Boondocks

First things first, I wanted to explain the title of my blog as well as this post.  Both come from a song by Little Big Town called "Boondocks" and one of the lines from the chorus goes "I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks".  This song was sung at the Teach For America Mississippi Delta 2012 Corps Member Opening Ceremony by a group of five rising high school seniors from a school in rural Arkansas.  The incredible thing is that all five of these seniors have plans to attend major colleges and universities around the nation.  They were born and raised in the "boondocks" and are so proud where they come from but they are also going to do incredible things as they leave the Delta.

With that as an introduction, I wanted to let you all know how incredibly thrilled I am to be a part of this national movement to break the cycle of educational inequity.  We have had quite a whirlwind these past few days as we get settled here at Delta State University and I have met some really inspiring people from all over the country!  And although we have many many differences, we are all here with a common purpose: to ensure that all children, no matter their zip code, have access to an excellent education.  I have spent the last three days exploring the stories of the Delta communities, learning about the impact that I can have here, and also identifying key strengths and parts of my story that can translate into so much more for my students.  There have been lots of inspirational and motivating sessions that have made me even more excited about the next two years.  Induction has been the start of transformational growth and change that will continue the rest of the summer as we begin teaching summer school in a week.  We ended the week with a Delta style dinner in the home of community members complete with crawfish, fried chicken, black eyed peas, fried okra, and cornbread.  It was so funny to hear some of my new Northern friends say things like "I have never eaten fried okra...or black eyed peas".  I am looking forward to some sleep this weekend in order to prepare for the next five weeks.

I hope to post at least once or maybe twice a week about my experiences in the Delta.  The video in this post just gives a little more background on Teach For America and our vision that "ONE DAY all students will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education".  Our placement guru, Matty B (whom did an absolutely astounding job placing all 300 of the Delta corps members in school districts before Institute...the first corps in the nation to have done so), said it best: "I am Teach for America".