Amanda Wilson

I spent many years in the classroom and the theatre learning to engage with students and establish trust, respect, and rapport with each of them. I developed effective lesson plans that engaged students and fostered an environment for growth and learning. I involved myself in professional organizations within the school, learning from seasoned teachers and growing alongside my peers. I helped students learn the rules of grammar and proper essay structure, but I also taught them how to use language as the most powerful thing we have access to. In my English classroom, I created room for students to evaluate themselves through the words of others that we read and to learn to harness those same words to represent themselves to the world. In my Theatre classroom we learned how to project and memorize lines, we learned stage terminology and how to set lights. We also learned the power of empathy and connection. We learned how to look beyond ourselves and to embrace other people's stories, and we learned how to glean from them. The Theatre classroom and stage allowed me to teach students how to express themselves with power, how to send a message and enact change by helping people connect and feel. I experienced a lot within my classrooms, but those connections and lessons didn't end there. I attended softball games, soccer matches, bowling tournaments, orchestra performances, and more, and I believe students learned just as much from me in those moments as well because they knew they were valued. Education flows so much more freely when kids know that they are more than a seat filler and more than a test score.

In the years I have been out of the classroom, I have maintained the privilege of leading youth as often as possible. I served as a youth pastor in the first few years after leaving the classroom, then as a volunteer with teens and pre-teens through the Fort Bend Women's Center. I believe that education is our most important opportunity with youth, and I believe that education is both academic and emotional. I count it a privilege to work with young people, and I look forward to the opportunity to do that in the classroom again.