Life of a Fellow: Evan

After graduating from James Madison University with a degree in Biology, Evan brought his passion for teaching and student empowerment to Thailand, Costa Rica, and Peru. He joined the 12+ team just after returning from his travels, and we count ourselves lucky to have him as a Fellow at Penn Treaty School this year!

This year has been like no other school year I’ve ever been a part of. Classrooms have been replaced with screens, whiteboards have been replaced with screens, and hallway chit chat has been replaced with, you guessed it… screens. 

I went through the transition to virtual learning last year as a teacher, so I had a little bit of a frame of reference for the challenges this year might bring. When the pandemic first hit in March 2020 I had already spent the majority of the school year with my students. There were healthy relationships already in place, built on: Bananagrams, Spot-it, jokes, music, and snacks. When we went virtual I already knew what to expect from my students, and they knew what to expect from me. 

I went into the 2020-21 school year facing a totally different challenge. How was I going to build those same types of relationships without meeting my students?

Cheesin’ with the rest of the Penn Treaty site team!

Not only would I not get a chance to meet many of my students, but with some students electing to keep their cameras off in meetings because of Zoom burnout, I knew I might not even get to see some of their faces. 

I had my doubts. I wondered, How will I be able to come across as myself over a screen? How will I connect with my students without the laughs, struggles, and casual interactions normally shared in a school? How am I going to help students make plans for the future when the world is so uncertain?

Throwback to the end of Fellows Training, when our Fellows were surprised with succulents!

Fast forward to this March and I’m working from my laptop at home as per usual. I texted one of my students to make a quick meeting. I had just spoken to the admissions office of a college he applied to and had a sneaking suspicion there was good news waiting in his inbox. This student knew that acceptance to a four year college wasn’t going to be a sure thing for him. He had had some difficult situations early on in high school and his GPA was lower than what most schools look for. Nevertheless, he was optimistic. He put in as much work as anyone, putting in applications and writing essays for 12 different schools. 

It had now been months since his applications were submitted. Several of his classmates had already gotten acceptances and he still hadn’t heard back from any of his schools. Whether it be good or bad, I wanted to make sure I’d be there (at least virtually) when he got the news. 

When he opened the email from Lock Haven University we both read the word “congratulations” at the same time. We were beyond pumped! I screamed into the screen “That’s what I’m talking about! You did it dude!”, and he yelled back “Let’s gooooooooo!” Even if this ended up being the only school to admit him, he was accepted to a four year university!

This year hasn’t been perfect, but moments like these have been everything for me. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking this isn’t a “real” school year, but the relationships we’ve built and the accomplishments our students are making are as real as can be.