ACTIONN VOICES

This is Why I Teach: Calen Evans 

Champion for Parent Teacher Home Visits

I am  2^nd Grade teacher at Lemelson STEM Academy. I became a teacher to help improve the lives of children.

Lemelson is both a wonderful and very challenging place to be a teacher. Its student population is mostly poor with many English language learners, high transiency rate, and low pre-K education. As an Anglo teacher, I face barriers of language and culture.

This year I was fortunate to be involved in the Parent Teacher Home Visit Program for my school and visited the homes of 20 families. These visits helped me to have a better understanding of the lives of my students and the difficulties they face that come from poverty, racism, undocumented status, witnessing violence and more. The visits have increased my ability to openly communicate with parents, building my communication with them in improved ways,  making my job of educating children vastly improved. 

When I visited the home of a student I will call Mara, I faced language barriers, and fear from the mom who was reluctant to participate because of fear. She was intimated by participating in the school life of her child because neither she nor her husband was able to finish a grade higher than 5^th.

There were many difficulties they faced that opened my eyes to the reality of my student. Five people in their family all live in a one bedroom apartment; all five sleep in the same room. Dad works full time as a mechanic and mom is a waitress.

Yet I found that they want a better life for their kids. We were able to develop a relationship built on trust and communication.

Now, every day, Mara’s mom brings her into the class says hi and hugs me. I know the family’s names and ask about them. It is obvious that I care. She now feels comfortable talking to me, even though her English is very limited.

Her daughter is one of the highest performing students in the school and ranks in the 85^th percentile nationwide, despite being bilingual with little English spoken at home. Her brother is also excelling. 

This is why I teach. To put into practice the care and love I have to give the children in my classroom the opportunity to have a better life, just like their parents want for them.