Watch My Wake Up Video
Growing up, my father repeatedly informed my sister and I of his expectations. He said, “Your only responsibility is to go to school, listen to your teacher, then come home and do your homework.” He followed up by reading our report cards each quarter while playing the piano for each “A” we received. As if his expectations weren’t enough motivation for us to do well, he gave us ten dollars per “A” received. It didn’t take long for my sister and I to catch on that education was a big deal. And as we got older, my father’s expectations heightened. We had to go to college, then start a career, and then think of getting married and having kids. The foundation he laid for us taught me that education is only important because it’s empowering.
Following his advice to the letter, and graduating in the top 5% of my graduating class, I figured I was sure to get a scholarship to Spelman. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. I needed a 1600 on the SATs or at least a high enough score to compete with the other kids around the country. Apparently my 3.8 g.p.a. didn’t matter. In fact, my dreams were crushed because none of the schools paid too much attention to my g.p.a. as much as they did my 880 SAT score. I became nervous that the expectations that my father set, and the standards at which I held those expectations, were unattainable. To save a long story, I ended up at Hood College (my last choice in Universities, and a year later Bowie State, which was an after thought at that time).
At the age of 22 I decided to teach for Prince George’s County Public Schools. It’s really an amazing story how I ended up a teacher, especially since my degree was in Broadcast Communications. I had no prior experience with kids other than babysitting my cousins. But I’ll spare you the details for now, and save them for my live motivation speaker series.
I will, however, tell you that I will always be grateful for my experience as a teacher. I will never walk into the classroom again teaching English, Math, or any other subject that is test based, because I realized that it’s not real learning. And it dawned on me that the school system is really broken – which is why colleges and universities don’t focus on g.p.a. Go figure! However, I love my fellow educators and I absolutely enjoy interacting with students about life skills.
I want our nation to do a better job at fixing this broken system. I really think that life skills courses should be mandated; particularly at the junior high and high school levels. If we care about our children’s future as much as we say, then we should fight to keep them well informed and well rounded.
I don’t want to bore you, but I want you to know that I’m very passionate about student progression; not just in test based areas, but in life. I hope you have the time to check out Beatrice McClearn’s College Bound Outreach every year. Although my father cannot coach every student to progress, I want to give every child that opportunity. Feel free to contact me to discuss any and everything education related. I’m always open to teach a life skills class, and appear for career day for motivation.
Beatrice McClearn
Phone: 301-531-4336 | E-mail: beatrice[at]beatricemcclearn[dot]com
