Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Prepared for Fraternity Newsletter

Dear Brothers,

I hope this letter finds everyone well. As many of you know, during my time as an undergraduate brother I was deeply committed to community service. This passion led me to serve students in the Bronx this past year as a history teacher to students classified as “Special Ed” and as the Special Education Coordinator at the Bronx High School for Law and Community Service. This experience was truly unforgettable.

I could write for days about my experiences as an inner city teacher, ranging from students telling other students that “snitches get stitches” to teachers quitting after being assaulted and further threatened by students with no administrative action. Even my job training is a story in its own right; I gained all my teaching experience on the job with the exception of a six week intensive camp designed for New York City Teaching Fellows. Nevertheless, what I learned during my time in the Bronx could never be revealed through the text of a traditional novel. Instead, I will share with you two abbreviated incidents that I found especially moving out of the many experiences that I had at my school, the school with the third highest dropout rate in the Bronx.

Because many of the students in my school needed to recover previously lost credits towards graduation, I taught "promoting college readiness" six days per week for most of the year. One of my seniors had extreme test anxiety that was preventing him from graduating, but after intensive tutoring and intervention services from my colleagues and me, he managed to graduate. He told me many times, “Yo, Mr. Cooper this ain’t college … you need to relax before I relax you.” Another one of my seniors dropped out first semester, then came back second semester before Spring Break willing to do the makeup work to get the credit. He even asked me to meet him at the public library during Spring Break to help him get it done – which policy required me to decline as a colleague also would have to be present for legal reasons. Unfortunately, this student never returned to school because he was killed in a gang-related incident. While I had a diversity of experiences during my year in the classroom, I believe they all point to a need for more widespread and coordinated accountability encompassing counselors, social workers, paraprofessionals, parents, foster-parents, etc.



In order to affect the complex education system at the macro level while simultaneously making room for a widespread impact throughout society, I have decided to return to graduate school this fall. I am looking forward to my new journey at the University of Pittsburgh, where I will pursue a PhD in Learning Sciences and Policy with a minor in Quantitative Research Methodology as a K. Leroy Irvis Doctoral Fellow. I am also excited about fellowshipping with you all soon at Homecoming as we seek to strengthen our eternal bond. Until then, feel free to stop by my blog (iccooper.blogspot.com) to read more about my teaching experiences this past year and my upcoming experiences.





In ZAX,

Benny Cooper, ΘT 1036

COOPBL5@GMAIL.COM