If we do not have teachers that will teach math and science, we will not have
our future employees because we won't have an educated population.
I saw the spark in those kids and I'm like I want to see more of that. I want to see
these kids go yes that's what I want to do with my life.
If I can be a little inspiration to them that would be amazing.
My name is Erika Parker and I am a teacher at Corona High School.
When you've been working in the private sector you bring a reality of life to
the classroom. EnCorps wants to provide a good math and
science teacher for every single student in America. No matter where you live, no
matter whether you're born into poverty or you're born into wealth. You get that
opportunity. It's also for the retired person. What could be better than giving
back through teaching. EnCorps helps these people get these jobs
In the United States we've been able to identify that we're gonna be short 3.3
million employees in STEM related fields. We are trying to address this issue so
that we can start hiring employees within the United States instead of
having to farm out to other countries.
It's very difficult to find teachers
that are properly qualified to teach STEM because a lot of them don't have
the industry experience. The EnCorps program bridges that gap between the
industry sector and education.
When I graduated from college I had an
engineering degree. My husband is an engineer too. We did not want someone
else to be raising our children so we made the decision that I would change my
career. I was just a STEM professional trying to switch to teaching and I didn't know how.
EnCorps helped me make that transition to become a teacher.
I worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry but I always thought about going back and being a
teacher. EnCorps told me about a credential program at UCLA Extension. It
was much less expensive so I enrolled at UCLA. Changing careers is super
difficult on its own but changing careers into a teaching profession, you
need somebody to help you through that. EnCorps has given me a support system
that's helped me through this very difficult process into the teaching profession.
It has been difficult to find teachers in STEM because we really
can't match the salaries that the private sector can do. And so it's hard
to get people to come back unless they have that true commitment to doing
something for the community and Ryan is one of those guys that really wants to make a difference.
Mr. Flores always has great energy.
He's always enthusiastic, he knows his stuff. Teaches the subject very well. His
background in engineering helps us because he's showing us that math can be
applied in the real world and isn't just something we learn in school.
Erika brings a lot of things to the table. She's a female engineer.
She's bilingual. She can bring knowledge in curriculum and not all teachers are able to do that.
Hiring teachers like Erika is like hitting a gold mine.
She has extensive background in the engineering industry so any questions
that the student has she can answer them because she's lived it.
I do think there is more respect from the students when teachers have experience in what
they're teaching. You know that they know what they're talking about so it's kind of indisputable.
I'm extremely proud of my wife. It's always been in her heart to actually
educate students. For us it's very wonderful to see.
My mom helps me the
most with homework. Every time I have a question I know there's always someone there to answer it.
We want our kids to be young professionals and what better
way to model that than to having somebody teaching the class who can
share those experiences with them.
Coming from Mexico, being an immigrant hasn't been easy.
Life is not easy. Getting a degree is not easy. Changing careers is
certainly not easy, but it's not impossible and I want my children to
know that if you have something that you have a passion for, you can get there.