GTP Launches 10th Year with Staff and Tutor School Visits

The Global Teaching Project’s 10^th year is now fully underway, with classes commencing at its partner schools.

To date, GTP has provided over 4,000 promising students in over 50 public high schools in rural, high-poverty Mississippi communities access to advanced STEM courses they need achieve their full potential, but which their schools otherwise may not be able to offer, due to limited resources and a chronic, and worsening, shortage of qualified teachers.

In June, GTP conducted its annual Advanced STEM Summer Preparatory Program, an immersive, residential learning program at Mississippi State University that helps prepare students for the rigor of AP courses.

In recent weeks, once classes began at GTP’s partner schools, teams of GTP staff and Teaching Assistants—STEM experts who are current students at, and recent graduates of, leading universities across the country—visited our partner schools to work with students in person.

The school visits are a critical element of GTP’s blended instructional model. The visits permit TAs to begin to build relationships that will continue throughout the school year in regular tutoring sessions—typically by videoconference twice each week.

The learning that takes place in the school visits is reciprocal. The TAs, as well as the students, gain insights into how to best approach the subject matter. The visits also led TAs to reflect upon their role, and GTP’s mission of expanding educational opportunity.

Jules Gallo
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill: Data Science

Growing up in Mississippi, I was always generally aware of the stereotypes about my state. People perceive it as a backwater, with poor amenities and services not representative of American progress.

When I came to North Carolina for college, I witnessed these biases firsthand. A grocery store employee congratulated me on “getting out.” A classmate said I must be very happy to be here at UNC.

These statements imply anyone who doesn’t “get out” somehow lacks passion, or creativity, or even intelligence. When we toured these schools, I never got this feeling. Yes, some of the physical buildings were worse for wear, but the teachers, and especially the students all brought such energy to our programs that it very clearly did not matter where they grew up.

The Global Teaching Project taps into Mississippi’s potential. These kids may not have always had opportunities like it, but when we speak to them they clearly make the most of it. Visiting schools reinforces our mission for the schools and the GTP staff. With each conversation and each lesson, we can make a difference in these kids’ futures.

Ella Tashjian
Yale University: Ethics, Politics, and Economics

I had the opportunity to join the August trip and was blown away by the energy and ambition of the students. At every single school, students spoke about their plans to do research on the heart or the brain, or to become psychologists, or pediatricians, or marine biologists. And we got to be there to help them take the next step in those directions.

Anvita Panchumarthy
University of Virginia: Biomedical Engineering

While virtual tutoring throughout the school year is incredibly rewarding, interacting with students in person added a vital layer of depth to both my and their experiences with the Global Teaching Project.

I remember on one of our school visits, a student confessed he didn’t feel “smart enough” to be in an AP class. We then went on to give the class a logic puzzle, and he was the first student to solve it. In that moment, I recognized our role extends beyond academic support; we are there to give students the confidence to step outside their comfort zones. For this student, it was giving him the confidence to try something new. For other students, it meant opening their eyes to new academic and career paths.

Being able to meet students in person, help them explore their interests, and learn about where they come from was the most impactful part of the experience. I strongly believe that building these initial connections with students will open the door for far more meaningful tutoring and mentorship throughout the school year.

The animating dynamic of GTP’s Advanced STEM Access Program is to put capable students together with quality teachers and tutors, so all involved may learn at a high level. By matching talent with opportunity, this academic year is off to a strong start.