Literacy Lab furthers education career opportunities for men of color in Arizona

MESA, AZ (AZFamily)—Black men are underrepresented in classrooms in Arizona and across the country, and a Valley nonprofit is pushing to recruit more men of color to be mentors and teachers.

The Literacy Lab has been in Arizona for three years and, as of right now, has 20 young men of color tutoring across four schools.

KT Johnson glows when he talks about his interaction with the preschool students in Miss Perry’s classroom. “I have fun with them everyday, it’s an amazing sense of peace,” he said.

Ms. Perry is the teacher he works with and it’s her second year having a fellow in her classroom. “He’s amazing with the kids,” she said. “The kids get super excited when he comes into the classroom.”

Every week, Johnson teaches the kids new words, how to write their names and read stories. “I know later down the line, they’re going to remember who I am. They’re going to like school because of me,” he said.

Some studies have found that children who went to preschool were less likely to be arrested later in life. This statistic has fueled Johnson’s newfound passion. “I want to prevent as much as I can. It’s a perfect spot to grab them and just change it, and give them something new to make them like school,” Johnson said.

He’s been a fellow at the Literacy Lab since October. The program gives men of color, ages 18 to 24, the skills to pursue careers in education. It also helps connect the fellows with resources to pay for college and certification. “The knowledge you get, the experiences, the connection,” said Johnson. “You can’t put a price tag on that.”

The Arizona Department of Education says only a quarter of teachers this school year are men. The number of black and brown teachers is even fewer, with only 17% being Hispanic and almost 4% being black. Navarro Whitaker manages the program and says that’s where the lab comes into play. “Statistics show that everybody’s test scores go up when you have a black man in the classroom. We need people that look like us in the classroom,” he said.

Johnson recalls those statistics not being any better when he was in school. “I had one male teacher, none of them were black and his name was Mr. Welch,” he said. “Dude was just fun, he taught me history and I loved history because of that.”

The hope is that after the program, most will go on to work at Arizona schools or continue their college education to become full-time teachers. “That’s definitely the goal; it’s to stick with education,” said Johnson.

For more information, you can go to The Literacy Lab website.

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