![\"Alexis](\"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Alexis_Pogonowski.jpg\")
As a child, I remember being out and about with my parents, teachers and leaders in the Anne Arundel County public school system, as people would come up to us constantly to say “Are you Mr. And Ms. Pogonowski? Do you remember me?\u00a0 I was in your zoology class and I still remember that time we dissected a pig!” Or, “I didn’t have a voice until you taught me to write, thank you.”\u00a0 While I was too young to grasp the importance of those interactions, I still recognized that something special was going on.<\/p>\n
My parents were TEACHERS.<\/p>\n
I believe it was teaching that chose me, not the other way around.<\/p>\n
I believe it\u2019s that belief that sparks the fire.\u00a0 That belief in yourself to get you through the first year.\u00a0 Through your first tears, through your first set of frustrations and periods of mental and physical exhaustion, but also\u2026your first small victories, smiles and first real sense of pride and belonging. It\u2019s your belief that will soon be validated by the successes you see in your students, the ones you know that you made a difference to.\u00a0 This belief I\u2019ve found in myself was strengthened by the belief my students had in me, and it has been validated by students running down the hallway waving college acceptance letters over their head and telling me that they never thought they would have this moment before entering my AVID classroom.\u00a0 It\u2019s further validated by recent graduates taking the time to email me on their college move in day and say they wouldn’t be sitting on a college campus without my help and without the AVID program.\u00a0 Now as AVID Teacher Specialist, my belief that I make a difference is validated by the incredible educators and leaders that work within our AVID family.\u00a0 These validations mean everything, and bolster my belief that our efforts, as teachers, make all the difference in the world.<\/p>\n
When I found the AVID program, I knew unequivocally that AACPS had been the right choice for me; more than that, it was where I was meant to be.\u00a0 This is a program that recognizes students who have the potential to go to a university and gives them whatever support they might need to get there.\u00a0 These are, more often than not, first generation college students who just might need a little extra guidance when it comes to reaching their goals.\u00a0 This is where I believe I found my true calling.\u00a0 My true WHY I got into this profession in the first place. These students gave me my purpose.\u00a0 And I give them my EVERYTHING. You know the ones. The one\u2019s that make you realize how lucky you are to be a part of their lives.\u00a0 To be that someone that they can always count on.\u00a0 Now, my why is to help support every AVID teacher in the county so that they can experience the same feelings I have been so lucky enough to experience.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“When I found the AVID program, I knew unequivocally that AACPS had been the right choice for me.”–Alexis Pogonowski, AVID Teacher Specialist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001013,"featured_media":10498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,132,207],"tags":[155],"class_list":["post-10497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aacps_story","category-employee_stories","category-toy","tag-avid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001013"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10497"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13457,"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497\/revisions\/13457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aacpsschools.org\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}