Learning the ABCs of New York Teaching

Author: Crystal Belle

As I walked through the heavy brown doors of Brooklyn's Prospect Heights High School on Jan. 2, the first day of my Winter Term internship at the school, I immediately noticed the gray metal detectors placed there to ensure student safety.

Although many people who have never attended a New York City public school see the metal detectors as prison-like, for many students it provides an added sense of security. I, for one, feel safer in a high school with metal detectors than one without them.

After clearing the security check, I made my way up to the office of Dr. Deborah Isom, the administrator who I would be working with. My goal was to gain experience in a school that lacked resources and to understand the politics that led to such inequality within the system.

Entering this environment, I did not feel like an outsider. I am the product of a public school education, and frankly, I am proud of it.

Dr. Isom was a tall African-American woman, with caramel skin and almond-shaped eyes. Her aura simply grabbed me by the heart, and pulled me into her administrative zone. "Are you ready for Prospect Heights?" she said it in a caring yet challenging voice, as I looked at her with eager, anxious eyes, replying: "Of course!"

We agreed that I would sit in on classes and help teach for the first half of the month, and then work one-on-one with Dr. Isom dealing with administrative issues. I was excited to be working with someone who not only held a degree from the Middlebury Language School, but also from Boston College and numerous international schools. She is also a college professor in Brooklyn. Even before my experience began, I admired this woman.

I worked with several classes on a daily basis, observing the lessons and occasionally helping to teach. I also assisted Dr. Isom with administrative chores.

Although I enjoyed working in the classroom very much, it was hard for me accept that many of the teachers were not actually teaching.

Some stood in front of the classroom without any form of lesson plan, talking about their personal lives. It seemed as if teaching was a task for these teachers, something from which they could not escape. When I looked into some of the teachers' eyes, I didn't see a hint of interest or desire to teach.

However, there were also teachers who helped their students in everyway possible, staying after school for tutoring sessions and listening to students' concerns. The devoted teachers were more than just instructors; they were mentors. This mixture of teachers made Prospect Heights High School like a maze. I felt trapped between a world of public school paradise and a world of public school hell.

Working at Prospect Heights High School for one month opened my eyes to a side of public school I had never seen before. This was more a political game of equity and equality, instead of a learning institution where the students came first. Although some teachers cared, an overwhelming number of the teachers neglected to prepare their students for college.

I eventually realized that many of these teachers' anger stems from a lack of pay and resources. Even though public education is free, that does not justify corrupted institutions where learning is secondary.

From this internship experience I learned that I want to help to change the New York City educational system into a system of equity. As it stands now, the system more closely resembles an educational jail where the students are the prisoners.