The Teachers Central To Leadership Fellowship Program brings 5-8 DCPS teacher-leaders to share their wisdom and perspective with the work of central office. These eight were selected from among more than 100 applicants.
Mayra Canizales, Columbia Heights Education Campus
Mayra Canizales entered the TCTL fellowship as a sixth grade English teacher at Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC). For Ms. Canizales, the path to becoming a teacher was all about improving life trajectories. She credits education as playing a major role in shifting her own trajectory and strives to afford that opportunity to others. She started her teaching career in Boston Public Schools after attending Boston College for her Master’s degree. Ms. Canizales says she was eventually drawn to DC Public Schools because of our aggressive focus on the achievement gap and teacher development opportunities.
In addition to serving as a sixth grade English teacher, Ms. Canizales also served as CHEC’s middle school lead teacher and in 2012 received an Excellence in Teaching Award. She decided to apply for the Teachers Central to Leadership fellowship because she wanted to understand the district’s decision-making process from another perspective. Reflecting back on the experience, Ms. Canizales notes her appreciation for the opportunity to work with amazing teachers and coaches from across the district, many of whom she continues to use as a sounding board.
Ms. Canizales spent the summer working in the Office of Teaching and Learning on the Curriculum and Instruction team, developing modules and curricula aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. After serving in this role, she returned to CHEC as an instructional coach before eventually moving into an assistant principal position at the campus. Today, she serves as the principal of Oyster-Adams Bilingual School. Ms. Canizales notes that when she meets with staff from central office, she now feels incredibly comfortable due to her experience as a TCTL fellow.
If you ask Ms. Canizales about her favorite part of school, she’ll say it is “when you open the doors at 8:00 am on the first day and kids’ laughter, voices, and energy fill a building and transform it into a school. In that moment, I am always filled with so much optimism and joy.”
Vanessa Drumm, Watkins Elementary School
Vanessa Drumm entered the TCTL fellowship as the instructional coach at Watkins Elementary School, where she has worked for the last four years. Ms. Drumm developed a passion for teaching during her senior year of college at Duke University; she took an education class to satisfy a graduation requirement, through which she tutored for several hours a week at a local community center. She fell in love with the work. She then went on to pursue a Master of Education degree from George Washington University, where she was first exposed to DC Public Schools through her internship at Ross Elementary School.
After teaching for several years in Virginia and California, and after being nominated for First Year Teacher of the Year in Fairfax County in 2006, Ms. Drumm returned to DCPS to be part of the reform and innovation in the district. When speaking about the opportunities afforded to teachers at DCPS, Ms. Drumm has said that she has never worked in a district so open to allowing school-based employees to be a part of the decision-making processes.
Ms. Drumm spent her time as a TCTL Fellow working in the Office of Human Capital on the IMPACT team. She primarily developed trainings for a new master educator position that would incorporate instructional coaching in our 40 lowest-performing schools.
Since completing her TCTL experience, Ms. Drumm has transitioned into an Assistant Principal role at Watkins Elementary School. In her free time, Ms. Drumm loves cooking and hiking in the beautiful areas surrounding DC.
Sarah Lehar, Anacostia High School
Sarah Lehar taught twelfth grade social studies at Anacostia High School for three years prior to her summer as a TCTL fellow. Ms. Lehar became a teacher as a tribute to all of the excellent educators she had in her lifetime. She credits them with ensuring she was able to excel academically and wants to afford the same opportunities to her students.
In addition to teaching, she also served as the social studies department chair and was recognized for being a Highly Effective teacher. She applied for the TCTL fellowship because she felt she could better educate her students if she had a more complete understanding of programs and initiatives designed in central office. As a fellow she developed programming for the Home/Hospital Instruction Program (HIP), which provides continual education services for students unable to attend traditional brick and mortar schools.
Ms. Lehar’s favorite part of every school year is watching her students walk across the graduation stage, prepared for the next steps of their academic and professional lives. She is able to continue experiencing this joy in her current position as an assistant principal at H.D. Woodson High School.
Ms. Lehar can often be found enjoying her free time at Malcolm X Park or at her local Crossfit gym.
Alyson Roberts, C.W. Harris Elementary School
Aly Roberts taught reading interventions and interactive literature at C.W. Harris when she joined the 2012 cohort of TCTL Fellows. She came to the fellowship with seven years of education experience under her belt. Like many of her cohort colleagues, Ms. Roberts came to teaching through her search for equity for and interaction with children. She came to DC Public Schools from a charter school just as Michelle Rhee became Chancellor. When asked about her decision to leave the charter school, she recalls: “I knew I wanted to be a part of the dynamic reform that was occurring at DCPS. Challenging, high quality education should be available to every child in the district. Parents shouldn’t feel like they need to enroll their children in a charter in order for them to receive a high quality education.”
In her time with DCPS, Ms. Roberts has received a number of accolades for her work. In addition to being awarded the Rubenstein Award for Highly Effective Teaching, she was selected to participate in several teacher leadership initiatives. Ms. Roberts was named a Teach Plus Policy Fellow, a teacher-leader in the inaugural cohort of DCPS’s Teacher Leadership Innovation (TLI) pilot, and a member of the Chancellor’s Teachers’ Cabinet.
As a TCTL fellow, Ms. Roberts worked in the Office of Human Capital on the IMPACT Align team. Throughout the summer she helped to develop online teacher training modules, which demonstrate the skills required for each Teach standard on the Teaching and Learning Framework. When looking back on her experience in central office, Ms. Roberts speaks fondly of the likeminded individuals working to ensure high quality instruction for our students.
In the fall of 2014, Ms. Roberts began teaching second grade at Langley Elementary School. When she is not employing her teaching expertise, she loves wandering around DC’s neighborhoods and monuments with her husband and Great Dane mix, Finnley.
Maria Samenga, Tubman Elementary School
Maria Samenga came to central office as a TCTL Fellow during the summer of 2012 with ten years of experience in education, six of them with DC Public Schools. At the time she was teaching third grade math and science at Tubman, as well as serving as the grade level lead and sitting on the principal’s panel and Personnel Committee. Ms. Samenga has won an Excellence in Teaching Award and been nominated for Teacher of the Year.
Ms. Samenga received her Master’s degree from Northeastern University and entered teaching to work with children who are traditionally underserved. She believes that even one year of “loving school” can dramatically alter a child’s chance of success. Ms. Samenga saw the TCTL fellowship as another opportunity to improve her students’ experience. She regards her time in central office as a fantastic opportunity to help bridge the gap between the classroom and the conference room.
Ms. Samenga spent the summer working in the Office of Teaching and Learning on the Curriculum and Instruction team. She worked in partnership with the central office staff to develop guided reading professional development and Science Leadership Academy professional development, and assist with editing and revising modules and units of study.
For Ms. Samenga, every year brings new opportunities to make memories with a new group of children. In the fall of 2014, she began teaching fourth grade math and science at Murch Elementary School. When she is not educating her students, she is enjoying time outdoors with her son.