As executive director of Teach For America – St. Louis, Brittany Packnett oversees an administrative staff of 24 and 150 teachers – known as “corps members” – teaching 11,000 of the region’s neediest students. The organization’s mission is to recruit a diverse group of leaders with a record of achievement who work to expand educational opportunity, starting by teaching for two years in a low-income community.
Packnett is a St. Louis native with well-known parents. She is the daughter of the late Rev. Ronald B. Packnett, former pastor of Central Baptist Church, and Gwendolyn D. Packnett, assistant vice chancellor of Academic Affairs at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
An alum of the John B. Ervin Scholars program at Washington University with a master’s in elementary education from American University, she joined Teach For America as a 2007 corps member in Washington, D.C., where she taught third grade at MLK Elementary.
After a stint as legislative assistant for U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, she served as a director on Teach For America’s Federal Government Affairs team, supporting efforts to raise $50 million for the organization’s national projects and fostering partnerships. She also co-founded The Collective-DC, the first chapter of Teach For America’s National Alumni of Color Association.
She talked to The St. Louis American about her leadership role and the myth that St. Louis is a challenging place to be a professional young African-American woman.
St. Louis American: What is new with Teach For America St. Louis?
Brittany Packnett: So much! We have grown an alumni base of 450 folks who have completed two years with Teach For America and continue to work, live and thrive in St. Louis. Nearly 200 are directly working in schools, over 70 have been classroom teachers for six years or beyond, and 10 folks are starting next year as school leaders, opening new schools or serving as district or charter leaders.
A number of our alumni have started nonprofits, are working in education policy or influencing education through the corporate sector. I am really proud of our alums and the things they are doing to influence educational equity from every direction to make this a systemic effort. So we have a growing group, both in size and scope of work.
I’m also excited to have an innovative new training model. With the University of Missouri – St. Louis and St. Louis Public Schools, we launched the first-ever Teach For America – St. Louis summer training institute called the Summer Experience. That means our 75 brand-new corps members, instead of going someplace else like Chicago to receive intensive initial training, are actually doing it here in St. Louis for the first time ever teaching SLPS summer school.
So they are learning to teach in the context of what it means to teach in St. Louis. They’re getting to know some of their kids and families. They are starting to see St. Louis as home and to get support from the local community here in St. Louis: UMSL faculty, Teach For America full-time staff, St. Louis Public Schools master teachers, and a number of our alumni educators are giving one-on-one coaching and feedback.
They will get 50 hours of lead teaching time in the classroom. The rest of the time they’ll be in workshops, doing collaborative learning, working in content teams to plan lessons. I’m excited we have increased our level of local investment by launching this institute.
Another big thing: Our 2014 corps members are the most diverse corps ever in St. Louis. Over one-third are people of color. One-third have some tie to St. Louis (they are from here or went to college here). We have the highest number of corps members starting a second career: 45 percent come from some other professional background, graduate school or other careers. I am excited for that mix of strong college leaders who just graduated, as well as second-career professionals looking to make an impact.
Last and most important, we have the highest student achievement numbers ever. On average, our students progressed 1.5 years in both reading and math – on average across every classroom. Since some come into class behind a grade level, to advance more than one year is of critical importance.
St. Louis American: You yourself are a Teach for America staffer with ties to St. Louis. What was your adjustment moving back here from D.C.?
Brittany Packnett: Coming here from D.C. for me was just coming home. Thankfully, there’s not much adjustment when you come home. It always feels great. It’s a special privilege to do this work in the city that nourished me, developed me, in a city full of people who deeply influenced my life. I walk into our schools and central offices and see people who mentored me, kids whose grandparents I went to church with. I have friends who have students in our classrooms.
It’s humbling, exciting and a privilege – and it helps me to remember my responsibility. I have one of the best educations St. Louis could possibly offer, so my duty is that every child, regardless of race or zip code, has access to excellent education. To do that work at home, the responsibility is great but the privilege is even greater.
St. Louis American: How long had you been gone, and what had changed here while you were away?
Brittany Packnett: I left to move to Washington in the summer of 2007, so I was gone for about six years. In Washington, one of the roles I held was Congressman Clay’s legislative assistant in education, so though I was far from home I felt very tied to what was happening here in the 1st Congressional District.
Since I returned, a couple of things have changed for the better. One is there’s a robust community of people interested in education. On my 90-day listening tour when I started in the executive director role, everyone – pastors, community leaders, business owners, the media – was hungry to dig in and talk about how we can continue to increase the quality of education across St. Louis. There was a level of interest and a hunger to do what’s best for kids that was exciting to walk into.
When I came home, I also walked into a thirst for strong talent. I saw greater stability, as teachers were staying in classrooms longer, and district and school leaders were remaining at their posts longer to really dig into the community to make long-term, systemic change. So many people here are committed to working for the long haul with the right vision for the future.
St. Louis American: It’s often said that St. Louis is a challenging place for a young professional African American, especially a female. Are you finding that to be true?
Brittany Packnett: I am finding that challenge to be a myth. Since I have come back to St. Louis, it has helped to be led by people like Adrian Bracy of YWCA, Leslie Gill of College Summit, Charli Cooksey of inspireSTL. There is a network of African-American women who are mentors of mine. It is deeply inspiring that there is this core group I can go to for professional advice and leadership advice, who just get what this work is all about, especially in the non-profit sector.
I appreciate that St. Louis is not so big that you can’t reach out and touch one another. It has a special mix of people who are not out for self-glorification but for the betterment of the community. That network cuts across multiple backgrounds, sectors and fields. They are people ready to take ownership of St. Louis.
So I don’t think that rap is fair. I think it’s easier here to be a young African-American female leader with such a robust, thoughtful network of similar people. It’s not without its challenges, but this is work I am excited to do with colleagues who teach me so much about leadership.
St. Louis American: What challenges?
Brittany Packnett: Let me think for a second. One of the great challenges is sustainability when you are leading a non-profit. It takes a lot of hours, cognitive energy and emotional energy, not only trying to reach ambitious outcomes for the children we serve, but also trying to make sure our incredible team has a strong culture and feel they are growing as professionals, and that our partners and supporters feel appreciated and invested. Right now I have no children, and the temptation is there to work into the wee hours of morning. But young people should be able to kick back and enjoy themselves and not feel guilty.
