The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

[Five Reasons to Work at YES Prep] Reason Three: Alumni Make an Impact

November 11, 2011 by Lilia Pineda

Walking off a yellow school bus into a parking lot and seeing modular buildings as classrooms was confusing to the sixth grade version of myself.  I was not totally sure where my mother had sent me for middle school and why we did not have a building for a school.   I had no idea that I was walking into the place where many doors would open for me throughout the years.  YES Prep Public Schools provides an excellent education for low-income Houstonians, and since 1998 the dedication that teachers pour into their work has translated into 100% of all graduating seniors being accepted into a 4-year college or university. 

I never understood how hard my teachers were working to provide me with the education that would get me to college. I had no idea that they stayed up late at nights planning lessons, and that they would give up their Sundays to sit at a Starbucks and grade papers.  I just knew that my school was made up of 4 decks with 4 modular classrooms in each deck, a bigger modular as a cafeteria, and another one in the front as an office.  There was a public plaza in front of the school where homeless men often slept while we attended our physical education class. 

I knew that I loved going to classes because they were always fun and because the teachers genuinely cared about all the students.  They were our mentors that talked to us about a future that was different from that of our parents, about the possibilities that we had never imagined, and about the great things that we could achieve with hard work and effort.

Now, as a third year teacher in the same community where I grew up, I can see the hard work that teachers put into my education for 7 years.  I attended YES Prep Southeast since it opened in 1998, as a sixth grader, until my graduation from high school in 2005.  I was fortunate enough to get into to top colleges and universities, and opted to attend Brandeis University.  After graduating in 2009, I decided to be part of Teach For America, and I became part of the Houston Corps.  To my surprise, my placement school was YES Prep East End, a few blocks away from the apartment complex where I grew up.  The great support I received my first year helped me achieve great results with my students and provide them with the excellent education they deserve. 

Returning to work at the school system that developed me as leader has been the best decision that I’ve made.  I know I’m having an impact on the students that I teach and shaping the future leaders of our community just like my teachers did for me through my middle and high school career.

Lilia Pineda taught 7th grade math for two years and now teaches High School and AP Spanish at YES Prep East End.

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