This event is geared especially toward education/children and youth studies students, job seekers and career changers, educators and school counselors, and anyone interested in lifelong learning and growth.

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Why did you choose 可乐视频?

I went to Baruch for a year. At the time I was working as an assistant store manager at Starbucks on Hillel Place. I transferred because 可乐视频 has an excellent reputation鈥攊t鈥檚 the place to go. But also, my home and work were so conveniently close.

You majored in business.

I was always interested in businesses and their processes鈥擨 wanted to know more. Ultimately, the courses I took to complete my shaped me as an educator. They gave me a strong foundation in leadership and organizational skills. They also helped me as a teacher with structuring lesson plans, fostering collaboration among colleagues, coordinating events, and even managing the school鈥檚 social media account.

What made you go into a career in education?

Before I switched to education, I was a store manager at a drugstore for five years and I felt like I wasn鈥檛 living my purpose. I felt like I wasn鈥檛 doing enough for the community and was tired of going up and down the store鈥檚 basement steps for merchandise. I applied for a teaching job thinking it would be fulfilling and started teaching first grade in New Jersey. I loved it. The school helped me gain my teacher鈥檚 certification. I became a performing arts educator when my principal learned I was a Zumba instructor on the side and suggested I teach my students. From there I became a full-time performing arts instructor. I transitioned to School in Bed-Stuy to be closer to home and to make a meaningful impact in my community.

What’s it like teaching performing arts to elementary school students?

Oh my gosh, it鈥檚 so much fun. I teach kindergarten through fourth grade. For my second graders today, next period, we鈥檙e starting on scripts and plays. It鈥檚 so rewarding to see their energy and emotion and how they take a text and translate it into performance. I usually look for things like medieval tales as well as stories with talking animals to make it more fun for the students. I also teach them to use their emotions when they dance.

You teach your students a self-affirmation exercise that got you noticed.

It started as a lesson on authenticity. I like to teach things like teamwork, confidence, and authenticity. I ask students, 鈥淲hat do you love about yourself?鈥� If you鈥檙e onstage, you need to feel confident, so in the exercise, a student stands in front of a mirror and says something positive about themselves, whether it鈥檚 a physical feature or personality trait. As students were doing this, I recorded it. I managed the social media account for my school, so I that evening with a caption: 鈥淐heck out the boys giving themselves a positive affirmation.鈥� When I woke up the next day, the video had gone viral. After that so many people reached out鈥�USA Today interviewed me as did Good Morning America and The Kelly Clarkson Show. It was amazing.

Your affirmation exercises allow for boys to express their feelings, which society does not always encourage, even today.

For me,聽growing up, you had to be tough. You had to. That made me quiet. I did not want to speak out or to participate. As I started teaching, I knew it was my opportunity to remember the child that I was and get my students to speak somehow. I encourage emotion. I encourage my students to tell me when they鈥檙e angry. Let鈥檚 talk about it so they can reclaim their inner beauty and love. I have a calming corner in my classroom with a timer. You get five minutes in the corner; there鈥檚 a book there, and there鈥檚 a chart there with images of different emotions that a student can choose from to describe how he is feeling. Then we can talk about things more easily. And that鈥檚 what I love about it. They reclaim who they are.

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