I majored in chemistry at Carleton, and found a job in the corporate world and just didn’t like it. A friend of mine was serving with Reading Corps and told me to give it a try. I served a year and then wanted to try Math Corps, because I’m more of a science guy.
It was great to be in a school and see how it works. Wanting to be a teacher was always lurking under the surface for me, and being part of the school community tipped me over the edge. Serving with Reading Corps and Math Corps is a really great introduction to what it’s like to work with kids all day, every day. Plus, it’s a cool opportunity to see what schools are like now – they’ve evolved a lot even since I’ve been there, which isn’t all that long ago. I got to see a lot of different teachers teaching, and it helped form what I would want to do as a teacher. I also learned that I really like working with middle schoolers – their own personalities are coming through and they still have a lot of excitement for school.
My AmeriCorps education award helped me get my teaching license, as well as pay back my student loans. Serving with Reading Corps and Math Corps helped move me to the next level. Today, I’m a sixth grade science teacher at Sanford Middle School in the Minneapolis Public Schools District!