Featured Teacher: Nerissa

Nerissa has deeply personal reasons for wanting her students to succeed. She attended Breakthrough Miami as a middle school student and later spent three summers, during high school and college, teaching there. “I really wanted to give back to the community that helped me when I was a kid,” she says.

A year ago, wanting to experience something new, Nerissa switched coasts. She taught writing at Breakthrough San Francisco, helping her students develop the strong composition skills essential for future academic success. Her sixth graders worked to improve their organization, word choice, use of supporting evidence, and ability to engage the reader.

Wanting to keep them engaged, Nerissa designed creative lessons and made time for her students after class, checking in constantly about their academic progress and personal well-being. At the same time, she set clear expectations and managed her classroom confidently. Her students responded, working hard and substantially increasing their scores on an end-of-summer writing assessment. “I definitely learned the importance of good modeling and repetition,” she reflects.

Back at Mt. Holyoke College, where she’s now a senior, Nerissa is staying connected to her students. “I love keeping in touch with them, getting their emails and phone calls. I love that we’re looking out for each other.” She is planning on a teaching career after graduation, possibly through Teach For America. She would ideally like to work with middle school students in California.

“I’m living proof that a high potential, underprivileged child of color has a chance to go far in life,” Nerissa says. “I know that Breakthrough students are capable of so much, but I also know that they may not realize how smart they are. They need someone to believe in them. I want them to graduate from high school and to go on to college feeling like they are supposed to be there.”