickname ‘Baby Captain.’ Others earlier in his career remember him as Second Lieutenant McInnis, and still to so many four and five year olds living in both New Orleans and Washington D.C., Daris McInnis is no doubt their champion.” Cultivate Excellence profiles 2014 Inspired Teaching Fellow Daris McInnis.

“Inspired Teaching is focused on the whole child. That connected with me because as a kid, I needed someone to connect with me on a social-emotional level. Other kids need that as well. That’s really the foundation for all success in the classroom: really building strong relationships with the kids, making them feel welcomed and respected.” Read more from Mr. Milton (Mickey) Bryant, a 2011 Inspired Teaching Fellow and a teacher and instructional coach at Ketcham Elementary School.

2011 Inspired Teaching Fellow Milton Bryant was featured in a piece published in the Washington Post about the successes of Ketcham Elementary School. The school, where 100% of students qualify for free and reduced-price meals, recently posted major gains on standardized tests aligned with the Common Core.

As part of her internship at historic Tudor Place, Real World History student Nora Pehrson did independent research and wrote a blog post and essay about Britannia Peter Kennon who owned and lived at Tudor Place from 1854-1911. Read more from Nora about her research into how “widowhood might have represented a challenge to the cult of domesticity.”

“At last month’s Chocolate Inspiration gala, I had the opportunity to share with some attendees how my life has become so much more exciting since becoming a changemaker. I told them, as one example, about the informal mentorship program for new social studies teachers in the District that I started after realizing that many new teachers were leaving due to lack of support from their colleagues.” Read more from 2014 BLISS Teacher Leader Jennifer Brown about what it means to her to be a changemaker.

Early childhood teacher and 2015 Inspired Teaching Fellow Alexandra Morris writes about the process of conducting and presenting her independent research at the Social Justice Research Forum, hosted by the School of Education at Trinity Washington University

On April 21, author and activist Jonathan Kozol toured the Inspired Teaching Demonstration Public Charter School. After visiting several classrooms, Mr. Kozol sat down for an open discussion with the school’s teaching and administrative staff. Read more for excerpts from this conversation.

“Why do some of my students seem to develop resilience in the face of obstacles while other students seem to develop learned helplessness and low self-esteem instead? These students are potentially sitting in the same classroom and getting the same kinds of support, so what’s the deal? How do we teachers help all students become resilient and self-confident both in our classrooms and out in the world?” Read more from Inspired Teaching Institute alum Katherine Douglas Kindle.