First-year teacher Tori Mitchell didn’t wait for Black History Month to share information about her mentor.
When West Middle School students filed into the ancient world history teacher’s classroom in August, they were greeted by a bookshelf displaying a quote from the late Congressman John Lewis: “Too many of us still believe our differences define us.”
In early February, that quote piqued the curiosity of Mitchell’s advisory class. Mitchell answered questions about Lewis’ contributions; however, she said, students still weren’t envisioning the vast historical impact attributable to the Black civil rights leader and legislator who died in July 2020.
“So we just took a whole advisory day and we watched a little video about him. We talked about a speech. I have a shirt that has his quote about good trouble, a lot of it. So I wore my shirt that day, and we talked about that trouble.”
Mitchell wasn’t relying solely on secondary sources to teach about Lewis. She and her mom met Lewis in June 2015. When Mitchell’s National History Day project about Lewis finished among the top two entries in Kansas, she earned a trip to Washington, D.C., representing Lawrence High School.
“It was the coolest experience I’ve ever had,” Mitchell said during a virtual interview, grinning widely.
During Black History Month, Mitchell’s students have explored other Black figures through bellringers – short activities completed at the beginning of class. Recently they learned about Mae Jemison, a doctor, engineer and the first Black woman astronaut to travel to space. “Even though it’s pretty small, I think it just kind of opens their eyes to people that they didn’t know existed.”
LHS history teacher Valerie Schrag, now in her 21st year of education, taught Mitchell in African American history and AP history courses and also had her as a senior-year teacher’s aide. She described Mitchell as “quiet at first” and someone who “observes and absorbs” and then dives in. She said Mitchell had shown the conviction to lead as a teacher and advocated for all educators through various roles in the National Educators Association at state and national levels.
“She’s not afraid to speak up,” Schrag said. “That Black woman representation is so important.”
Schrag predicted “a spectacular career” for Mitchell. A decade ago, Schrag eyed a student who loved history, so she wasn’t surprised to see Mitchell pursue a career in it.
“It frames the way she views the world,” Schrag said, adding she was thrilled to now call Mitchell a colleague and watch her give back to the community that nurtured her.
Role models
Mitchell attended Schwegler Elementary and Southwest Middle School and then graduated from LHS in 2016. She said she had a lot of “really good teachers” in Lawrence Public Schools, but Schrag rated as her favorite.
On the first day of class, Schrag acknowledged she was white and teaching African American history might seem strange to her students, Mitchell said. Schrag’s passion for history rubbed off on Mitchell.
“When I was in her class, I was really able to see a lot of examples of Black people throughout history. And she just had such a connection with it.”
Mitchell said her biggest role model – her mom, Tina Mitchell – also inspires her. Tina, a counselor at Free State High School, is beloved among coworkers and students, she said. “I would just love to have that impact on people.”
Black representation
Another way Mitchell hopes she can have a positive influence: by showing students of color they can teach, too.
“I decided to become a teacher, though, because I had never had a Black teacher before. When I was thinking about different careers and different fields I wanted to go into, I didn’t want students to have the same experience that I did, where no one ever looks like them. Because I think it’s hard to see yourself in a profession if you never see anyone who looks like you.”
In a human resources presentation to the Lawrence school board in September 2021, data on race showed a large gap between LPS students and their teachers, with 34% of the students identifying as Black, Indigenous or People of Color, or more than one race. Multiracial students represent the largest category of non-white students at 11.3%. But 91% of certified teaching staff members are white.
District leaders acknowledged the positive impacts of representation in education, as well as the challenges of recruiting teachers of color. On their list of potential recruitment sources were Haskell Indian Nations University; the University of New Mexico, which has a high Hispanic student population; and Tennessee State University, a Historically Black College and University.
While Mitchell said she enjoyed growing up in Lawrence, she “hated it whenever we had to talk about slavery in class or talk about racism.” Not only did she not have a Black teacher growing up, at times she was also the only Black student in a classroom.
Mitchell didn’t think about that isolation much when she attended LPS. While earning degrees in secondary education and history from Kansas State University, though, she reflected on it.
“When conversations about race come up or when things like slavery are discussed, sometimes you feel like eyes are on you looking for your opinion or your reaction and it’s just kind of hard to deal with because you don’t really have another place to turn to until I got home and could talk to my parents at home about whatever happened at school that day.”
So when a student pops in her door at WMS just to say hi, whether she has them in a class or not, Mitchell understands and welcomes it. “I don’t necessarily think it’s a coincidence, that it’s because I look like them. And I don’t know that they would even realize that or point that out. But I think there’s just kind of a comfort in having someone you can identify with.”
Mitchell said all students benefit learning from a diverse group of educators. “For a lot of my students not only will I be maybe the only Black teacher they ever interact with, but I might be one of the only Black adults in their life that they interact with.”
She’d like to see recruitment of potential teachers occur long before college graduation, in programs like the Lawrence College and Career Center’s Teacher Cadets for 11th and 12th graders. Mitchell herself entered employment with the district as a classified staff member in the role of reading instructional support assistant at Sunflower Elementary School.
With plans to begin a master’s program in curriculum and instruction this summer and another in educational leadership down the road, Mitchell aspires to lead in a building principal post one day.
But for now, she loves her job and working with teens. “If I can just be the person who gets them to smile during the day, or if they have some big dramatic problem, just helping them see that it’s not the end of the world, and they’ll get through it and just helping them get through their classes.”
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Tricia Masenthin (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at tmasenthin (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
More coverage of Lawrence Public Schools:
Maya Hodison/Lawrence Times
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
