Community Partnerships: Tiara Davis, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Tiara Davis is a science teacher who is now in her 12th year with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and she started working with Citizen Schools in 2018. She joined our community at the start of our pilot program designed to bring our approach into classrooms. Tiara maintains her passion for STEM education today, in part by applying Experience-Based Learning tools and projects in her classroom. 

Her teaching philosophy and values align with Citizen Schools, as she reminded us she strives “to provide a stimulating and safe environment where I, as the teacher, will serve as a facilitator, nurturing [my student’s] natural curiosity and helping them to direct their own learning.” 

Tiara is part of the growing community of inspired educators and partners across the country who are sharing classroom and partnership ideas in their schools, and in facilitated forums like our Learning Network. 

Tiara reflected on the Community Partnerships that remain core to Citizen Schools’ model today:  

When you think about the word “community,” what part of working with Citizen Schools embodies this term?

By providing teachers and students with the tools, resources, and career mentors (volunteers) to implement a project-based learning unit, my school community has the opportunity to gain communication skills, confidence, and leadership. Citizen Schools works hard to provide diligent career mentors who are able to adjust to the dynamics of the classroom, and are able to use their own experiences to provide support to the students in the classroom. As the students are able to collaborate, share ideas, and create projects, career mentors offer insight during the planning and implementation process of the project which offers the students valuable feedback and the opportunity to work as a team. I loved the idea of inviting community members into the classroom so much that I created a Shark Tank lesson in which I invited another group into the classroom as judges. 

What about your own school community really empowers you to use Citizen Schools? What support systems do you have in your district?

As a teacher in a Title I school, resources and experiences are areas that my school community often lacks. My students rarely get the opportunity to ask questions or receive insight from professionals working in any career field. [Citizen Schools] has allowed me to bring in resources as well as career insight into my classroom. My students experience project-based learning at its finest. 

By implementing the units into my classroom, my students gain unique access to community mentors who engage in the classroom content with them, while sharing their expertise in the field they work. They finish the unit knowing exactly how the subject applies to the real world and gain insight into the interesting careers of the mentors. Within the support of my school district, I have the flexibility to design my course as I see fit. 

Learn more about our Learning Network here and Volunteer opportunities for Community Partnerships here.