"I always wanted to join Teach for America (TFA) or teach at DA and now I’m doing both!" said DA Alumnus Julian Landa, '14.

Julian returned to DA during this unconventional year as a 9th Grade Teaching Assistant. "Coming back to DA as a teacher has been strange, but really good," said Landa. "Interacting with the kids is pretty special to me because I was literally one of them at one point. It’s familiar and I know how to reach DA kids well."

 

After applying three times, Julian was just accepted as a corps member in the Teach for America program for the upcoming 2021-22 school year and will be teaching secondary English at New Orleans Accelerated High School. TFA is an organization that finds and nurtures leaders who commit to expanding opportunities for low-income students, beginning with at least two years of teaching in a public school.  Landa is in good company with several other DA faculty members who are also TFA corps member alumni. High School teachers Molly Mulligan and Lucy Prewitt are TFA alums, as well as Denver Academy Director of Education Philippe Ernewein who worked for TFA in the 1990s.

Denver Academy Director of Marketing and Public Relations Valerie Hamlin sat down for a Q & A recently with Mr. Landa and Mr. Ernewein.

Mr. Landa: Why are you pursuing a teaching career? What made you decide to go down that path?
It’s a creative profession and there is a multitude of ways to do it. My college experience was very different. I attended Evergreen State College with no grades or pre-requisites. It reshaped how I think about education. Creating communities of people who are all there to learn is a beautiful thing. I also want to give a shout-out to Mrs. Carey Eskesen and Mr. Fred Miller. They were important teachers for me during my time at DA and got me interested in teaching because of their style and approach. 

I was in TFA 27 years ago, in 1994. I joined when the organization was just three years old when founders were still involved. TFA enlightened me to how 80% of the world went to school. I learned that educational equity starts with making decisions with each student’s best interest in mind. This was ingrained in me during TFA and still resonates with me today as Director of Education at DA.

DA was consulting at TFA when I was there working in a double-wide trailer. It was an educational love affair and I ended up becoming a teacher at DA after that experience.

Mr. Ernewein: What advice would you give Julian for the TFA program? What advice in general for his career?
Three words: Find the good! That’s been my mantra for a long time. Find something good in the hard work you’re gonna have to do. The work that Julian has done already is such a solid foundation. Pivot off of that. You have a heart of gold, Julian!