The Real Deal: Creating The Change You Seek
When I worked as a public high school English teacher, I would supplement my teacher salary by proctoring the SAT at a K-12 private all-boys school, and the work posted around their campus was far beyond where my students were academically. Even when I enrolled at a well-respected post-secondary institution for college, I quickly became aware of how my academic preparation was not up to the same standard as my counterparts.
I wasn’t completely lost or confused by my new expectations and responsibilities, and that was only because of the lifechanging assistance of Upward Bound; but, I was certainly shocked to find that I was now a “smart kid” in a place full of other “smart kids” who possessed access to all the opportunity their connections and financial means could muster. I was intimidated by my classmates because my lack of educational experiences made me feel and look like an outcast, so it was quite a strange and overwhelming first semester. I didn’t even own a laptop until my second year of college (which I earned working in the university’s New Student Orientation Office every summer). I simply didn’t feel good enough at first.
So before I began to embrace college and thrive in all areas of my life, I questioned whether my high self-efficacy was a result of actual talent or accidental delusion. Therefore, it took me a while to discover my true gifts, beyond just what an academic space could reveal. And although I am grateful for my degrees and training, there are Toonksters whose communities, schools, personal struggles, and living situations prevent them from accessing their full potential.
Our passion for Levi&Toonk is a direct reflection of such discrepancies and gaps. Marginalized students are some of the last to receive advanced academic opportunities because there are few relevant and educationally-approved resources to support and deepen their learning. In fact, there are no federal identification standards for gifted education and local, inequitable identification practices still exist today. There is work to do and a niche to serve; Levi&Toonk is answering the call!
As a mother-daughter startup, we have combined both our passions and professional expertise to create the company that we wish had existed when we were children. Please support and share our work by purchasing books, downloading activities, reading the blog, attending our events, and following our journey. This is only the beginning!
