This Teacher Believes That Leadership Begins in the Classroom

Rowland is a third to fifth grade intervention teacher at Cajon Valley Unified School District in San Diego County, and she co-leads an afterschool program, TED-Ed Student Talks, with a colleague. Together, they help elementary students develop public speaking skills, working with participants to come up with an idea in the fall before coaching them on their speech delivery in the spring assembly. 

In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Rowland is also a part of the Aspiring School Leaders Fellowship led by the Teach For America San Diego region. It’s one of two equity fellowships run by the region. The Aspiring School Leaders Fellowship brings together Teach For America alumni and like-minded educators in San Diego to grow in their leadership and pursue school leadership opportunities in the county. More than 75 percent of educators in these fellowships identify as BIPOC, from a low-income background, and/or as first-generation college students.  

As Rowland was preparing to leave school one spring afternoon, Teach For America’s One Day talked to her about her path to the classroom and her ambition to lead a school in her home city in the near future.

How did your career in the classroom begin?

I was a recent graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I was working at the Boys and Girls Club in Southern Nevada, and I was approached by a current corps member in Teach For America, Kenny Robinson. He [had] seen how passionate I was as an education director at the Boys and Girls Club, and mentioned the possibility of me joining the corps. He told me about the benefits, told me about the master's program at UNLV, and told me about the five weeks of teacher boot camp, institute [currently known as preservice]. 

I was really pondering what type of career I wanted. I definitely wanted to work with kids, and I felt like education was the best route to go. So I started the corps in Las Vegas in 2013. 

I'm fortunate to have met him because if I didn't, I definitely wouldn't be the type of teacher I am today. And Teach For America has definitely taught me the “why.” Why are you doing this work? Why are you in the classroom? Why are you your students' biggest cheerleaders?

After 10 years in the classroom, what does your work look like now?  

I am currently serving the role as an intervention teacher at Madison Elementary School. I teach grades three, four, and five, and I am also the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) Coordinator, Safety Coordinator, and TED-Ed Student Talk Site Lead.

As an intervention teacher, I differentiate instruction for students and really provide that equity piece. I try to figure out what learning deficits our students have, and I try to provide some type of intervention piece to help bridge that gap. My third graders are performing on level, so I try to give them more of a push, and more of an enrichment activity so that they can feel challenged. My fourth and fifth graders are performing below a second grade level, so I still try to teach them their standards. However, I have to bring it down to a level in which they can understand and help cover those gaps. 

What impact do you hope to make in students’ lives in the future?  

I want to be a school leader because I'm very much equity driven. I want to make a larger impact outside of my classroom. I want to be able to help coach teachers on teaching culturally relevant teaching. I want to be able to really help with curriculum instruction, coaching, all of that. I want to be able to make sure that teachers have what they need to properly address the achievement gap and really help move our school from being a Title I at-risk school to being “in the green.” The impact that I hope that I can make in my students' lives is for them to really just do what they are passionate about and be kind and responsible human beings.

My experiences with Teach for America are helping me because it's really about relationship building. Before you can lead a school, you need to develop relationships with the people you work with, with the families that you work for in the community that you're in. And in order for you to have people on board with your mission and vision, it all starts with the relationships that you build.