November 1, 2011
Neelz Gharavi: Living by the words of Wayne Gretsky and Gandhi
Neeloufar 鈥淣eelz鈥� Gharavi considers Christine Sticker, director of the Pipeline Project, her first mentor.
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Neeloufar 鈥淣eelz鈥� Gharavi (鈥�02, 鈥�04) is an English teacher at Sequoia High School, a public alternative school in the Everett School District. This is her eighth year with the school, where she鈥檚 worked since she graduated from the 91探花Teacher Education Program in 2004.
Neelz has volunteered or worked in schools since she was in high school, but didn鈥檛 seriously consider becoming an educator until her third year of college when she began volunteering with the Pipeline Project working as a tutor and also tutoring in the writing center at North Seattle Community College. 鈥淓xperiences with both of these organizations exposed me to some of the best and worst aspects of public education. I began reading about the inequity of education around our country and its subsequent ripple effect reinforcing social stratification. I wanted to teach in order to work towards social justice: to help young people develop the skills and knowledge to improve their lives and the world they live in.鈥�
Neelz is inspired by her fellow educators devoted to improving their practice. 鈥淎lthough I鈥檝e heard of teachers who hoard lesson plans like dragons hoarding their gold, I鈥檝e never met a single teacher who wasn鈥檛 eager to share ideas and collaborate to develop lessons and curricula.鈥� Her students are equally as inspiring. 鈥淸For them] school is pitted every day against terrifying opposing forces: caring for disabled parents, working graveyard shifts to pay the rent, raising children, resisting addictions. Every day they come to school, they are making a leap of faith for a better future.鈥�
Christine Stickler, director of the 91探花Pipeline Project was Neelz鈥檚 first mentor. 鈥淗er thoughts about education and social justice, not to mention her recommended reading lists, were pivotal in my formation as an educator.鈥� Neelz has also been fortunate to work in a district that values professional development and feels a deep debt to the instructional facilitators who continue to share and model best practices.
Neelz鈥檚 experiences in an elementary school program for 鈥渁cademically talented鈥� students continues to influence her today. 鈥淭he teacher for this special program provided me with outstanding educational experiences. She also terrified and bullied me. I learned a lot from her: how to take effective notes, how to think systematically and logically, how to research. I also learned that it is all too easy to justify an autocratic discipline policy in the name of high expectations. Though I later had wonderful instructors in high school and college, I often think back to my experiences in her class, which I attended for four years. In some ways, I鈥檝e learned the most from her, though a lot of what I鈥檝e learned is how not to act as a teacher.鈥�
In Neelz鈥檚 classroom, she inspires her students with the mottos: 鈥淵ou鈥檒l always miss 100% of the shots you don鈥檛 take.鈥� (Wayne Gretsky) and 鈥淏e the change you wish to see in the world.鈥� (Mahatma Gandhi).
Every year, Neelz feels that the graduation ceremony is one of the best moments of her career. 鈥淪eeing each young woman and man cross that stage, nervous and proud in their black robe and cap, renews my belief in what I鈥檓 doing.鈥