Dream to Teach Students Get Behind-the-Scenes Look at DMPS
Dream to Teach students check out the DMPS-TV car during a day of job shadowing school district administrators.
Dreams are contagious.
How else to explain the growth this year in Dream to Teach (D2T), the district’s innovative program aimed at grooming minority students for careers in education?
“Last year, we had about 56 students in the program,” said coordinator Sarai Tillinghast. “This year over 100 students are involved. Last year, 40 students did the Job Shadow and this year 70 participated.”
The Job Shadow assigns D2T enrollees to tagalong with district administrators and officials during a workday to get a fuller sense of all that’s involved in the operations of the state’s largest provider of public education. And Friday was Job Shadow Day.
Besides the usual hustle and bustle at district headquarters at 2323 Grand Avenue, there was an extra energy boost in the air thanks to the presence of a batch of inquisitive young minds propelling around the building on the strength of young legs.
Justice Emunah is a freshman at East with designs on someday teaching PE and/or math at the middle school level. He didn’t get home Thursday night until 1:00 AM (make that Friday morning) after an out of town track meet. But there he was making the rounds at district HQ along with Weeks Middle School 8th grader Candy Alvarez, who wants to become either a high school teacher or a college professor, DMPS Humanities Curriculum Coordinator Amber Graeber and PE Curriculum Coordinator Carlye Satterwhite.
“I didn’t realize how many other people and positions are involved,” said Candy. Justice nodded.
They toured the Communications Department which was likened to a squad of cheerleaders supporting a great team on the field. From there they headed downstairs to Business & Finance where they got a peek into the grant writing process that generates vital funds to supplement the nearly half billion budget of Iowa’s biggest school district.
Along the way their escorts shared some insights into perks that are unique to the noble profession of teaching.
“There’s nothing like it when a former student contacts you to say thanks for preparing them for some success that’s happening in their life,” said Graeber.
Satterwhite’s example of that principle was showing a pack of youngsters running around the playground at recess the mechanics of sprinting and seeing some of them blossom into racers when they get bigger and stronger.
That’s the dream; everyone reaching their top speed, thanks to someone letting them in on the secrets to success. It’s catching.
