Beyond the Classroom Walls

By: Jennifer Tabb

 

In the past, I have had the opportunity of working in the school setting as a paraprofessional. Concurrently, I was working as a case planner at local non-profit aiding disadvantaged youth. These experiences outlined my desire to work with youth and assist them through both their social-emotional goals and their educational ones. As a result of these things, I completed my Masters in Community Counseling and am now on the brink of completing the Masters of Arts in Education Program (MAED) at Michigan State University (MSU).

 

In entering this program, it was my aspiration and my professional goal to aid at-risk youth with meeting their goals through emotional, social and educational support. I am passionate about this because I have always considered education as a way of developing the entire person, not just the academic component of oneself.

 

Currently, I work with youth (ages 12-21) at a local non-profit that offers residence and other basic needs for at-risk youth. Often there are issues pertaining to school enrollment, attendance and overall academic performance. Many of the youth see education as a means to overcome their current environmental and/or familial challenges thus, their treatment plans often include educational growth (e.g. reduction in absences, increase in grades).

 

During my role as a paraprofessional and a case planner, I was able to see how the two settings could work together to help enhance student performance. I believe having the skillset to assist students outside of the classroom is what helps drive their success. I see it as a team effort for all those involved in the life of a student (particularly students who come from underprivileged backgrounds and who have current life challenges) to help them excel and aid in their success. Therefore, the importance of the school setting and traditional teachers as well as the after school settings (e.g. home, youth programs) and non-traditional teachers will influence the success of the students.

 

 By participating in this program, I have been able to meet my professional goal of being a liaison between the schools and the after school programming that helps students perform well.  There are often unconventional courses taught during after school programming that includes topics such as literacy and critical thinking.  I have helped students in this after-school program at the youth home work towards obtaining their academic goals which in turn has helped them with some of their emotional and social goals as well.

 

While my initial goal of becoming a liaison remains the same in concept, it has evolved and been altered to include more layers.  These layers include my utilization of my concentration in literacy and were adapted in an effort to employ my entire skillset (both my degree in counseling and currently my degree in education). As well, I saw a way in which I could use the things that I learned to fulfill a need amongst my clients. Therefore, this concentration allowed me to utilize writing, speaking and reading as outlets when the youth are dealing with life stressors while still aiding them in developing literary techniques and tools that help them perform better in their coursework.  By enhancing my skillset in this program, I have been able to better assist the youth that I work with and advocate for their needs outside of the classroom setting.