Some of my best lessons have come from teachers and non-teachers alike. Many have been ordinary people, just doing their jobs, raising their families, or contributing to their community projects with excitement and gusto. Some have had college degrees. Many have not. Some are family members, while others are friends, church members, or people I have only casually met. Some are complete strangers I’ve only read about.
All of these people from all walks of life are “Citizen Teachers.” Members of society who have something to contribute…and something to teach to others. Their lessons are signposts that have guided me through the difficulties and byways of life.
My Aunts and Uncle -- Seated: (l to r) Aunt Clara & Aunt Susie - Standing Uncle Prince & Aunt Camilla
Family Teachers
Family members have been my most direct citizen teachers. My Aunt Susie, who had no children of her own, taught me how to sew, but more importantly how to clean up behind myself after I cut out a pattern. As a 10 year old, I would scatter all the paper pieces all over the dining room table. When Aunt Susie, a Georgia school teacher, would visit in the summer, she would patiently teach me how to gather up the loose pieces and carefully fold them up and put them back in the envelope. And three years ago, when I made my daughter’s wedding gown, Aunt Susie’s lessons of years ago were still in my head as I gathered up fabric scraps and pattern pieces and put them away where they belonged.
Hairdresser Teachers
My hairdresser, Jayne Francis, was a citizen teacher. A divorced community advocate with no children and no college degree, Jayne was wise beyond her years. She was very proud of her profession, and exuded her talents in everything she did. Not boastful or egotistical, Jayne was simply a proud, elegant Black women, who dressed well, took care of her extended family, and loved doing hair in Boston’s urban neighborhood. I admired her business skills and learned that you don’t have to have a degree, a high-end job, or a fat paycheck to live comfortably by providing a service that people will value.
Jayne was very much in the same camp of an earlier hairdresser of mine, Gertrude Evans, in my native Detroit. Gertrude had lost a finger in an accident; yet it never stopped her from building up one of the best hair salons in the motor city. Gertrude was married, had children, and had no college degree. Yet she was such an astute business woman that when she died suddenly, her real estate holdings included an entire city block of buildings, including her own beauty shop. Jayne and Gertrude were citizen teachers because their pursuits in life yielded many lessons for me to follow.
You, The Citizen Teacher
Anybody can become a citizen teacher. For some, it’s just who you are and what you stand for. With others, it is the gentle kindness they show toward others. Others may have a gift of writing, and send beautiful greeting cards to cheer friends up. Some may venture into school buildings and read to children. Others may offer a stern warning to youngsters by using their own low wage job as an example to encourage students to stay in school to improve their job opportunities in life. And others may just offer a listening ear for troubled teens who have nowhere else to turn.
Take stock of who you are and what you do. Leverage your resources and list the many ways that you can become a teacher to others. Do you travel? Are you a great cook? Are you one heck of an organizer? Are you the family member who is always settling disputes between your brothers and sisters? Are you a good photographer? Can you sing like a bird? Have you lost weight and kept the pounds off? Have you turned your life around?
How many ways can you help others, help students, help those in need with the resources you bring to humanity? Becoming a citizen teacher could be the most valuable and easiest talent you have. Go out into your community and give it a try. I bet there’s a young person right around the corner just waiting for the rich lessons you can share from your storehouse of experience.
Let the lessons begin!
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