Ms. Wanda Wilson

“I didn’t find teaching, teaching found me.” Unlike most teachers, I realized at an early age that my true passion was to become a teacher. A product of the Tyler ISD, my mother and grandparents laid the foundation for me in understanding the importance of education. They championed me and my siblings to excel in education by working hard and giving our very best. We were reared to believe that failure in education was unacceptable and it was an honor and privilege to have the opportunity to receive a good education. My path to education started at Douglas Elementary in the half- day head start program, my early grade years were at Griffin Elementary, middle years were at Dogan Middle School, and high school years were at John Tyler High School. The fascination I experienced early on in education was inspired by my elementary teachers.  During my imagination playtime, I mimicked my teachers and was always told by friends who played with me, that someday I would be a teacher.   Why were these teachers different? They loved teaching, demonstrated compassion for all their students without any prejudices, showed a genuine appreciation for the differences that each student brought to the classroom, and motivated their students to reach their full potential. These would be the lessons that latter would frame my perspective and strategy for teaching.  After graduating high school, I enrolled in college to become an Accountant. The thought of being a teacher was still in the back of my mind; however, I believed that I could make more money with an Accounting degree.. From there, I took a job as an insurance claims processor to get some business experience under my belt. Later the company closed and relocated to a different city. As I continued to seek a degree in Accounting, I was as asked by one of my college professors to help out with the mentoring program, “Big Brothers and Big Sisters.” I agreed to assist and spent several hours a week working as a mentor. It was then that I realized my passion for helping young people was deep rooted in my experiences as a young student in TISD. It was the reaching out and around from the teachers that crossed my path that I developed a strong sense of compassion for helping others and believing that the hidden talents that lie within each child, can be discovered and profoundly impacted by teachers. I now understood that education is power. And without it, your significance in the world is null and void. Working with these young minds, I was able to find my true calling, the gift of teaching. It was now time for me to put this gift to full use. This led me to  change my major, and begin the road to becoming a teacher.