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| Team Care Force Senior Corps Member, Phillip St. Clair presenting his half pipe TV stand creation for a Skate Park themed Huddle Up Zone. |
Phillip St. Clair
I am Phillip Michael St. Clair and I was born on February 23, 1987 in Raleigh, North Carolina between midnight and mid-morning at Wake Medical Hospital. I entered the world a whole two and a half months premature weighing a mere 4.1 ounces. I was immediately rushed to the intensive care unit only to be transferred hours later because another child had meningitis. I was transferred to Rex Community Hospital where I stayed for two whole months before I was released to go home with my mother. The only thing that saved me was my full lung development. If not for this I would have certainly died. To give you a mental image, from head to butt I fit in the palm of my mothers’ hand. Once given the chance to grow I didn’t take it for granted. I am a living testament that where there is a will, there is a way.
I grew up in the shadow of an athletic older brother so my summers were spent traveling to baseball tournaments up and down the East Coast. I excelled at academics early on and figured out that I had a love of Mathematics. Once given the chance to help a fellow classmate in 9th grade I knew I had a knack for not only teaching, but teaching math. From then on I dove into the world of math. I earned a degree in Mathematics and a teaching Licensure from Elon University. I had planned on teaching high school right away and establishing my career as a young educator. As graduation grew near though, I began thinking about the impact I would be making on my future students. Sure I could be a “cool” teacher in their eyes but would I be that “great” teacher? Would I be the kind of teacher and role model like those before me that so influenced me to take on the great task of educating our youth? The answer I found was no, not yet. While I found myself capable of teaching students who had been given a chance to succeed and prosper simply by good fortune and their upbringing, I could not benefit those who did not fall into that category. How could I help those who could not or did not know how to help themselves?
In hopes of helping them I decided to join City Year. I chose to serve in San Jose, California where they had a high level of Hispanic students who were in desperate need of a male role model away from the machismo influence. A male role model who could show them that learning was not only fun but entertaining and cool. A male role model who could teach them how to respect each other and themselves. Through City Year I was able to sow the seeds of idealism in these middle school students and I can only hope that they absorbed some of what I was trying to show them.
I worked on the first City Year team in a San Jose middle school and I found things to be a bit rough. However after talking with other corps members around the nation, this seemed to be the case with all middle schools. The students would really connect with me and open up one day, but then completely shut down and hate me the next. I tried my best not to take it personally but that may have proven to be the hardest lesson learned last year. I was able to implement an origami class where I taught basic folding skills and simple mathematical concepts behind the art. I also taught an airplane statistics class where the students would fold and fly paper airplanes and then measure and calculate certain simple statistics behind their flights.
To further learn and grow as an individual I decided to join City Year’s Team Care Force. I wanted to continue working with volunteers and corporate sponsors to complete high priority service projects. This year I hope to increase my aptitude for hard work and heightened responsibility while keeping a positive outlook on how I lead and be truly inspiring. I want to gain the skills needed to apply for a management job working for one of our corporate sponsors. Through my experience here I can also relate these skills to teaching and add to my repertoire to keep students engaged and loving the math I am teaching.
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