Inspired by the work of Saint Marcellin Champagnat and the Marist Brothers, Paulsen has made improving access to education his life’s mission.

Andrew Paulsen ’12 has seen firsthand the transformative power of education, and he is on a mission to ensure that every child in the United States has access to high-quality instruction.  他具有专门知识, 拥有哥伦比亚大学和西顿霍尔大学的硕士学位, 富布赖特杰出教学奖, 在纽瓦克有六年的教学经验, 新泽西州公立学校.  Paulsen目前是Agile Mind, Inc .的高级顾问., 这家公司率先应用新兴技术，改变了全国初中和高中数学和科学的教学.  And he recently began his doctorate studies at Vanderbilt University.  Paulsen’s goal is unabashedly lofty: to effect educational change on a grand scale.

成为学生领袖

bet亚洲365欢迎投注大学是保尔森第一次磨练领导才能的地方.  他第一次来的时候就爱上了这个校园, 由于他对广播新闻和体育传播的兴趣，他认为这所学院将是一个理想的选择.  直到后来，他才增加了数学专业, psychology minor, 以及青少年教育证书.  Says Paulsen, “Marist equipped me with the leadership skills I needed through practical experience.  我在担任住校助理和担任社长期间所获得的经验，帮助我发展了我在整个职业生涯中都使用过的技能, including the importance of standing up for the most vulnerable in our community, peer responsibility, resolving conflicts, 建立人际关系, 歧义容忍.”

保尔森大三快结束的时候, 他被选为学生会主席, 他的领导力训练是在哪里加强的.  作为校董会的学生代表, he had the chance to observe institutional governance and work alongside President Emeritus Dennis Murray.  他还遇到了理事兄弟Seán萨蒙70, 玛丽斯特兄弟的前全球负责人, at a Board meeting, 他很快就成为了我的导师.  “I am extremely thankful for all of the support and advice Brother Séan has given me over the years, 我感激地称他为亲密的朋友.2012年秋天，保尔森有幸观察到了布朗博士. Murray’s leadership firsthand when Marist was hit by Hurricane Sandy, 这场风暴对东北部的影响尤为严重.  “I remember that Dr. 穆雷立即召开内阁紧急会议, and I found it remarkable how he was able to listen to everyone’s concerns and delegate so effectively.  My job was to go with him around campus to talk with students and answer their questions.  Dr. Murray showed me what crisis communication is, as well as the power of servant leadership.”

A number of events over the course of Paulsen’s junior year at Marist catalyzed his passion for education.  在秋季学期, 他的一个教育课程包括展示全国极端教育不平等的书籍和纪录片.  Then, 在他的春季学期, 保尔森被安排在波基普西高中完成他的实地工作，以便在第二年有资格成为学生教师.  He recalls, “读到教育不平等是一回事, 但亲身体验又是另一回事.  我很快就被我们的教育系统迷住了, and I read every book and watched every documentary that I could find that summer to learn more about it.  在我大四开始之前, 我知道，我想申请“为美国而教”项目，以帮助打破几代人以来渗透我们社会的压迫恶性循环.”

Success in Newark

Founded in 1989, “为美国而教”(Teach For America, TFA)是一个非营利组织，招募优秀的、多元化的领导者到低收入社区任教两年, where they experience the challenges and joys of expanding opportunities for at-risk kids.  保尔森被安排在东区高中, 纽瓦克最大的综合高中, 正如他所记得的那样, “在纽瓦克公立学校教数学的六年是我一生中最具变革性的经历.  在很多方面，我天生就是当老师的料.  从我记事起, I have loved school and valued education as one of life’s most treasured gifts. 在教室前面, I feel alive, 我认真对待我作为一名教育者的角色，因为我从根本上相信，我在教我们世界未来的领导者.” 

保尔森亲眼目睹了人们的高期望, exemplar pedagogy, 大量的关怀可以实现:他的学生在严格的PARCC标准化考试中始终优于同龄人.  In 2016, 保尔森的学生在整个纽瓦克公立学校的高中数学教师中拥有最高的学生通过率, 他教的几何学生是整个学区中仅有的三名得分“超出预期”的学生.  In 2017, 他的学生在代数II PARCC考试中表现出大学准备的学生比例更高, and Paulsen was the only math teacher at East Side to have students score in the “exceeded expectations” range.  2018年，他的代数I课得了67分.9 percent pass rate, beating the state average by more than 20 percentage points.  为了表彰他的努力, 保尔森被评为东区高中年度最佳教师, 获TFA校友卓越教学奖, was a national finalist for the Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice, 并得到了纽瓦克教师工会的认可.  他还抽出时间为社区服务, 通过Petey Green项目教授被判入狱的成年人，并担任新泽西曲棍球队的学术协调员, a nonprofit affiliated with the National Hockey League’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative.

