National Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning spoke about how her experience in the Peace Corps led her to become a social justice activist both in and out of the classroom Tuesday.
As a math and English teacher in the Newcomer Center at Ferris High School, Manning teaches immigrants and refugees. The Peace Corps was the first stepping stone in Manning’s twenty-year teaching career. She said it taught her a plethora of lessons that she carried with her.
“[The Peace Corp] taught me about connections and building relationships,” Manning said. “We simply cannot make assumptions, we must allow people to show us who they are.”
One way she builds relationships with her students is by making frequent home visits to all of her new students.
Teachers Against Children Detention: All Kids Deserve To Be Free is an activist organization that allows teachers to fight for the human rights of immigrant children in government detention.
“These children should not be in detention, they should be in our classrooms,” Manning said.
The Peace Corps, according to Manning, “is the model of empowerment” that taught her to be confident with her voice. She now spends everyday empowering her students to advocate for themselves.
“I understand the importance of empowering my students to use their voice to advocate for themselves,” Manning said.
To many, the purpose of the Peace Corps is the assignment given. However, Manning assured it was about “diplomacy, not development.” The connections made between volunteers and the community are much more essential than the actual projects at hand.
“To tackle these issues on a global scale seems impossible,” Manning said. “We must act locally.”
