A new affordable housing project helps eliminate a big barrier to pursuing careers in teaching.
Peter Watts, co-founder Watts of Power Foundation, and teacher Leodes Van Buren Jr. at Teacher Village housing in Los Angeles Thursday September 28, 2023. Teacher Village is a project of the non-profit Watts of Power foundation that seeks to provide an affordable housing option to support Black, male teachers in training.
There are 15 fellows enrolled in the program, which provides mentoring, a community of support, additional teacher training modules, lessons in personal finance, a stipend to defray the costs of getting a teaching credential and assistance finding classroom placements. Van Buren grew up in South Central Los Angeles and credits his interest in education to the inspiring Black role models he was exposed to at school, including Peter Watts who once was his principal.
“I don’t think education in underserved communities like ours is on people’s priority list and as kids we were negatively affected by not having proper attention and care,” Van Buren said. “But young learners are eager about education and I want to be part of the process of molding them and getting them excited about going to college.”
The power of this connection is backed by research. For example, a study at Johns Hopkins found that if a Black male student has at least one Black teacher between third and fifth grade, their dropout rate from high school declines by 39% and their interest in attending college increases by 29%. To this end, all fellows take Didi Watts’ “Components of Care” course, which she produced as part of her PhD research and will be on offer in Cal State University Dominguez Hills’ College of Education next academic year. The course teaches fellows how to meet the emotional needs of their students and forge connections with them, while assuring that they are also taking care of their own mental health.
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