Meet Jasmine Stevens of Drew Charter School in East Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Stevens.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jasmine. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I used to say that teaching was something that I just fell into. However, the more people ask me how I fell into education, I remember that teaching has always been around me. I would teach dolls, younger students in summer camp, and I was even an RA in college.

But, I really fell into teaching when I graduated from college and had no plans of what to do next. My LSAT scores were lower than I wanted them to be and I had not gotten into Teach for America (TFA) after the final rounds of interviews. After graduating from Georgia State in 2012, I began teaching preschool and working as a server. It wasn’t until a friend asked me to read her TFA application letter that I considered applying again. I reapplied the day of the final deadline using the exact same information I had used when I applied previously. A few months later I was walking back into final interviews. The thing that stuck out about this time was the conversation during my one on one interview about the need for black female and males teachers in the classroom. Not too long after, I receive my email to be a part of the 2013 New York Corp.

I had no idea what to expect when I arrived in New York City in June. Six years later, I not only survived, but I am still in the classroom, which is not what I expected when I began.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road was bumpy from day one. Everything you think you know about teaching and education, that you learned from being a student, is wrong. It can be a very political and exhausting environment, which requires a lot of on the fly thinking.

My first year of teaching, I spent my whole summer development sessions, training to be a co-teacher, who taught science and social studies, while my lead teacher, who was experienced, taught the core subjects (math and reading). The Friday before the first day of school, my leadership team called me into the office to tell me that they were making me the lead teacher because of my presence. My lead teacher didn’t like the news, so she quit. The first day of school I was looking at 30 first graders and holding on to their education without a clue of what I was doing. That same day a student had to be removed from my class for throwing a desk and another tried to throw my computer across the classroom, and my assistant principal came to observe me teaching phonics. They say the first year is the hardest and that proved true both physically and emotionally.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am a 2nd Grade Teacher and Academic Integration Specialist at Drew Charter School in Atlanta. Drew is definitely a gem in the East Atlanta community serving grades PreK-12. We believe in our cradle to college pipeline and Project Based Learning to ensure student success. We are STEAM certified PreK-8 and have had 100% college acceptance for our first two graduating classes.

Working at Drew makes you believe in education again. Teacher’s have structure, but also autonomy. I work under a very strong and open-minded administrative team. Students have endless opportunities for enrichment and cross-curricular connection.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Most of my favorite childhood memories involve my grandma. Specifically, Thanksgivings with her were really special for my family and myself!

Contact Info:

• Website: drewcharterschool.org
• Instagram: Personal: jasjay6
  Teaching Content: teachingmademefamous

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