Empowering Minds: ASU graduate student’s dedication to education with Teach for America

3 minutes

 

There is a saying that teachers are the closest thing to being superheroes. Like their hero counterparts, teachers are often selfless, able to inspire and they commit their lives to the helping of others — applying these virtues in the classroom and with their students. One of these teachers is Sheilah Utley, an ASU graduate student, Teach for America member, and 7th grade English Language Arts (ELA) teacher at Papago School in Phoenix. 

That said, teaching was not the initial plan for Utley coming out of college. Her background is in acting, having obtained her BA in theatre (acting) with a minor in music theatre from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts in 2022. 

Utley has always had an appreciation for teaching, with her grandmother and namesake, Sheila Utley, having taught in elementary schools across the Valley for decades. In the spring of 2023, she furthered her love for teaching when she worked part-time as an education associate for the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. 

“I taught a bunch of four-year-olds how to forage, and I just really fell in love with that work,” Utley said. “I learned that I like seeing children’s fascination on their face with the topic, and I really, really enjoy it when I get to teach something I love, and I get to see that in other students.”

However, the question stands: how does one become an educator without a background in education? That is where Teach for America (TFA) comes in. 

Teach for America is a nonprofit organization that recruits and employs individuals who are interested in teaching and provides them with the necessary training and experience to become effective and competent instructors — many, like Utley, for the first time. And specific to the metro-Phoenix area, TFA recruits are able to work toward a master’s degree in secondary education through ASU while fulfilling their teaching contract.

Since August of 2023, Utley has been placed and teaching at Papago School, five months into her secondary education graduate program.
“My experience with TFA has been really positive,” Utley said. “All of my coaches and the people who helped place me at Papago have been super helpful … So, even though I don’t have that educational background, I never feel like I’m being left alone.” 

Being just 22 years old, Utley was asked about her experience as an instructor figure to those in the same generation as her. 

“I love being a young teacher,” she said. “It’s so much because I think there’s an extra added layer to the relationship with them. They’ve opened up to me about some things that I don’t think they’ve ever told anyone before, which I’m very grateful for. And I recognize my privilege in being able to have those conversations with my kids.”

It’s through this great power Utley upholds her great responsibility, first as a teacher, but also as Papago’s girls basketball coach, co-ed volleyball coach, co-ed flag football coach, and, soon-to-be director of a newly-established theatre program. 

Some may wonder how one can balance wearing this many hats, but Utley revels in the busyness. 

“I like hats,” she said with an enthusiastic grin. “I love that I’m able to establish these new paths that my students can take once they get to high school.”