I have been out of CMSD schools for about 9 years now, having attended for majority of my life. The only time I was out of CMSD was for a year in a half (middle school 7th grade and half of 8th grade) I attended Bartow County school district in Georgia. I could tell the difference in my educational experience once I returned back to Cleveland.  I remember being down at the board of education with my aunt crying because I did not want to go back to Cleveland Public Schools. I was afraid I was not going to learn anything. I was afraid things would still be the same teachers focusing on disruptive behaviors. I could not stand the idea of going to school basically all day just to do busy work and writing assignments.

I attended three public schools in Bartow County and the education was great at each school. The classrooms were diverse, unlike CMSD where there were mostly low income African American students. I felt like the teachers in Georgia had high standards for the students, they showed up each day without barely missing work. I believe that it may have been due to their working conditions, the teachers did not have to spend time focusing on behavioral issues. The only problem I remember was one teacher addressing a child for cheating on their math homework.

My primary grades in CMSD, kindergarten through second grade I felt like my teachers cared. They were concerned about our learning. I cannot remember there being any behavioral issues. I remember having homework each night and going over the homework in school the following day.

Third grade I remember after the second week of school our teacher never came back. We had substitute teachers the rest of the year. I honestly remember us sitting with our heads down in class with the lights off because the classroom was talking.
Fourth and fifth grade I remember us focusing really on math and science, but not so much on reading and writing.Middle school we switched classes but we were not given really any classwork to complete, we were graded on our behavior and rather if the teachers liked the students or not. Students basically controlled the classes.

In high school the focus was on passing the OGT test, we barely learned any life skills.  The teachers were focused on test scores and not so much on the students retaining the information learned in the classroom. I remember thinking school is a big joke, and if you showed up to school you will get passed along to another grade. I learned to memorize, but little did I know in college that didn’t work so well.

I believe CMSD teachers were not prepared or well trained on how to deal with the issues that the students were facing coming into school. I looked happy and I smiled often, but nobody knew what I was truly dealing with at home or at school.

If I had the power to change a few things in Cleveland schools, it would be to incorporate more after school activities that focus on life skills, skills that you can use in the outside of school. I would have teachers being evaluated in the schools bimonthly, and maybe have the children fill out surveys. The evaluations could be to offer teachers more support in the areas they are struggling with.

What motivated me to attend college was the thought of living in poverty my whole life. I just knew there had to be more to life, then how I seen the people in my community live.  I wanted to be stable, I wanted a career where I could take care of myself and not live paycheck to paycheck. When I was in fourth grade my best cousin went off to college, she did not graduate but she did attend. My brother was the first person in my family to attend college and graduate. I remember before going to ninth grade I promised myself I would not be bored another summer. So each summer there after I became involved in summer academic programs all over Cleveland, I was not involved in any sports. I would ask my program if he knew of programs I could get involved in, or I would respond to flyers that were posted, reach out to like minded youth my age.  I remember learning from a classmate about this program called Upward Bound at Cleveland State University, she mentioned it was an after school and summer program that helped first generation students attend college. So I applied and was accepted, we went on college visits, they provided us with tutors, we stayed in the dorms over the summers and were required to take classes. I learned about the financial aid process. I believe if it was not for my cousin planting the seed in my head about college, my brother wanting to pursue college and the after school academic programs I was exposed too that I would not be pursuing my Masters degree.