Tawney P.

Born in central Illinois to a family that was very involved in community building- Tawney's mother volunteered at her children's schools (and other schools) and her uncle ran the neighborhood community center which thrived in spite of being in one of the lowest-income areas in town.

In high school, she volunteered during the summers as a classroom aide in an early childhood education center. In college at Harvard Universisty, she participated in and co-directed teen mentoring programs and volunteered as a classroom aide in the local high school. Although she hadn't considered it, the career counselor mentioned that she could take her love of educating and mentoring youths and turn it into a fulfilling career as a teacher. Tawney taught in NYC for four years- during the fourth she was a founding team member and math team co-leader for a middle school that was part of Mayor Bloomberg's "small middle school initiative". Here in Houston she has worked as a bridge to kindergarten teacher, an elementary through junior college tutor at a learning center, and a charter school middle school math teacher.  Tawney recently began  working as an activity coordinator for the Good Neighbor Program. In her newest role, she will get the chance to create and implement a variety of monthly programming for all of the residents in an income-based apartment complex.  Though she is often urged by well-meaning friends and family to seek out more lucrative positions, she knows that my true passion works with helping others.

 

Thank you for your dedication Tawney! Congratulations!