Patrick Myers ’17 – When getting into to Chicago I had no idea what to expect. I had doubts about the hostel and also the school that I was placed in. The teachers and students in the CPS schools are similar yet different from the ones that are in my hometown. Curie Metropolitan High School has roughly 3,000 students, and Hispanic students make up 90 percent of the student body. There are also 22 history teachers in the department, and for the most part they get along with one another and collaborate well together.
The classroom setting and students were much different from what I expected. I expected the class to be a mess and not safe, and for the students to be very loud and not well behaved. Well, I could not have been more wrong about my expectations. The students were very well behaved, and responded well to me being in the classroom and were willing to ask me questions about my education and where I was from. Most of the teachers that I have observed created a good classroom atmosphere and the students responded well to the teachers’ actions and how they handled the classroom.
The urban education experience, so far, is something that everyone at Wabash should have the opportunity to do. So far, this trip, has given me a new perspective on how education can reach different ethnicities in the classroom. Also, being a white teacher in a predominately Hispanic and Black classroom is something new that I had to face. I thought that I would have a very difficult time connecting with the students, but I actually had no problem with the students and they respond well to my questions. The advice that I would give future students is just take everything in and have a fun time, and do not go into the trip thinking that it is a waste of time. This trip has been amazing, and the school experiences have been even better.
