Isis Roper - Urban Education Summer Scholar (UESS) Alumna
B.A. Bethel University ’98, M.A. Hamline University ’02
Isis Roper is a third grade teacher at Crossroads Elementary School in St. Paul. A graduate of Bethel University, she is a member of the first cohort of the Travelers Urban Education Summer Scholars program — a service-learning scholarship program designed to give future teachers of color experience working in urban schools. At Bethel, Isis honed her teaching and leadership abilities while volunteering at a community center as a tutor to young students in math, writing and reading, and also at St. Joseph Home for Children as a youth counselor. Since graduating from Bethel in 1998, she completed the service-learning portion of her UESS scholarship at Arlington High School, where she was introduced to the St. Paul Public School System. Having grown up in schools in Gary, Indiana and Minneapolis, she particularly identified with the urban learners there and their unique needs in the classroom.
In addition to drawing from her own personal experience, Isis used the unique preparation she received as a UESS scholar. “The UESS training covered many things not addressed in the traditional elementary education undergraduate classroom experience. We prepared in a different way for urban teaching with emphasis on cultural, social and economic differences.”
Isis went on to earn her master’s degree at Hamline University with guidance from the University’s Center for Excellence in Urban Teaching. At Crossroads, she has helped her students raise the bar academically through improvement on standardized tests and grade-level reading proficiency; and her good work is being recognized: she is a 2006 recipient of the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award for Excellence in Education.
Isis remains connected to UESS, serving now as a mentor to current scholars.