# @rhodeislandcollege on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ80E5kgsAw
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/74940944-rhodeislandcollege-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/28eb56c3e8.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-01-12T15:37:30.000+00:00

## Caption

Ayanna Bass is not your typical RIC senior: she's a 39-year-old single mother of a child with ADHD, a mcnairatric scholar, a research intern for equity_inst, and a member of the Educators of Color Committee for ridepted.
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As a nontraditional student she has had to balance her education and other responsibilities – and that experience has inspired her to affect change for others facing similar hurdles. "They tell you right away that in order to student teach for a year you'll have to quit your job," she says. "As a single mom, I couldn't quit my job."
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What Bass did do is step down from a management position to take on a lower-paying position with flexible hours and request from RIC an alternative student teaching placement. The YMCA afterschool program, where children typically have IEP plans or were multilingual learners, became her alternate placement, and for three days a week she also worked in a collaborative classroom.
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"My experience as a nontraditional student in a traditional program, and my struggle to find alternative means to complete my student teaching requirement, made me wonder how many other professionals who were passionate about teaching faced barriers to teacher certification," she says.
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This would a focus of advocacy for Bass. In 2019, as a RIC McNair Scholar, she chose to focus her research on the lack of diversity within Rhode Island's teacher workforce and pathways for teacher assistants to earn certification. TAs are passionate, dedicated individuals who assist teachers in the classroom, Bass says. "If you can teach them the pedagogy so that they can get certified, they'll be able to create financial security for their families while doing something they love," she says.
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All the stars appear to be aligning for Bass and the dream she has for tomorrow's teachers who, if she has it her way, will be more diverse and more empowered. "Everything starts with a dream," Bass says. "If you believe in something and you're passionate enough about it, it will propel you forward."
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#RICNews #experienceRIC #RICSpirit #BeBOLD #rhodeislandcollege #education #eduleadersofcolor #teacher #teachereducation #advocate #advocatelikeamother

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- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 93
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- **Comments:** 4

## Credits

No public credits are recorded here. This does not identify who made the post.

## Tags

teacher, rhodeislandcollege, education, advocatelikeamother, ricspirit, bebold, experienceric, teachereducation, eduleadersofcolor, advocate, ricnews

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