Hi, My name is Jiavanna Medlock
I am a passionate educator from the Southern USA. I have spent over 14 years working with children in different capacities and I truly believe my gift is to teach.
Fourteen years ago, my love of community service began with my local chapter of the American Red Cross. At fourteen, I was excited to take part in something bigger than myself and readily recruited donors for blood drives and immersed myself in the community outreach efforts. My responsibilities grew as I continued to serve into my undergraduate career and my position evolved to that of a summer camp counselor to over 250 elementary-aged children in North Carolina. Working with children helped me conceptualize the value of having a strong leader who can model resilience to improve outcomes for urban students. My experiences motivated me to pursue psychology as a way to learn more about childhood development and the manifestation of coping behaviors as a reaction to trauma.
After earning my bachelor’s degree in psychology from Elon University in 2016, I had every intention to continue my studies into graduate school and eventually becoming a psychologist. I was entirely unaware that my trajectory was to change.
In my gap year after college, my desire for service encouraged me to join the AmeriCorps program, City Year, an education-focused non-profit. During my City Year, I served as an eighth-grade pre-algebra tutor and mentor to ten students at Memorial Middle School in Orlando, Florida. Out of my academic focus group, seven students improved their math grades by at least two letter grades and two students improved by one letter grade by the end of the school year. In addition to academic support, I improved daily attendance within a focus group of ten students by 50% with the creation of monthly student-focused incentives. I also decreased in-school-suspensions and out-of-school suspensions by 60% within a focus group of eight students through the implementation of weekly SEL sessions. That year was powerfully transformative.
That year, where I saw myself as a professional within my community changed for the better. The positive relationships I nurtured with my students through the development of educational programs brought me gratification in ways I did not expect. This experience transformed my desire into a passion for creating access to quality education for urban students.
After completing my service year with City Year, I pursued a Masters of Science in Education with a focus on urban studies and graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2019. I studied the elements of an effective teacher in urban environments and incorporated this knowledge into my teaching practice. I have a strong passion for improving the quality of life for urban children and families that I interact with through the attainment of education.
In my professional career, I have worked as a school teacher, early interventionist, parenting coach, registered behavior technician & childcare director. I have committed my career to education and children and now the entrepreneur behind MsMedlockTeaches.org since 2020.