Exonian Profiles
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When Carolyn Leuner ’98, a volunteer for Teach for America—the national organization that places recent college graduates in under-resourced public schools—was invited to speak about her teaching experiences in the South Bronx, little did she know the unusual turn of events that would follow. Seated in the audience was the editor of Reader’s Digest, who was so intrigued by Leuner and her students that he featured them in the magazine’s October issue. By coincidence, a representative from Ralph Lauren’s Polo Jeans approached Teach for America looking for someone to take part in a special Ralph Lauren campaign spotlighting volunteerism. Leuner was chosen, and for her stint as a model, Ralph Lauren donated $10,000 to Teach for America. “I don’t see myself as a model,” says Leuner, “but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity not only to promote Teach for America but also to applaud people who want to correct injustices.” Leuner herself first heard about Teach for America during an internship in Washington with the Justice Department’s civil rights division. There, she gained a perspective on the social injustices experienced by blacks and Latinos, and this, she says, “created a passion within me to want to change things for minorities.” After a lawyer in Washington told her about Teach for America, Leuner decided to channel that passion into education. But this was not the first time Leuner had considered teaching. “I was educated in poor public schools as a child,” she explains. “I saw kids doing things that young children should never see, and I was highly motivated to leave public schools. I value my Exeter education because it prepared me for college, taught me to love learning and challenged me intellectually.” A key influence was Rick Parris, her cross-country coach and math teacher, who, she says, “gave of himself not only as a teacher, but also as a whole person. And Mrs. Parris always had an open door for me.” Her experiences made her want to extend similar “opportunities to children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, starting in kindergarten. I wanted to teach them what I learned at Exeter, and provide them not only with an amazing education but also a safe haven in which to learn.” With a goal to cover a grade-and-a-half of material, Leuner faced a major challenge when she began teaching her first kindergarten class at P.S. 31 in the South Bronx. “My kids did not know numbers, letters or colors,” Leuner says. “They could not recognize their names if I wrote them on the blackboard.” To make progress, she says she has had to be a tough disciplinarian, “but I never yell. I have to set boundaries and have high expectations, yet I give them guidance with hugs.” She used the presence of the Reader’s Digest writer and photographer to build her students’ self-esteem by telling them “they were special for working so hard.” Leuner also took time to get to know her students’ families and their struggles, visiting them at home whenever possible, and used a portion of her paycheck for supplies like pencils, crayons, paper and books that are not always available at underfunded public schools. All of Leuner’s hard work, and that of her students, paid off. “One year later,” she says with pride, “they were all reading—everything from cereal boxes to anything else they could find—as well as writing, adding and subtracting.” Perhaps because she visited her students’ parents, her class had the highest attendance in the school. “I have invested my life in these kids,” says Leuner. “They mean that much to me.” For more information about Teach for America, go to www.teachforamerica.org. To see Leuner’s Ralph Lauren ad, go to www.polojeans.com. —Alice Gray |
