Your Stories

Why is the education system important to you? How did your education affect your life? How would you fix our schools? 

Read on for stories from EEP members from across the country. Share your story now.

Barbara Clayton | Eros Perez | Maxine Clark | Vincent Blackmon | Viktoriya Mlonchina | Deborah King

Patty Martinez

I grew up poor and I am the product of generational poverty on both sides of the family. Because of financial aid, I was able to earn a Bachelor's Degree and after I began teaching, I went back for a Master's Degree. The bulk of my teaching career has been spent working with at-risk students, and I currently teach in a program for at-risk high school students. I think that what happens in elementary school is key; if students fall behind there, they tend to spend the rest of their school years behind. Students come to us in high school not knowing basic skills like writing a paragraph or knowing how to multiply or divide. We must have very strong teachers at the primary level and there has to be accountability. There cannot be social promotion and we need to get all the tutoring that's needed for the kids. The food needs to be good and nutritionally balanced. Teachers need to feel supported by their administrators and everything needs to be done to get the parents as involved as possible. Elementary school is the educational foundation and without a foundation, how do you build the rest of a student's knowledge base? The whole kid needs to be addressed. These things MUST be done starting when they're very young. Sometimes I feel like I care more about my students' success than they do, and that can be frustrating, but some of it is a function of their own immaturity. We have to hang in there, keep trying, and not give up on these kids. Some of them come visit us a few years after graduation and some have said that we saved their lives. Share your story now

Barbara Clayton

"I became an educator in my late thirties. I may have done this earlier, but my drug addiction and lifestyle prevented it. My past served as a great asset to my teaching ability. Many of my students had parents who were addicted, negligent or not available because they worked two or three jobs. Often my role as  educator blended into parent, caregiver and nurturer. I was all for it because my past life hadn't allowed me to be very caring or giving. I taught in the public and private sector for over 12 years. I also worked as a tutor for many years. I have worked with students 3 years to adult. I recognize learning as a natural, human trait. We all want to explore and gain knowledge of things in our world.

Disparity and inequality exist in the delivery. Ragged schools in blight filled neighborhoods, damaged books and materials, ill equipped and overwhelmed teachers and educational systems that emphasize test scores over individuals all help to cause this problem. Great neighborhood schools have been forced out of business because standardized test scores didn't reflect success. What instruments do they use to measure peace, self-esteem, security and love? Often these schools were the only place a child could find this in a world of poverty, violence and chaos. 

Doing nothing is part of the problem. I now own a non-profit focused on equitable education for all regardless of ability to pay. We strive to create a safe place to learn, play and grow. Each One Reach One, Inc. offers tutoring, mentoring and a host of programs designed to help our children make it through to adulthood and then pass the torch to help someone else go through.

I do...because action is far better than inaction. In Chicago, we are now seeing a trend where going to school can lead to death. We at EORO want safe schools, but also safe passage to and from school. Poor Derrion and others who simply want an education, a way out. Help us or someone who wants to help our kids. It still takes a village...what's happening in our village is shameful. What are you doing to help? A combined effort is what it takes. Please, be a part of the solution."

 Barbara Clayton, CEO, Each One Reach One, Inc."

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Eros Perez

As a 15 year old student attending school in Chicago I'm aware of the great diversity in schools, socially, ethnically, economically. It's not hard to see or notice, the smart or luckiest students (I will mention why) tend to stick to the top or (selective) school while low income or not as capable students stick to local schools. I believe this is unfair because many kids are capable to be in selective schools but don't have the chance for certain reasons as in my case I transferred from Arizona during the middle of the year due to family problems and couldn't transfer into a Selective school.

I really enjoy sports and have a passion for it and being in a learning environment with students who really want to learn and don't find that at the school I am attending. I also question myself how am I supposed to be challenged concerning Education? How will the impact of the school I attend now, the grades I get, my gpa affect me? Also, very unfair how the money is distibuted and the size and sources available for schools, just by living blocks away your local school can range from an enormous building with several classes and fields, courts, sources to a small school that doesn't even have a gym.

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Maxine Clark

I am a first generation college graduate. While my parents hoped I would attend college their expectations were not as high as those of my teachers. Fortunately, my teachers succeeded in helping me see a vision for myself of achievement and excellence and giving back.

I believe in the power of children to change our world and I am invested with them in that future through my company, Build-A-Bear Workshop, and in my personal engagement in closing the achievement gap.

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Vincent Blackmon

I'm a Sr. IT Consultant with +20 yrs. professional experience. I spent approx. 5 yrs. working in customer service centers (south eastern US). My questions is how can people that have 12 yrs. of education, and some with +16 yrs. be subjected to telemarketing (repeating the same thing over and over for 8 hrs/day for 250 days/yr. I've concluded that a person with no more than a 6th grade education can do this type of work. My point...the problem is systemic throughout the United States. The result...a workforce of millions"brain dead" employees Who's fooling who...? Share your story now

Viktoriya Mlonchina

Mikhail Vysotskiy and I, Viktoriya Mlonchina, are Ukrainian immigrants who faced the disadvantage of a language and cultural barrier when we first moved to the US. Upon admission into our public elementary school, we were placed in the ELL (English Language Learners) program. We both graduated out of it by becoming fluent pretty quickly and went on to study at one of the best private high schools in the Bay Area, San Francisco University High School. After a year of searching for a host school, we established a tutoring program called "Stories for Success" at our own former elementary school, where we and our team of tutors teach ELL students from that elementary school. The majority of our students are Asian but we also have students of other ethnicities.

By tutoring these ELL students, we are aiming to lend them the hand that can take them to a brighter future (in higher education or otherwise). Ideally, we would like our students to get the same wonderful opportunities in their education as we did (like being accepted to esteemed private schools on generous lscholarships as we were). We wanted to share our story to hopefully inspire other high school students to do what they can in their communities to boost opportunity, self-esteem, and knowledge for struggling students. Share your story now

Deborah King

Education is the key to leading a healthy, productive life. Growing up in poverty and a single parent home, it was never a thought that I might go to college. When I reached my late twenties I decided to find a way to attend our local community college. With two young children it was not easy, but I earned straight A's and fell in love with learning. My goal in returning to school was to fulfill my dream of teaching Home Ec. Unfortunately, I discovered the Home Ec I knew that had so positively shaped my own life, would no longer exist. The life skills needed by every young person as they enter adulthood were greatly lacking in the educational system. So, I decided to open a training center that would provide the life skills people needed to lead successful lives that were not being taught in our school system.

I am currently in my 20th year of business as Final Touch Finishing School and have provided countless programs for private and public schools, after school programs, community events and a variety of other outreaches for those in the inner city, as well as those born with a silver spoon. I have taught all across the US and internationally. I am committed to helping individuals learn how to create and increase their social capital. These are the skills everyone needs no matter what their background may be. I would like to be a part of a national endeavor to present training on civility, etiquette and communication through how we speak and dress in every school system. Intellectual knowledge is not enough, we must know how to apply those skills to real life situations. Share your story now