Bridging the classroom culture gap

First five graduates of Pionero program increase teacher diversity in Nashville schools

Elisa Martinez first envisioned herself as a teacher while working at Chuck E. Cheese. In kindergarten, Angelica Wright lined her stuffed animals up in a row and used the bathroom tile as a “whiteboard” to teach them the day’s lessons. Ruby Aguilar remembers bringing home loads of books from the library and trading book reports with her sister.

Alondra Piña Mota practiced teaching through a traditional Mexican dance troupe she founded. And Ahmedina Bacevac was inspired to go into teaching by influential relationships she had with her own teachers, including those she knew while her family were refugees from war-torn Bosnia.

These are the women in Lipscomb University’s first cohort of Pionero Scholars, four who graduated in May and a fifth who graduated in December.

They are the first regiment in Lipscomb’s fight to reduce the culture gap between the diversity of students in Nashville public schools and the diversity of the faces they see at the head of the classroom.

The 2020 Pionero Scholars

Photo by Kristi Jones

The four May graduates began teaching in Metro Nashville Public Schools this August, and they are each excited about bringing new opportunities and experiences to their students.

“I want my (future) students to be self-confident in their abilities,” said Piña, a Glencliff High School graduate and sixth grade English language arts teacher at McMurray Middle School. “That is one of the biggest things I learned as a student. I really want them to see a challenge and believe in themselves and believe they can do it too, no matter their background.”

“I look forward to decorating a classroom equipped for strong leaders. I’m eager to create a safe haven for my future students,” said Martinez, a Hume Fogg High School graduate and second grade teacher at Glenview Elementary School.

Funded by a private grant, the Pionero Scholars program was established in 2015 with the intent to recruit Nashville students who reflect the diversity of Nashville to go into the teaching field and hopefully end up working in the school system where they grew up.

Angelica Wright ('20)

Submitted Photo

“Our goal was to create a local pipeline,” said Laura Delgado, program director of increasing teacher diversity and a mentor to all 24 Pionero Scholars now in that pipeline. “The idea was to grow our own. We know there is a teacher shortage, and the answer to that in Nashville is found in the halls of the Nashville schools.”

In addition, like the nation as a whole, Nashville schools suffer from a culture gap with more than 30% of MNPS’ students coming from households in which English is not the primary language and 67% identifying as a minority, while only 22.5% of MNPS educators are African American and only 2.2% are Hispanic.

This gap feeds a perception among high school students with diverse backgrounds that education is not a potential career option for them.

“For me, I knew the opportunity was there, but I remember my classmates and I felt that it wasn’t really ours in a way,” said Bacevac, the only daughter of Bosnian refugees who brought her to America when she was 18 months old. “You are urged to go to college, but then that imposter syndrome kicks in and tells you, you are not meant for it or you are not good enough for it.”

Alondra Pina Mots ('20)

Photo by Kristi Jones

Keeping the concerns of these particular students in mind, the Pionero program was designed to provide a $10,000 per year scholarship to Lipscomb, professional development and networking, mentorship and a community of diverse, like-minded students.

The program has proven not just successful in training new diverse teachers, but it has become a genuine lifeline and crucially valuable to the five 2020 graduates.

“I got a lot of things from Pionero in academics, in social and emotional learning and just navigating the whole college process,” said Piña, who like many first-generation college students appreciated having someone to advise her “how to apply for FAFSA or how to buy books and register for classes.”

“It was nice to come to Lipscomb with the already built-in community of the other Pioneros,” said Bacevac, a Glencliff graduate and seventh grade social studies teacher at STEM Prep Academy.

Ruby Aguilar ('20)

Photo by Karla MacIntyre

The Pionero cohort of students often meets together outside of classes to discuss professional development and life skills topics to prepare them for their future as pioneers in an urban school environment.

“That is what most of us are aiming for,” said Aguilar, an English teaching major who earned student teaching hours at Overton High School this fall. “(Delgado) helps us figure out who we are as people and who we are as teachers—how our ethnic background makes us who we are and how we can advocate for ourselves as teachers.”

“We set academic and personal goals for ourselves ... talking about those non-academic things has really helped me,” said Aguilar, a Glencliff graduate who was born to El Salvadorian immigrant parents. “Laura will fi nd resources or bring in new people, such as the mock interviews we did with an expert who told us about what questions we should ask the interviewer about the work environment. Those little things gave me a sense of hope.”

In addition to the support services for the enrolled Pioneros, Delgado carries out extensive outreach to Nashville’s high schools, providing essay writing workshops and a summer camp focused on college readiness and teaching skills.

Elisa Martinez

Submitted Photo

Older students mentoring younger students is a major component of the program as well, Delgado said.

“They offer students opportunities to see someone from their own school and background model how to navigate college and a career successfully,” she said.

The new Pionero teachers are committed to bringing a greater future for their diverse students in the teaching field or any career they set their mind to.

“Looking back it is definitely important for students to see teachers who look like themselves in a powerful role,” said Wright, a half Filipina who often visited the Philippines as she grew up. “I think my background will allow me to connect with my students on different levels … Because I am more globally competent, it will allow me to see and value more of the talents and ideas that the students bring to the classroom,” said Wright, a Martin Luther King High School graduate and first grade teacher at Hickman Elementary School.

Ahmedina Bacevac

Submitted Photo

“Having a program like (Pionero), you cannot only provide students opportunity but also make them feel adequate and ready enough,” said Bacevac. “You can help them know they are ready enough.”

To read the complete story go to bit.ly/PioneroScholars2020.