Chalk It Up! Alison Trumbul

A s part of the Chalk it Up to Teachers campaign, Teach for America and Experience Project bring you this teacher's story.

Name:  Alison Trumbull

Subject(s): 4th Grade

Corps Year & Region: Houston 97

 

What led you to become a corps member for Teach For America?

 

I wanted to do something meaningful, and got rejected from the grant I applied for!

 

Describe the arc of your career. Which of your professional accomplishments are you most proud of? Please share the impact and/or measurable results from this accomplishment.

 

Well, I have ostensibly returned to where I began, the classroom. After teaching 4th grade for 2 years in Houston, I taught 3rd for 2 years in Oakland. Desperate to get out of the classroom, I pieced together jobs for a year. Then I spent 2 years at UCLA earning an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESL. The most meaningful parts of the program to me became my research in an elementary classroom and my work teaching ESL to undergraduate and graduate students. Clearly, my departure from teaching wasn’t meant to be permanent. I definitely found the fulfillment I was looking for at Tyrrell School in Hayward, where I’ve been for more than 3 years.

I’m most proud of . . . 2 areas. First, my work as an instructor at UCLA. While it wasn’t flawless, I taught an amazing range of people for 10 weeks. It was a professional experience I couldn’t find anywhere else. I am truly grateful for it. I’m also proud of my work at Tyrrell, and of the other teachers there. We’re a regular public school in a neighborhood with many challenges, and we’ve made the most gains in API in the district both last year and over the last 5 years. I work with smart, dedicated people. And honestly, I’m most proud of the fact that I know that I provide a classroom environment in which kids who have struggled can have a positive and successful year. Which is unfortunately not definitively measurable on paper.

 

How has your experience as a Teach For America corps member influenced your personal and professional life today? What are your personal/professional goals looking forward?

 

TFA accomplishes its goal of creating lifelong advocates for public education. In that sense it has influenced the person I am. My immediate goal is to be part of making Tyrrell School continue to be an unusually successful urban school. We’ve gone through significant changes this year—adding grades K-3 and doubling our student population. I’m happy teaching for a while; I’m just hitting my stride. While there’s important work to be done at other levels of the education system, schools like Tyrrell need teachers with my kind of experience to stay and teach. I play to stay in the classroom as long as I feel like I’m good at it.

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