Institute for Recruitment of Teachers

IRT Alumni Mentor Phillips Academy’s Students of Color and Participate in MLK Workshop

by Leislie Godo-Solo, IRT ’91

Since November of 2020, Leislie Godo-Solo, IRT ’91 has served as one of the faculty advisors for the Af-Lat-Am Mentoring Program (AMP) at Phillips Academy which has a membership of 104 students of color. Leislie, along with the input of six student coordinators creates and plans programming that benefits students’ personal and academic growth. During the current academic year, Leislie and the coordinators hosted Ms. Warner and Mr. Coy of the Academic Skills Center who discussed study strategies and, more recently, during the MLK Jr. holiday weekend, IRT alumna, Kelicia Hollis Jessie ‘11 was invited by the organization and held a workshop titled AMP Mentoring Reset: Going Back to Basics, an interactive session in which the mentors learned ways to be more intentional and effective in their interactions with their mentees. Additionally, Aleena Kibria, one of IRT’s Student Advisory Board Leaders conducted a MLK Jr. Workshop titled “What Is a Bad Hair Day? In this presentation, Aleena and her peers discussed how often students think about their hair, Eurocentric beauty standards, the politics of hair, hair discrimination, and legal efforts to rectify hair discrimination in schools and the workplace. Aleena went a step further for her presentation and interviewed Phillips Academy and IRT students Kevin Pajaro-Mariñez, IRT’15 LaKisha Simmons, IRT ’02 and Elyx Desloover, IRT’ 21 about their feelings regarding their hair. Check out their discussion on YouTube.

Congratulations Aleena on a dynamic and well-received MLK Workshop!

Alumni Accolades, January 2022

TERESA IRENE GONZALES, IRT ’06

University of Massachusetts Sociology Assistant Professor Teresa Gonzales has won Ford Foundation support for her “Joyful Cities” research in Lawrence, MA. Learn more about Gonzales’ professional experience and education.

Relieving Winter Stress & Staying Healthy

IRT staff share go-to-activities for stress free ways to endure the cold weather months!

Winter in New England is long and after the holidays it can be a little dreary. IRT staff are finding ways to enjoy these months each in their own way. An outside holiday gathering and doggie play date with Basil, Millie & Henry in a fun, outside setting started the early winter months off right!

Executive Letter, November 2021

Hello IRT community!

As I write this feeling the emerging autumn breeze, I hope that you are all doing well. Throughout the last year, the ability to be virtual has allowed me more time for reflection

and consideration of the everyday experience of our educators. As I’ve watched protests, meetings, and conversations regarding education – it becomes clear how important your work is.

To that end, I would like to spend some time in our newsletter acknowledging you! I thank our IRT summer faculty for running a brand-new Summer Workshop, in which they developed their course materials to deliver virtually. I celebrate our alumni that are publishing new texts, including Summer Faculty member Aria Halliday, IRT ’11. I commend our educators, counselors, and school support staff for navigating back-to-school plans and communities. I also want to celebrate Monica Muñoz Martinez, IRT ’05 for her incredible work and its recognition by the MacArthur Foundation. Many IRT scholars look up to our alumni and the communities we support. It is thrilling to see your work championed and elected for a Genius Grant.

And finally, I hope we can all come together to send positive vibes to our current class. It is not easy to apply to graduate school during a typical year. Our current cohort is navigating many challenges to secure the future for the communities that we envision. To that end, please be on the lookout for ways to share your updates with the IRT community.

Alumni Advisors Contribute to 2021 Cohort Success

by Brittany Zorn, IRT ’13, Arts and Sciences Specialist, IRT

One of IRT’s greatest assets is by far our expansive network of alumni. Since joining the IRT team in 2016, I have had the pleasure of meeting, celebrating, and working alongside so many incredible scholars, educators, leaders, and artists through the IRT alumni family. Engaging with alumni on social media, alumni who serve as Summer Faculty for our Summer Workshop, alumni who sit on the Advisory Board, and alumni who reach back out to the program for one reason or another has always been an enriching part of my experience as a staff-member-who-is-also-an-alum. In 2021, I had the opportunity to work with our alumni in a new way, through the External SOP Advisor role. We sent out an invitation to serve as an SOP Advisor in our blog, on the IRT Alumni Network, and on social media (FB, IG), and I was heartened to say we received responses from more than two dozen alumni with an interest in the role!