AUSL joined DePaul University’s College of Education for a special screening at Davis Theater in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood for the documentary film “Teacher” by Adam Gacka.
The film follows Chicago Teacher Residency (CTR) alumni Chelsea Bennett and Nkanga Nsa at Curtis School of Excellence on the south side of Chicago. It highlights their daily routine as educators and brings to light some of the realities of being a teacher in an underserved school community. Nkanga changed her career to pursue education and was inspired from the COVID-19 pandemic, current world events and raising her daughter that she wanted to be an educator and join the CTR.
Chelsea was Nkanga’s Mentor as she started the CTR program and they soon started their professional relationship inside of the classroom.
“There was such a commitment between the two of us and I think that’s what makes the CTR so incredibly special,” said Nkanga Nsa.
“For this teaching relationship to work, I had to like her and she had to like me. That’s what’s great about the CTR program. Once we got that established and we decided we were both teachers in the classroom, the students felt it.”
The film was followed by a panel discussion moderated by CTR Alumni Nkanga Nsa featuring AUSL Executive Director Adam Case, CTR Alumni Chelsea Bennett, DePaul College of Education Dean Jennifer Mueller and Chicago Public Schools Chief of Language and Cultural Education Karime Asaf.
“In terms of the teacher shortages, there are so many conversations about how hard teaching is and not enough conversations about the joy of teaching,” said CTR Alumni Chelsea Bennett.
“There are not enough conversations that people are hearing on how transformational it is to be a teacher.”
The panel discussed important topics in education including teacher shortages, teacher retention and representation in classrooms for students of color.
“Representation is incredibly important. We are so lucky in Chicago that most students of color are going to have teachers of color,” said DePaul College of Education Dean Jennifer Mueller.
“When teachers are representative of the students that they’re working with, it makes a huge difference for everybody in the classroom.”
AUSL would like to thank all the CTR Alumni in the film, Nkanga, Chelsea, Janae Smoke, and Kristin Turner, for being selected for the documentary to share your CTR journey and support a special project like “Teacher” by Adam Gacka.
“Values can be values on the wall or they can be values that you live. At AUSL, diversity is a value that we live by as we have a lot of success building a diverse Resident cohort,” said AUSL Executive Director Adam Case.
“Over 60% of our Residents identify as people of color and it’s something that we really focus and work on because we know how important it is for our students. It’s about providing pathways that make education accessible.”
We are grateful to be in partnership with DePaul and Chicago Public Schools to support the recruitment and training of highly effective teachers for schools across the city.
Do you or someone you know have an interest in joining the CTR and become a teacher in just one year? Refer someone to the CTR program today!
