Hear from our graduates, and current TeachDETROIT students, about our program!

From Kaity, class of 2016:

It's hard to believe, but I've now got three years under my belt at Chandler Park Academy teaching 7/8 science.  It is so incredibly challenging, but the rewards outweigh the struggles tenfold.  My students are amazing and I truly love my job.  You taught me to take an interest in my students and to always form relationships with the parents.  I am proud to say that I have gained quite the reputation at my school for being a student/parent favorite for these practices that we learned in TeachDETROIT.

I have always strived to keep science fun, hands-on, investigative, inquiry based and most importantly- student centered.  Just the other day, one of my students turns to me and said, "So, Mrs. B, when are we going to start learning?  It seems like we keep playing with flipping bottles and paper airplanes." (We've been covering experimental design/engineering processes) Yet, the same student who thought we were playing was able to identify all of the variables in our experiment, and provide an evidence based claim on which prototype was the most successful.

I brought my kiddos to WSU for STEM Day in the spring, and plan to continue to do so!  They had an absolute blast and they were SO excited to go to "Mrs. Buback's college".  We took this photo outside COE, and I really wanted to share it with you guys.  This is such a small amount of the students I have taught over the years, but a great representation of what you and TeachDETROIT have done for me, but also for the children of this wonderful city.

In my time at Chandler Park Academy, I have earned multiple rewards and honors: Rookie of the Year award from admin my first year and Teacher of the Year for years 2 and 3.  I was also nominated through our charter authorizer of Saginaw Valley State University as educator of the year this spring.  I truly feel as though all that I have achieved is possible because of what I learned at WSU.  I received a life changing education and I am so honored to have been a part of TeachDETROIT.

I apologize for the long email, but I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my career thus far and thank you all for the hand that you have had in it.  TeachDETROIT has truly changed my life for the better.

All the best,

Kaitlyn (Strehl) Buback
TeachDETROIT '15-'17

From Tiffany, class of 2016:

Life as a teacher has been very challenging but rewarding as well. I love it and I know that I was destined to be an educator.

I've attached a picture below I thought you'd might enjoy. We learned about Kwanzaa all month long and they presented the seven principles and sang a song about Kwanzaa in the Holiday program. I was very proud.