My name is Autumn Knepper and I live in San Francisco, California. I grew up in Warsaw, Indiana–a small town located near Chicago and southern Michigan. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to write; my inner worlds turned on the fantastical. Thing is, I never realized how much teachers inspired me to trust those inner worlds. As a child I was blessed with a family and teachers who gave me room to be. My mother was a child advocate and my father, an electrician and labor organizer. See, my worlds were built on imagination and a strong sense of justice…still is. Teaching brings imagination and justice together for me–grounds my loves.
I graduated in August 2011 with an emphasis in English education for grades 7-12. Currently I work as an early childhood educator (ages 1-3) for San Francisco Recreation & Park, a CYC (Community Youth Center) after school teacher (grades 2-3) and as a poetry and soccer instructor (grades 3-5) for America SCORES, Bay Area. I am also active in a local organization called Teachers 4 Social Justice. Education should not only be about AYP or standardized test scores but centered upon possibilities for all students.
I think the future for education rests in seeing beyond district and state standards. The future is in the relationships we as educators build with communities–with our students, with parents, with CBOs, with neighborhoods. Education’s future sprouts from the enactment of those relationships–seeing beyond the classroom walls and envisioning education as an active movement in our students’ stories.
The MAT@USC enables aspiring teachers from across the country to earn their Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education. Learn more about how MAT@USC can prepare you to become a teacher in California or nearly any other state you desire to teach in. Contact our Admissions office at 888.MAT.1USC or email us at matadmit@usc.edu for more information.
