Teachers Change Lives: Mr. Jessie Back, Principal Fellow
I discovered my passion for education almost accidentally during my junior year of college. My focus was always athletics but when an injury put me on the sidelines, I used my free time to teach health and wellness programs in public schools in Buffalo. I found that I loved working with the students, so I applied to Teach For America and ended up teaching in classrooms all over western New York. I was lucky to be part of the founding team of a public charter school in Buffalo, an experience that was both challenging and rewarding.
So when ReGeneration Schools reached out to me about helping open a new school in my hometown of Cincinnati, I jumped at the opportunity. I knew that ReGen schools had a stellar reputation for high expectations and teacher quality, which I saw in person during my visit to Regen’s CICS Basil campus in Chicago. I was particularly drawn to ReGen’s focus on fostering teacher excellence because my life was changed by a high school teacher who saw my potential and provided the encouragement I needed to pursue a scholarship to college. I know firsthand that a teacher can change a person’s life forever.
Now that ReGen Bond Hill is finishing our second year, we’re proud of the community we’re creating with our students and families. Families are integral to the learning process, and we communicate with parents on a daily basis to make sure every student has the support they need to do their best. Parents who choose ReGen Bond Hill are joining a school where everyone from the principal to the support staff is committed to helping our students succeed.
Our school is unique because we focus on preparing kids for college starting on the first day of kindergarten. We name our homerooms after different colleges and universities because we want our students to realize that they have a choice about what happens after high school. We provide all our students with the skills needed to pursue college, and that starts with building a strong foundation of early literacy.
We know from research that if kids don’t master reading when they are young, they will struggle with academics in middle school and beyond. That’s why our goal at ReGen Bond Hill is that every student will learn to read by the end of kindergarten. However, we don’t take a ‘one size fits all’ approach to teaching reading. Instead, teachers assess each student’s reading level in order to provide the right mix of support needed for all students to learn.
At ReGen Bond Hill, we also never forget that kids learn best when they have fun. Our teachers use chants, cheers, and lots of movement to help children retain information and stay engaged in learning. For example, when our scholars learn how to write mailing addresses, they sing a song about what goes on each line that starts with “line one, who lives here, who lives here.” It’s so cool to see learning come to life through the joy of our students and the creativity of our teachers.
