A Natural Observation of the Transition from Student to Educator

Written  By:  Shameka Hyatt

Once I saw myself side-anchoring for Robert T. Hill Middle School's morning news show and my name in print in the Lincoln Lantern for the first time, I knew the whole field of Journalism was mine to dive into.  The feeling I felt on camera was an exhilarating one that I thought I would miss once I attended Lincoln Humanities/ Communications magnet, but print Journalism was a fitting substitute for an aspiring news anchor.  Attending Lincoln for four years, I felt I learned nearly as much as the pros in the business knew to carry out their jobs.  The magnet teachers I connected with and looked to as mentors, and the workshops offered, added even more to my craving knowledge base.  Although many outside workshops and classes were available to me because I was a “magnet kid,” the SIGHT & SOUND program had to be one of the most rewarding ones.  Graduating from Lincoln, I attended the program during summer 2007- before heading off to Texas Wesleyan University for my undergraduate career.  In the semester long program at El Centro College, I learned the basics in video production and photography to create a project documenting South Dallas.  In the program, I was not alone as peers from schools such as Townview were there to participate in the fun.  At the end of the program, all students  received four college credit hours and five-hundred dollars.  Although nice incentives, the credits and the money were not the sole purposes for me and my peers to complete the program.  We all actually had passions to learn what was being offered.  

     Now a graduating college student from Texas Wesleyan, I still have that fiery passion for Journalism and aspirations to be an anchor as I did as a student, but I can't say that much for the students I teach for the Fort Worth After School program (FWAS) at Eastern Hills High School. When I first applied for the job at Eastern Hills, I left the interview with  such big envisions as getting a studio built in the school so a  student-run morning news program could be started to inform students of happenings before their days began.  I was not aware of the utter challenge it would be not only to get students interested in an already exciting field, but to get them enthusiastic about learning anything career-related to expand their narrow horizons of the world outside the school doors.  My dreams for EHHS as a Journalism teacher were initially shut down so students could use my class as a computer class to play Halo and get on Facebook and Youtube.  Whenever I tried teaching the students anything pertaining to my courses, which included Cinematography and Photography, boycotts occurred; which did not rule in my favor due to the program stressing a 20-1 student-teacher ratio more than anything else.  Among the mostly lackadaisical students that attended my classes, one student reminded me of myself when I was in high school- eager to learn and explore different things.  My co-workers and I would always talk about this one student; saying to each other, “if only all of them were as inquisitive and ready to absorb knowledge like him, rather than just wanting to stay for computer lab.” Having to play a tug-a-war between keeping my class heavily occupied and giving these students hands-on-experience that could benefit them later on in life, I was stuck in a bind about how to make my classes intrinsically appealing to the majority of the students rather than just a haven of the computer technologies most of them were unfortunate to have at home.  

     In need of some advice, I contacted Dave Herman of Preservation Link to get some advertising ideas for my Photography class.  As I told him of my dilemmas and listened to his insights, one statement strongly caught my attention of my unbelievable reality, “One can only offer opportunity as a gift,” said Herman.  Along with this he continued to say that, “it is up to the receiver as to when they decide to open the package and embrace the chance to be attuned to their growth and maturity.”  Such words made me realize that it would take patience on my part to get to my students; but also that I must not give up on reaching out to them for the sake of a better welfare for them.  After an enlightening discussion, I was filled with a slowed ambition to impact these students with what I had to offer little by little; a step at a time.  My classes no longer strayed away from their subject matters because the students wanted to play computer games or just get on the computer because they would be offline at home.  I strongly enforced to the students what my classes would entail; and that when they were ready to work on the creative projects I assigned, they could join.  My envisions for Eastern Hills High School were coming back in the picture slowly.  Who knows, maybe after a studio was built for the morning news show, a bi-weekly school newspaper could be put into circulation as well.  I felt in charge and on a Journalistic mission again, and I still feel the same way as of now.  Continuing to teach, I look at one day becoming a full-time Journalism teacher; instructing students who share the relentless passion I developed for journalism as a student.  Only time will tell as I wait for the students to mature in recognizing opportunity in front of them, and to realize that “learning is a lifelong process” that continues beyond high school.