Event salutes School of Education donors, scholarship students
Brittany Espinoza met Ralph, the man who changed her life, as a teenager doing mission work in Atlanta.
Ralph was homeless, simply because he was illiterate. He was illiterate because he had behavior problems in school, so teachers kept passing him despite his inability to read, just so he could become someone else’s problem. By the time he reached high school, education seemed pointless, and he dropped out.
Ralph was suffering a wasted life because the education system had failed in its most basic responsibility. “It made me wonder: how many more children are out there in the same situation right now?” Brittany recalled.
“I knew I had to do something.”
So Brittany, the daughter of a single mother, became the first in her family to enroll in college – determined to become the kind of teacher who makes a difference.
That’s how she came to be one of the featured speakers at the 2015 School of Education Donor-Scholar Luncheon at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A senior in the school’s Institute for Urban Education program, Brittany is one of five students to earn the Kansas City Elementary Teachers’ Club Scholarship.
As an IUE student, Brittany has committed to spend at least four years teaching in an inner-city public school after graduation, on the front lines of the battle to give underprivileged children a better shot at a decent future than Ralph and thousands like him ever had.
She was one of more than 60 students recognized for earning scholarships, along with more than 40 individual, family, non-profit and corporate donors who fund School of Education scholarships.
Harrison Neal, now assistant principal of discipline at Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy, is an IUE graduate from the Class of 2011. He represented the difference a caring educator can make, when he described how his life changed after former Kansas City School Superintendent Dr. Bernard Taylor reversed a recommendation that he be expelled for discipline problems, and instead took a personal interest in him.
“He refused to throw me out of the district,” Neal recalled. “Instead, he decided to help me turn my life around.” Taylor forced Neal to mentor younger children as a condition of his reinstatement in school. “He ignited a passion within me to become an educator.”
UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton offered his gratitude to the donors in attendance.
“I consider this Donor-Scholar program in the School of Education to be a model of community, alumni and UMKC teamwork,” he said. “It’s a program founded on one simple belief: The more of us who get involved in the education and care of our children, the more likely we are to turn out bright, curious and responsible young people, ready to make their mark on the world.
“Donors, your support is fundamental to everything our School of Education students will do from here on. You sustain their hopes and dreams and, frankly, make getting a degree possible in some instances. You provide our students the peace of mind they need to learn, and the motivation to excel that comes from knowing that your community cares enough to invest in your success.”
He also praised the students who earned the scholarships for their effort and commitment.
“The ultimate beneficiaries of all this generosity, hard work and commitment are the students and families whose lives will be changed by UMKC School of Education graduates,” Morton said. “Our graduates want to work with the next generation of students to improve their lot in life, and make them life-long learners who believe in the transformative power of education. What a legacy to leave. And everyone here today has a part in it.”