It was the fall of 2004 and I was about to start my first day of high school. The freshmen class entered the gym that morning where there was an air of excitement and energy being projected by the one and only Mrs.Podgorski. There were balloons, music, and us freshmen taking seats in the bleachers. Mrs. P was yelling encouraging words into the mic as we walked in and I remember thinking “Wow this woman has a lot of energy for 7am” but honestly, I was captivated. She had spearheaded this new program for Rubidoux High School called Link Crew. Link Crew was a program designed to have Juniors and Seniors form a team of mentors for a small group of freshmen for a year to help their transition to high school. Experiencing its impact firsthand, I knew that I would one day be a part of Link Crew because I believed in its mission and was inspired by the type of change Mrs. P wanted to bring to the campus in terms of belongingness and the power we had as students to bring on that change.
Since I wasn’t going to be able to be a Link Crew Leader until my junior year, I thought I wouldn’t see much of Mrs. P until then, but she was a strong force on campus and I saw myself involved in other social justice projects she helped students organize. I remember Mrs. P opened her home to a group of us that led a big social justice project. In dedication to the Invisible Children campaign, we organized a 12 hour famine in order to collect funds for the organization. The day of the famine over 100 high school students were on campus since 8 in the morning. There was no eating throughout the whole day so we had planned a way to distract everyone from hunger for the next 12 hours. In the middle of the quad we had arranged a battle of the bands line up where musicians offered their time and music to the cause. Throughout the different classrooms you would find students playing video games, in the nap room, the homework room, the karaoke room etc… We provided lots of water so nobody would get dehydrated and were on call for any unforeseen problems that came up. It took months of planning together trying to anticipate all the different parts of this endeavor. At the end, it was all worth it as we all came together to break the fast and reflected on why this was an important cause for us. This rally for social justice was to help the fight against the use of child soldiers in Uganda, and its lesson went beyond learning in a classroom. We organized this event and took leadership roles where Mrs. P gave us full reign and it was an amazing experience. We could use our mentorship and organizational skills to encourage one another and join together for causes that went beyond our community to help make an impact in the world we share with others. We did not need to wait until we were adults because we had a teacher that took us seriously and knew that coming together, we would make a difference.
When my junior year had finally arrived,I was able to join Link Crew! Mrs.P was always willing to listen to and encourage our ideas to change how we approached our mentoring. She gave us lessons on how to communicate with teens that are younger than us from a teen perspective. We were grouped into a Link Crew team of four that would go into the same English freshmen class once a month, where we were then each responsible for a group of four to five freshmen. We would do a whole class lesson and then met with our individual groups to continue with an in depth part of the lesson that ranged from social skills, learning how to interact with teachers and administration, and problems that faced us as teens. We were there to help support these freshmen academically and emotionally and to remind them that there was a network of support they could always rely on. If the problems that were shared to us as Link Crew Leaders were too heavy for us to handle alone, we knew we could go to Mrs.P to help us navigate our guidance or intervene with the next level of professional help the student may have needed.
It felt that as a school there was a greater sense of community thanks to Link Crew. The part that was so awe inspiring was that Link Crew Leaders were formed from every possible type of student you can imagine. It was made up of AP students, nerds, band geeks, athletes, cheerleaders, choir nerds, “trouble makers” and every kind of student possible. We all came together because we were all influenced by our own mentors or really believed in this collective response to mentor others. This program and the versatility of Mrs. P’s teaching really broke down so many stereotypes among students because we were brought together by this motivation to be a part of something special.
Mrs. P was able to teach us in a manner that respected our creativity, ideas, and she connected to us on a human level. We never felt like we were talked down to and she gave us the tools to learn from experience and taught us that it was okay to fail sometimes as long as we never gave up. Her class was not an “easy A” kind of class, we had to put in the work of learning lessons and implementing those lessons to others. She had high expectations for the quality of lessons we were sharing with others and our mentorship skills that developed throughout the year. We were all comfortable coming to her if we felt we needed her help. Her passion and compassion for others was inspiring. She was one of the first teachers that I had that inspired me to do so much more than receive a good letter grade for a course. She taught me about social justice in action and that people uniting for a cause can be powerful. She taught us that it didn’t matter what social clique you belonged to, your ideas were valid and that human kindness is always possible. We all deserve a voice and being a part of a community that takes care of each other and she gave us just that. I went on to receive the “Link Leader of the Year” award my senior year, an award I cherish to this day that helps me remember all the lessons Mrs. P had taught us.
Years later, I began to work as a Student Attendant Aide at the same high school Mrs. P was teaching at and I was able to reconnect with her. She continued inspiring students and one of their efforts made it to the local paper. For me, she was a source of support and encouragement especially when I mentioned wanting to apply to Smith. She reminded me of her story that she always shares with her students about her starting her journey at a community college. She was the first teacher I had met who was open about taking a non-traditional path towards their higher education. Her story was especially comforting because as an Ada Comstock Scholar at Smith, I too share a non-traditional path, and having her as an example is a true form of inspiration. She is a reminder that it is possible to be an incredible educator without taking traditional or expected pathways; that our experiences should be shared, celebrated and incorporated in how we approach education. She told me she was proud of the work I had done up until that point, but recognized my passion and knew that I was more than capable of reaching my higher education goals. As always, she was right, as I am two weeks away from receiving my Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology & Education and Child Study from Smith College.
As I reflect on all that Mrs.P taught us, I can’t help but be so inspired. Her teachings resonate with me every day and especially in these times where the world is suffering collectively with the COVID-19 global pandemic. Coming together, checking on each other, making any positive contribution are all valid ways to make all the difference for someone. Placing positive energy, compassion, and social activist efforts into the world is what we need now more than ever. Thank you, Mrs.P, I am forever grateful.