Felicia Phillips, MCMS '04, Middle School Mathematics

Facts:

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Felicia's first "teaching" experience happened in the sixth grade, when a teacher asked her to help a seven year-old with her reading. Before graduating from high school, she had tutored students in several subjects and knew that she would one day be an educator. During a successful 15-year career in the telecommunications industry in Atlanta, she worked with children of all ages in tutoring and mentoring programs, and participated in forums focused on increasing student interest and achievement in math and science. She eventually decided to quit her job and prepare to enter the classroom. After taking math courses for two years, she chose to attend the Teacher Education Program at HGSE because of its emphasis on urban education, the early opportunity to teach (in the Cambridge-Harvard Summer Academy), and the MCMS program and its close-knit community of mid-career entrants into teaching.

After spending a year in Boston teaching at the middle school where she completed her student-teaching internship, Felicia returned to Atlanta where she teaches mathematics and reading in the Atlanta Public Schools. At her school, she is a grade-level chairperson at her school, mentors a new math teacher, and promotes technology integration in the curriculum. She also serves on a District-wide textbook adoption committee.

Inside Scoop:

"TEP had a major impact on my fledgling career as a teacher. I had an incredible student-teaching experience; my mentor teacher and the rest of the faculty and my school were so supportive of my efforts to make a smooth transition from the corporate world into education. Not only does TEP offer a strong practical component, but it also provides access - through elective courses at HGSE and other schools at Harvard - to professors whose work in education policy, curriculum, and social issues related to education provide a comprehensive view of the challenges and possibilities of urban education. Even today, though I've been away from Cambridge for a few years, I rely on what I learned in TEP to help guide my instructional decisions, lead my colleagues in professional learning communities, and consider how external stakeholders can help our school improve student achievement."

"I hope that the students in my classes see in me a teacher who wants them to succeed not only in math, but in life as well. Many urban middle school students are apprehensive about mathematics because they have not experienced sustained success, so I know my work is cut out for me. So even though the primary effect I want to have on young people is to make math more interesting and accessible so that they will be successful, I want to also help them develop a positive vision for their future and work with them to figure out how they can achieve their vision."