Writer and advocate for fair and equal education, Clayvon Harris earned an MFA in Cinema-Television/Screenwriting from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. She also holds a BA in English literature from Swarthmore College where students are taught they have the ability to change the world. Harris lives and writes in the Philadelphia area where she specializes in messaging strategy, digital content creation and script development. She’s a member of the Writers Guild of America. Her first book is the award-winning collection of essays, Year of Trial, Year of Grace—A Catholic’s Search for Faith.
“There’s so much more I’ll remember. Like how the majority of the kids really wanted to learn and wrote notes telling me so…
“All the things you teach us are things we didn’t know before so thanks for the education.”
“We all love you for making us smarter.”
“Please don’t leave because you helped me learn a lot and gave me homework.”
“Please remember you are my favorite teacher.”
“I will never forget what you have done for me.”
“Thank you for teaching, Miss Harris.”
—Sub
Photo by Mary Taylor from Pexels
My Story
Timeline
11.2001
Day 01
“After one day of subbing at P.S. #1, I was shaken and upset; no longer certain that I was cut out for teaching. That’s when the phone rang with an assignment at a nearby middle school…” –Sub
11.2001
Day 3
“Driving away, I wondered why people put themselves through this type of misery day after day. The kids have no respect for you…it’s dangerous. And you know what? I don’t have to do it anymore.” –Sub
01.2002
“What kind of coward quits after three days? Despite considerable effort, I was completely unable to come up with an acceptable answer...I decided to give it another shot.” –Sub
06.2002
“At nearly every [school], the story was the same: classrooms being held hostage by a few students who continuously disrupted the learning process; all students missing out on valuable learning…” –Sub
08.2017
Back inside the SDP
“I wanted to see for myself if, over 15 years later, the schools were any better…”
06.2019
Not much change
All together, I visited about 75 schools and completed 90 assignments. During the second outing, there were more resources and a more challenging curriculum, but still far too little funding and even more disruption of the learning process.
08.2019
My last good-bye
I resigned, determined to finish this book. Not just to share my experiences, but to provide a little more insight into why things are the way they are and what needs to change.
Photo Courtesy @Zoey Nappy.co
