My educational history was by almost all accounts what I would call ‘normal’. I have been in Salem for all of my schooling. I went to Auburn Elementary School, Parrish Middle School, North Salem High School and Western Baptist College (Corban College). With the exception of WBC all of these were public schools. My experiences in these schools have helped define me as an individual and have had a great impact on my development.
Auburn Elementary School is located in northeast Salem. When I attended school there it was a largely white middle class area. Most of my classes were comprised of children very much like myself. There was one black student in my grade and one student originally from Thailand. With these two exceptions all of the kids in my grade were either White or Hispanic. The Hispanic population at that school at least, was still minimal in the area at that time. My favorite teacher from Auburn was Mr. Togioka. He taught my fourth grade class. His teaching was always exciting. He was very involved with the families of the students and made a genuine effort to connect on a personal level with every student. I still see him from time to time and I still hold his opinion very dear to me. He has played a large part in my decision to be a teacher. When I think of a definition of a great teacher he is what I think of.
My education at Auburn was fairly well rounded but looking back I don’t really remember any talk of race. This could be because we went to a very homogenous school. I imagine racial issues were never addressed to us because there were no racist issues between students. It wasn’t until middle school that I ever remember hearing any talk of different races or cultures. To be fair my memory of this period is limited so it’s quite possible that these issues were addressed. Either way I have no recollection of it if it did happen.
Middle school was a slightly different story. The Salem area had an increasing Hispanic population and I distinctly remember my first day of school thinking there was a large Hispanic population represented in my classes. Looking back honestly I was a little intimidated. I knew nothing of these people. There was clearly a divide between races. The Hispanics seemed to stay in their circles and the Whites stayed to theirs. There was little crossover. This pattern continued through high school as well. Social class played the same role in every school I attended. It was always predominately middle class.
It was in middle school where I met Mr. Borowski. He was an environmental science teacher. Growing up I was never interested in science and generally was bored out of my mind through class. Borowski changed that for me. From the first day in class he presented his lessons in a way that was engaging and passionate. There was always a sense of urgency to what he taught when he showed practical application. I remember the first time we talked about global warming. He drew an enormous diagram on the blackboard showing how greenhouse gases and carbon emissions destroyed the ozone layer, which led to a chain reaction influencing all of life on earth. When Mr. Borowski taught I was on the edge of my seat. When class was over I was ready to go out and become and activist. His teaching has made me want to be a teacher. Every time I think about being competent in content knowledge I think about him. He has played a huge role in inspiring me to do the MAT program.
Before I tell you about high school I should give background on my home life. Both of my parents were fairly conservative Christians. I was raised in the church and high priority was place on attendance of church services and events. Most of my close friends were from church and not from school. All of my values and beliefs were formed in church and I never really questioned them. Going to a Christian college was a natural choice for me. State school never really seemed like much of an option. All of my decisions were filtered through my religious beliefs. This was both positive and negative for me. It was good because I still strongly hold most of these values very dear. It was bad because I never really did any critical thinking about why I believed what I believed, anything I didn’t directly understand I accepted as a matter of faith. That being said let me tell you about my life in high school.
High school was similar to middle school but my view of others was being increasingly influenced by church. I meant well but looking back I was becoming more and more closed-minded all the time. I rebelled against teachers who taught anything other than what I had already made my mind up about. I didn’t learn near as much as I should have in some classes (science mainly) because of my preconceived ideas.
After high school I enrolled immediately in classes at Western Baptist. Western was an extremely homogenous environment. The extent of diversity in the classes was people from a variety of different denominations. The professors did their best to get us to venture out into the community but for the most part people stayed in their communities at school and church. This, if anything, had a negative effect on me in terms of stereotyping. We associated almost exclusively with other Christians and our interactions with non-Christians were done with the intent of witnessing to them.
Since college I’ve had to do a lot of reflective thinking. I’ve held true to a lot of my beliefs when it comes to religion but many others I’ve had to strip from myself. This has been a painful process at times given that I’ve been raised in such an exclusive environment.
All of these experiences have shaped and reshaped me into the person I am today. I still, sadly, have some thoughts that need to be unlearned. I hope that I’m continually refining and broadening my mind. I believe this is essential to being a great teacher.
