ATLANTA — In just days, back to school will kick off for students across metro Atlanta, but the return to the classroom also comes as many districts continue the search for quality teachers.
Breakthrough Atlanta works to support that effort. The nonprofit’s summer program seeks to help local students get college ready as well as expose undergrads to the world of teaching.
“The first part of our mission is to place highly motivated, underserved students on a path to college enrollment and success,” Monique Shields, CEO of Breakthrough Atlanta, explained. “And the second part of our mission is to inspire the next generation of teachers and education leaders.”
That mission resonated with recent Tuskegee University grad Jaila Mason, who first learned about Breakthrough Atlanta through a friend. The Atlanta native spent the last two summers of working as a Breakthrough teaching fellow.
"Every night I would go home, and I would be tired, but I would be so excited to come back the next day," Mason said. “I really enjoy coming up with lessons and teaching. Seeing the impact it has on children. They didn’t understand something, and I taught it, and now it’s like a lightbulb has gone off.”
It’s that community impact that ultimately encouraged Mason to pivot from a career in medicine to teaching.
“It may look hard from the outside, and it is hard,” she shared. “[But] it’s more than going up to the board and teaching them a lesson. You’re a teacher, but you’re their mentor as well.”
The teaching fellows, who are recruited from a diverse group of backgrounds and majors, are also set up for success through the Breakthrough model and support system, Shields explained.
“Breakthrough couples high intense training with intense support,” Shields said. "We have a set of really established best practice trainings we guide them in to help them manage their classrooms, plan their lessons, and then we match them with veteran teachers,” she said. “And those instructional coaches, observe, mentor, give feedback to our teaching fellows.”
Mason is now set to start as a kindergarten teacher this fall, a 'mission accomplished’ moment, Shields said.
“Three quarters of our teaching fellows will go into education and youth development careers,” she added.
“It’s so exciting to see college students who were formerly thinking they were going into other careers choose to become teachers because our communities and our kids need passionate and excited teachers.”
Learn more about Breakthrough Atlanta here.