taylor.png

Taylor Cox

In the urban teaching residency program I often think, 'How cool is this? I'm surrounded by people who feel as passionately about urban education as I do.'     

What the Miami Experience means to me

My first two years at Miami's Hamilton campus did not go well. My grades were not what they needed to be for me to stay in college. So I left and enlisted in the Marines. After two years, I came back to Miami with new discipline and maturity. I started to excel, especially in my science courses and ended up majoring in science education.

My first year back, I took a class about the impact of socioeconomics on education, and I decided I wanted to be a teacher in a place where I could have the greatest impact. So I enrolled in Miami's Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine, which is a program for Miami students from a variety of majors who work for a semester in one of Cincinnati's poorest neighborhoods. Through that program, I did my student teaching at Taft Information Technology High School in downtown Cincinnati.

While teaching, I often contacted my science and education professors for assistance and ideas. I knew they would do whatever they could to help. That's the kind of professors we have here at Miami. For instance, one night I decided I wanted to replicate a cooperative learning card game for my students that I'd done in one of my education classes, so I called my old professor, Dr. Ann Mackenzie. She scanned and emailed me the materials a few hours later, and I was able to use them the next day.



My Fact Sheet

Major: Life Science/Physics Education
Hometown: Fairfield, Ohio
Miami Activities: Urban Teaching Cohort Student Advisory Board; Miami chapter of National Science Teacher’s Association (NSTA); Lab assistant, Botany and Physics departments; Urban teaching residency through Miami’s Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine

My Inside Guide

  • I'm a vegetarian, so I like the Hamilton campus cafeteria because you can get quick and tasty salads there. I also often grab a veggie burger at Shriver's cafeteria. For fun, I love to attend Miami's free lecture series on campus. I remember catching Rod Paige and Tom Daschle arguing over "No Child Left Behind." That was fascinating.

  • Choosing Miami

    I wanted to go to college near my hometown, so my choices were Miami or the University of Cincinnati. The latter seemed too detached and commuter-oriented. I also knew Miami was the best undergraduate education in my area and that it has a great reputation for teacher training. I knew Miami would prepare me to excel as a public school teacher better than any other college in the area.

  • Connecting

    The semester before my urban teaching residency, I took part in an "urban plunge," in which three other Miami education students and I spent the night in a coffee shop in downtown Cincinnati and met community members. That night I remember thinking, "How cool is this? I'm in a room surrounded by people who feel as passionately about urban education as I do."