I wrote another piece for the Philadelphia Inquirer. It’s received a lot of positive feedback so far, which is much appreciated. I don’t write much these days and haven’t had much of a desire, but the kind messages and emails I have received over the past few days has me thinking that maybe I should return pen to paper. We’ll see.
Once upon a time, I didn’t want to work with children. The idea of teaching had crossed my mind a few times over the years, but it always involved instructing older students. It would be too challenging, I reasoned, to work with young ones.
But that was then. Now, I’m happily in my second year of working as a tutor with students at Mastery Charter Smedley Elementary in the Frankford section of Philadelphia.
It is challenging work. Children are still curious about what is happening around them; they are still messy, and the simplest things — like burping — can be hilarious to them, and derail any well-thought-out lesson about sounding out and writing the letters of the alphabet.
Within my North Philadelphia neighborhood, I’ve witnessed the constant struggle students have with obtaining knowledge, and how they view reading as something scary. I’d like to be able to change that mindset and inspire the idea that learning, whatever it may be, can enlighten the mind and take a person so much further in life.
Ultimately, I want to be able to unearth the skills they have and need to succeed, especially those who resemble me.
Read the rest of the story here…
A journalist by trade, Dominique “Peak” Johnson recently graduated from Arcadia University with a Master’s in Creative Writing. He is currently an AmeriCorps tutor with Joyful Readers, where he teaches kindergarteners and third graders.
