The ONLY Black Male Educator in the District - S2 Ep3

Mastery For All with Mr. James O'Neal

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For seven years, I taught in a school district where I was the only black male teacher of the district. This was out of 2 elementary schools, one large middle school, and one high school. The previous black male teachers retired the year before I joined the district and I stayed the only one for the next 7 years. Though I was the only black male teacher, 45% of the school identified as black. That district served close to 3,500 students.
The next district I had the privilege of teaching at was a more affluent district where 97% of the students there were White and 2% of the student population was black. This district served close to 4,000 students.
In both cases I learned a lot about ME and what I believed. I learned the importance of representation and how without it, many times, students did not feel like they had someone to relate to. I learned that many of my black students looked up to me as a father, big brother, a uncle and they were excited to see my "face in the place". I wore being the only with pride until I realized that I was the only!
This podcast deals with the real lessons I learned in both districts and how much I grew into who I am today.
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