A time to highlight teachers’ work, students’ potential

The week of March 31 to April 4 marked Education Awareness Week in Rhode Island. It is a collaboration between Junior Achievement and Teach For America to highlight the work that our teachers and schools are doing to educate and inspire our students, the future leaders of our state. We do this by inviting community leaders to take on difficult and innovative work as guest teachers in classrooms.
Leaders like U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and Rhode Island Foundation President and CEO Neil D. Steinberg joined public school teachers to teach a Junior Achievement Elementary lesson, or jointly develop lessons with Teach For America teachers. For these leaders, their commitment to public education is underscored by their participation in the work teachers do each day that positively impacts students’ lives.
We can all point to an example of the power of a teacher who made a lasting impact in our lives. A teacher who told us that we could achieve our dreams; a teacher who showed us a world beyond the four walls of our classroom and our role in an increasingly global society; or a teacher who exposed us to topics of social justice.
While there is critical work that needs to happen to expand greater educational opportunities across every community in Rhode Island, we have many excellent educators working with our children. While Education Awareness Week occurs once annually, we have an opportunity to celebrate these teachers and examine how we can support this important work every week. Where there are needs in our most underserved schools, volunteers can partner with Junior Achievement to bring students hands-on programs in financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce readiness. And Teach For America recruits, trains and supports a diverse corps of qualified teachers, many with a focus on important STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects our kids need most.
As a state, we must to do more to highlight public education and the work of our teachers. Our educators face enormous challenges every day as they work to bring excellent educational opportunities to our most underserved schools. Our students in Rhode Island are improving in literacy and math overall, but there is more that needs to be done. As Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Deborah A. Gist said about the 2013 NECAP results, “while districts have closed some gaps, the disparities between students living at or near poverty and their middle-class peers remains a major priority for us.”
Many of our students need more to help them reach their full potential and achieve their dreams. Our students must have access to a quality education system so that they have opportunities to lead and contribute to Rhode Island’s future, to grow our economy, and to continue our legacy as a wonderful place to build their own families. •


Lee Lewis is the president of Junior Achievement of Rhode Island. Heather Tow-Yick is the executive director for Teach for America-Rhode Island.

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