August 14, 2024

The time from June through August is what every student craves. It is a time to put away notebooks and pencils and spend time outside, blow through bottles of SPF, and turn off alarms. For two students from Drexel’s School of Education who share a love of educating, though, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

For Tasneem Motan and Zoe Ann Boynton, their days start early as teachers in the Kindergarten Bridge Program (K Bridge). The program, run by students from the School of Education, helps rising kindergarteners get ready to start school for the first time. Students from the neighborhoods near Drexel’s campus report to a site at Samuel Powel Elementary School. The program also operates at William Cramp Elementary in North Philadelphia near St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children with whom Drexel has a strong partnership.

The K Bridge program wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for the help of students like Motan and Boynton. They carry out a carefully curated curriculum developed by PhD students, staff, and faculty in the School of Education and develop their own lesson plans during the program's final weeks. Activities include reviewing letters and letter sounds, early math concepts including shapes and counting along with recess and gardening activities. Students also receive breakfast and lunch each day.

Motan knew early on that she wanted to become a teacher. As a student growing up in Philadelphia, she had teachers who she looked up to. Most importantly, she has always loved spreading her knowledge to others, saying “I always liked helping my classmates figure out things they struggled with.”

Heading into college with teaching in her mind, Motan loved the promise of field experience that Drexel gave her. “It gave me the head start before student teaching; I wouldn’t be thrown into student teaching… I’ll do the field experience with mentors first, and then I’ll go into student teaching, and after that I will go into the field somewhat ready.”

This year has been Motan’s first year working in the K Bridge program. Creating and implementing an educational program at 20 years old is surely a big task, but when you hold such a passion for teaching and the students you teach, that task gets much simpler. Motan plans on teaching middle school aged kids but has been gaining a lot of lessons and experience from the young children she currently works with. Teaching young kids means seeing them learn the fundamentals, being a crucial part of their development, “My favorite part is just seeing them improve on something… it’s the small things, we had a student who didn’t know how to hold a pencil at all, now he’s able to hold a pencil. It makes me feel great, I just like to see their improvement, I feel like I made a difference.” Being such a crucial part of a child’s development is an unforgettable experience for any teacher, and getting to do so at such a young age is a rare and remarkable feat.

When watching Boynton teach and hearing her speak about her love for her students and the classroom, one would be surprised to hear that teaching wasn’t always her first choice. “For a long time, I wrestled between what I wanted to do… I switched my major four times, but I always resorted back to teaching.” Despite her pull to try new things, becoming an educator was always the path for Boynton. “I always wanted to lead and nurture and do something where I’m helping someone every day.” Participating in the K Bridge program means sacrificing a lot of free time, but in return seeing the impact you make on children you grow to love, “You have to really have a passion for it, every time you show up you have to know ‘what is my purpose?’, you really have to put the kids first.” For a college student, giving up summers for work and class isn’t always easy, but when you are doing what you love, is it really work? “It’s fun. It’s worth it in the end. It’s cool to see what you’re learning in class and implement it here.” 

These children are, of course, extremely lucky to learn from such intelligent, driven young women, however they have also impacted their teachers more than they know. “They’ve taught me to be more down to earth and grounded, and to just be simpler," says Boynton, “They’re super kind and simple, they’ve just taught me how to have fun.” Similarly, Motan remarks, “They taught me how to let loose a little. Now you can sometimes catch me singing, dancing, or running around.” Despite Motan and Boynton going on to teach different ages of students, they will both be able to take all of what they have learned in this program and implement it into their future classrooms, “I would take the time management aspect into my future job,” Motan said. “Making lessons more hands-on and active. Working with little kids, you have to make everything for them to touch and pay attention to. I would take some lessons that we’re doing now and bring that into middle school to make it more engaging for older kids too.”

Working in the K Bridge program is an incredible opportunity for education majors in the School of Education. As an immersive, hands-on experience, students get to enrich the minds of children and learn how to create and implement teaching programs, while gaining life lessons from the young children they teach.