“The greatest challenge in the African-American community is how we have simply given up on the poorer, less educated segment of our community. We have joined others in ‘bashing’ them, allowing them to be stereotyped and distancing ourselves, ‘feeding them with a long-handled spoon’ as my mother used to say. Education is key for both ends of the spectrum. Everyone has something to offer and be offered. Integrate the recipients with the initial process of deciding what services to offer. It is condescending to assume we know best without engaging the clients. Hope—we can offer hope.”
—Janice H. Hawkins, a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration student specializing in Public Management and Leadership, in a profile on the Web site, Social Workers: Help Starts Here.
“It’s not every day that you sit and chat with two presidents. ... I work with the military in the capacity of development in Nangarhar. [The] Provincial Reconstruction Team ... is a joint effort by the United States and NATO military forces and interagency Department of State, USAID and USDA and other government forces. Our team is called ‘Team Nangarhar.' ... I would like for the American public to know what a wonderful job the military is doing. At the end of the day, the mission is to put smiles on faces.”
—Hilda Grigorian, a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration student specializing in International Nongovernmental Organizations, quoted in an article about her work as a field program officer working with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and a meeting she participated in with President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in an Oct. 10, 2008, article published in the University of La Verne's Campus Times Online.
“I know there are days when the paperwork and duties are overwhelming. On those days look deep into the eyes of the children you are allowed to teach and remember why you are here. You are making a difference in the life of that child. ... I am very thankful for the opportunity to work in Houston County schools with our children, our future community leaders. Wonderful educators, like my father, touched my life and I want to pay it forward. ... The most rewarding part of my job is when a student comes back and shares that lessons learned in my second-grade classroom have influenced their life or a decision they have made in a positive way.”
—Teri Musselwhite, who earned an M.S. in Education with a specialization in Elementary Reading and Literacy (PreK–6), quoted in an article about being named Teacher of the Week in the Dec. 24, 2008, issue of The Sun News in Macon, Ga.
“The first time I taught a concept to a student and I saw all the little lights go off, and he got it, and he remembered it, ... as a teacher, you see those moments all the time. ... [In] some schools, the fourth-graders are already designing Web pages; my fifth-graders are still learning how to double-click a mouse. Our kids are already at a big disadvantage, and technology is required now when you go out into the world for anything."
—Richard McKee, an M.S. in Education student specializing in Integrating Technology in the Classroom (Grades K–12), quoted in an article about him being named Prince George’s County (Md.) Public Schools’ Teacher of the Month for November, in the Nov. 27, 2008, issue of the Maryland Gazette.
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