From Delhi (DEL-high) to Delhi (Dilli) by way of Denali.

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May 5, 2022

After receiving the notification that I was accepted as a participant in the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching (DAT) program to India, I couldn't help but think of the irony that I grew up in a suburb of Cincinnati named Delhi, spelled the same way as the Indian metropolis - Delhi.  Of course only a small subset of folks (called Delhesians) would understand the absurdity, and this post is dedicated to them.  While Delhi is the "floral paradise of Ohio," the similarities between the suburb and the fifth most populated city in the world ends with the parks.

I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio - where a ten minute distance meant a drastic difference in educational opportunity.  Delhi (or specifically Delshire) was the affordable neighborhood that my single mother could afford to allow me to attend a "good" school district.  In retrospect I would have been just as well educated in the district where I began my schooling, but on paper it didn't look like that.  While I had an amazingly positive experience in junior high, the transition to high school was too much.  I found myself in a sea of 3000 students drowning in hormones and new expectations - so I quit.  In 10th grade I was a high school dropout, but after working a "socially unacceptable job" and a lot of encouragement from my friends and mom I re-enrolled in the 11th grade. 

I went on to earn a degree in Integrated Language Arts to teach high school English and quickly learned that I was ill equipped with the pedagogy necessary to teach anyone who wasn't reading on a high school level.  So I completed my graduate degree in special education.  After fifteen years an ELA and special education teacher, I still fail to "reach them all".  

At this point I've taught in alternative schools, large suburban schools, multi-cultural urban schools and currently a small rural school.  Yet in each setting there are social and systemic inhibitors preventing students from earning a high school diploma - the foundational requirement for independence in American society.  So this is the focus of my exploration and research as I complete DAT program and possibly for years to come.  




Location: Delhi, OH, USA

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