Building trust
Blue wanted to become a teacher because her mother was one. She said she saw her mother as a role model.
By contrast, she said none of the teachers she had in the Milwaukee Public Schools was black. She said she would like to stay in Wisconsin to teach, but doesn’t feel the education system is equipped to adequately educate black students.
“There was a study released about Wisconsin being the worst state for black children to grow up in, and I could be one of the forces to try to overturn that and help it out, but I don’t think it’s going to be different anytime soon,” Blue said.
Paul Vang, a UW-Madison senior who wants to teach high school science after he graduates in May, said he believes the fact that he’s Hmong has built trust with the predominantly minority students he’s student teaching at Black Hawk Middle School.