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Why I’m ‘#RedForED’

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Special to the Silver Belt

I can’t say that I have always wanted to be a teacher. Growing up, I wanted to be a post office worker. Followed by a “vegetarian” (veterinarian), a professional tap dancer and a photographer.

When I began my time at Northern Arizona University, I quickly discovered that I am simply a lover of learning. I wanted to take a course in every subject. I “declared” my major five different times in three years. Then, one day standing in line to get a new student ID card, my calling came to me. For the sixth and final time, I declared my major — Elementary Education.

Teaching truly is a calling of the heart and it speaks to each of us differently. For me, my love of learning, an aunt who invited me to help her in her classroom when I was in high school, a Spanish teacher who became a friend to me in my darkest hour, a doctor as my father: all of these things led me to knowing that this is what I am meant to do.

My first year in the classroom brought me back to this place I call home. I accepted a fourth grade position at my childhood alma mater, Copper Rim Elementary School, working with some of the very teachers who once taught me. What an amazing experience it is to work side by side with the individuals who helped mold and shape me into the person I am today.

I’m am in my seventh year of teaching now and currently teach first grade. I have grown as a teacher. I have increased my professional knowledge by earning my master’s degree. My classroom is my home away from home. My students are my children.

I don’t say this lightly. I have not been blessed with children of my own. These sweet, bright, teachable people are the highlight of my days. We learn together. We struggle together. We laugh and play and sing.

Our lessons range in scope and sequence. We cover all of the essentials: mathematics, phonemic awareness, phonics skills, fluency and comprehension, writing, science and social studies. Intertwined with all of these things we include art and music projects, Reader’s Theater activities, and basic social and emotional support skills. All in a single day. All in just a few hours.

By the time the last bell rings my sweet friends are exhausted. And so am I.

The hard work in my classroom is not mine alone. I am the facilitator. My job is difficult. With little funding, outdated materials, lack of technology, old infrastructure, and crowded class sizes, it is a daily stretch to ensure I am doing all that I can to provide the best learning environment possible for my students. But as I mentioned, the real work happens when my students get rolling. And if it is hard for me to do my job with what little resources we have, imagine how hard it must be for them to do theirs.

For more than a decade, Arizona’s students and teachers have had to show up to work with an inadequate toolbox. Rather than adding to their resources in order to improve job performance, an ever-growing number of vital and necessary tools are stripped from them each year. A couple billion dollars here, a certified art teacher there … after a decade, these “small” things add up. And here we are.

A question buzzing around our teacher community is this: Since when is being 49th good enough?

My answer? “It isn’t!”

My students deserve better. My co-workers; these wonderful, dedicated, and hardworking educational professionals, deserve better. Arizona deserves better.

This is why I am #RedforEd.

Erika Flores is a first grade teacher at Copper Rim Elementary School.