Meet Kimberlee Armstrong - On-Time Graduation Specialist in the Puyallup School District. In honor of February’s Black History month, Velocity spoke with Armstrong, an African-African community advocate and strong supporter of minority teachers, about her career in the public school system.
By Melissa Hoyos
Communications Specialist, City University of Seattle
Kimberlee Armstrong
Kimberlee Armstrong’s inner calling to empower students to stay in school, particularly teenagers with family or money troubles, can be traced back to her upbringing.
Years before the City University of Seattle alumna pursued a college degree, Armstrong hoped to graduate from her Northern California high school. At the time, this milestone seemed unattainable since Armstrong often moved from place to place with her mother and four siblings.
“At fifteen, I remember having Thanksgiving dinner in a family homeless shelter where we resided. By the time I reached the eleventh grade I had attended nine different schools,” she recalls.
Armstrong - now an On-Time Graduation Specialist in a Puyallup, Wash. high school- is one of CityU of Seattle’s alumni leaders in her African-American community. She’s earned two CityU degrees, a Master of Business Management and a Master in Teaching, and continues to work on her University of Washington education doctorate. The Class of 2005 alumna also is a member of her district’s committee to promote diversity awareness.
In her job, Armstrong works with Gov. John R. Rogers High School’s counselors, teachers and students to increase the district’s 81 percent graduation rate. She’s also a spearhead of an upcoming volunteer program to go door-to-door and meet with parents whose children who may not graduate or have dropped out.
“I’ve learned that every hardship and every victory has positively influenced who I have become. More so, I believe that if there are experiences that I can use to help change someone’s life, then it is my obligation, my mission, to take action. Reaching for those in need, pulling them to where they need to be and pushing them to be great, is who I am,” says Armstrong of the district’s 1,800 students.
Armstrong’s motivation to work with students happened after she noticed her hometown high school didn’t have many African-American educators. After earning her high school diploma and later an undergraduate degree, Armstrong started a non-profit to help students improve their public speaking skills.
Eventually, she looked into CityU to earn her teacher certification so that she could directly influence students in the public education system. Her CityU degree helped her find a job in the Puyallup School District as a junior high teacher. She later moved into her current position helping to improve high school graduation rates.
“I would encourage others to attend (CityU) because not only is (the university) an excellent resource for continued professional development but also the leaders of the education programs are experienced in K-12 education and are in touch with the demands of the teaching field,” she says.
Margaret Davis, CityU’s Albright School of Education Dean Emeritus, says Armstrong’s numerous accomplishments earned her a position on one of the university’s Professional Education Advisory Boards (PEAB). The School of Education also invited Armstrong to speak to its annual Diversity Scholarship recipients last spring.
“She’s an exceptional educator,” Davis says of Armstrong. “She is a person who as a teacher understands, truly understands, believes and makes real the idea that all children can learn. She knows the importance of teachers being engaged in the total school community, in particular minority teachers.”
Armstrong also devotes much of her free time to education-related issues. They include leading her high school’s debate group and girls basketball team. She regularly attends her district’s Race and Pedagogy steering committee meetings on prejudice reduction and related teaching practices, including discussion on the recruitment of more minority teachers.
Says Armstrong of her volunteer and public school work, “I wanted to bring encouragement and support to future teachers of color. It is tough fighting the same battles for kids that you are fighting for yourself. I want future teachers to know that they are limitless.”