The third time's the charm for Carlton John Steward. As he approaches his 50th birthday, he's completed the Temple Teacher Residency program and is launching a brand-new career as a teacher in an autistic support classroom at Strawberry Mansion High School.
"It's the first time I've been able to choose what I want to do, instead of react to a situation," Steward proudly exclaimed.
Steward says as a child and young adult, he never had any desire to become a teacher. His mom was a special education teacher, and he saw the hard work she put in. He says at the time, he didn't think that was for him. He describes himself as a student that was "not very focused on education" with "a lot of growing up to do."
He did grow up. He was a father by the age of 21 and had three boys by the time he was 26. During this time, he developed a successful career in logistics.
"I made a lot of money," Steward shared, "but I hated every minute of it. So, I started thinking, how do I get out of this trap?"
The first step for Steward was his second career, launching a personal training business while living in Florida.
"It was the first step in deciding my own path," he said.
During this time, he started thinking about going back to school and pursuing a career that interested him. Next, Steward enrolled at Florida State Community College. He met his current wife, and they blended their families, adding two more boys. Shortly after, his wife was facing a relocation opportunity for her work, and they arrived in Pennsylvania.
"Instead of starting a new training business here, it was the perfect opportunity to finish my degree and start doing what I really wanted to do."
Steward's family moved to the Philadelphia area just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the region. At 43 years old, he finished his bachelor's degree in history at Saint Joseph's University, thinking he'd become an historian. But the social climate around COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter Movement led him down a different path, to his third career.
"I re-evaluated my options to make an impact in the African American community," Steward explained. "I found Temple's TTR program on the School District of Philadelphia's website. That's how I ended up at Temple and the ball started rolling."
Temple Teacher Residency (TTR) is an accelerated teacher education program devoted to preparing diverse and highly-motivated individuals to teach middle or high school mathematics, science, Spanish, or special education in high-need schools in the City of Philadelphia. In only 12 months (13.5 for special education), graduates earn a master in education (MEd) and complete necessary courses and fieldwork for Instructional I certification from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
TTR brought me in slowly, gave me confidence without breaking me down
"When TTR assigned me to Strawberry Mansion High School," Steward added, "it was a perfect fit."
As a career changer, Steward did not have any classroom teaching experience when he enrolled at Temple. "I had a small idea about lesson plans," he admits. "IEPs were terrifying."
"TTR brought me in slowly, gave me confidence without breaking me down. The program was set up in a way that when I started my one-year residency at Strawberry Mansion High School, I was nervous, but I felt like I had enough of an idea to make it work. They found the perfect mentor for me. They set me up for success and I felt supported all the way through, thanks to [TTR Director] Amy Scallon, my mentor [Jaimason Miller], and my professors."
Before that year was over, Steward had a job offer waiting for him. He expects to complete the TTR coursework this summer and will then begin his teaching career at Strawberry Mansion this fall.
"The kids deserve a teacher who is prepared, and TTR has prepared me," Steward said. "I couldn't have asked for more. They prepared me to become the best teacher. I feel capable."
"When you change careers in your mid-40's, you do it purposefully," Steward said. "I want to be in a position to affect others positively, especially in the African American community."
He's already doing just that.
The students Steward teaches are 18 to 21 years old in transition to adulthood, whether that means a career or continued education. Steward is helping them uncover their potential. From his own experience, he knows that even if the lessons don't resonate now, they are lessons his students will draw on in the future, as he has done, thinking back on the things he learned in high school.
"I didn't take high school seriously, but I listened. I was able to draw on the lessons I learned in high school later in life. As I create lessons and prepare these students for graduation and life after, I'm thinking about the long-run for them. I'm preparing them for next week, next year, and the next ten years."
Working at Strawberry Mansion High School, where over 90% of the students are Black according to US News & World Report, Steward knows he has the unique opportunity as a Black male educator to connect with the students.
"Students began to gravitate toward me," he said. "As a Black male educator, the students were drawn to me as someone they could relate to."
"Through this career you can make a meaningful impact," he said, "especially in communities that really need it. Just my presence impacts these kids positively. A lot of people helped me, even when I didn't want to help myself. Now I can give that back."
Steward says he's thankful to have had multiple opportunities to explore various paths. "I truly believe it's never over," he said. "If you're not living the life you think you should live, then live it."
We asked Steward about one of his most memorable moments in the classroom. This is what he shared.
Our autistic support class has a coffee shop, and some of our students were responsible for running it with myself and my mentor overseeing it. At one point, there was a disagreement between students - an argument ensued and one of the students wanted to quit. I explained the implications of quitting, but that's what he wanted to do.
The next morning, he returned and wanted his job back. I told him he would have to reapply and demonstrate his readiness. He had to fill out an application, update his resume, get references from other teachers, and be interviewed to get his job back.
At the end, we were happy to give him his job back. He cried happy tears. It was a lightbulb moment. He understood this important life lesson.
It all happened in that moment - it all came together, everything I was trying to teach. We all cried. It's a real-life lesson that will stay with him forever. It showed me this is a place where I can really make change. That moment was everything.