As if all of this weren’t enough, Paulsen obtained two master’s degrees while teaching.  他的硕士学位是教育领导, Management, 在西顿霍尔大学的《bet亚洲365欢迎投注》和在哥伦比亚大学的《bet亚洲365欢迎投注》都拓宽了他对困扰美国教育系统的系统性问题的认识.  Indeed, 他的研究生工作帮助保尔森开发了一些创新和有效的方法来教授城市环境中文化多样化的中学生数学.  Looking back, he says, “我的研究生学习拓展了我的思维，并将我介绍给志同道合的同龄人，他们分享我的信念，即每个学生都应该有机会获得良好的教育.” 

Paulsen was deeply impacted by the students he met in Newark and their incredible resilience.  He remembers one student he taught freshman and sophomore year who grew up without a father.  Paulsen took him under his wing, got to know his family, and admired how he never gave up.  That student was recently accepted to Washington University in St. Louis.  Another student who touched his heart was an undocumented immigrant from Brazil.  他也是从小没有父亲的.  大四的时候, 他的母亲被驱逐出境, and the student was homeless for a time before the school secured him short-term housing.  Says Paulsen, “My former students are truly some of the most inspirational people I know, 他们向世界表明，只要有强有力的指导和支持，所有学生都有机会取得成功.”  Paulsen’s student from Brazil is now a sophomore at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

Paulsen finds inspiration and a role model in Saint Marcellin Champagnat, 玛丽斯特兄弟的创始人和教育的守护神.  “The Marist Brothers educated the most vulnerable and powerless to provide them with opportunity.  Champagnat was a remarkable man, and I try to emulate what I imagine he would do.“这么说是公平的, for Paulsen, being an educator is no longer a career; it is truly a calling.  Paulsen adds, “虽然我永远不能说教学很容易, I can say without hesitation that I have loved every second of it.  在纽瓦克的六年里，我在课堂内外的经历证实了我的信念:我们所有的学生都有未开发的潜力.  我相信，如果我们真的想推动世界向前发展，我们可以而且必须更好地教育所有的孩子.”

Thinking Globally

在纽瓦克教了几年书之后, 保尔森对学习不同文化的兴趣与日俱增.  He took every opportunity he could to travel abroad and quickly realized that his interest was much more than tourism; he truly wanted to experience other countries and get to know their culture and customs.  到目前为止，保尔森已经访问了世界上几十个国家.  He notes, “在一个日益变化和全球联系日益紧密的世界里, the essential role each of us must play in fostering cross-cultural exchange becomes more apparent.  我们还能如何实现更美好的明天?  如果我们能学会彼此倾听, 欣赏在不同文化中发现的财富, and develop a stronger sense of the many different lenses through which one can view life – what US Senator J. 威廉·富布赖特所说的“相互理解”——我们可能刚刚开始以前所未有的方式关心彼此.”

With this in mind, 保尔森申请了富布赖特基金，以便为已故参议员创造一个知识更多、冲突更少的世界的愿景做出贡献.  在富布赖特任职期间, he lived in Taiwan and visited schools throughout Asia to conduct research for the U.S. State Department.  Paulsen also visited the Marist Brothers in South Korea and the Marist-run LaValla School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  他的研究寻求创造性的方法，将东方教学方法的最佳实践应用到美国各地城市中学传统资源不足的教育工作者的教学中.  这段经历对保尔森来说意义重大.  “Not a day went by in my year abroad in which I did not work hard to advance the ‘soft power’ of our country.  作为美国的文化大使, I was invited to meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, had an interview with Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu, and gave a presentation to US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce.  On a daily basis, I had the opportunity to interact with ordinary people that had never met an American before.”  (A video produced by Fulbright Taiwan in which Paulsen discusses his experiences can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZFUeZRloyo.)

Returning to the US, Paulsen开始使用Agile Mind, which provides schools across the country with curricular support, 教育技术, 专业服务.  “In this work, 我希望赋予全国各地的领导者和教师权力，让他们彻底改变对学校可能性的看法.”  In January alone, 保尔森访问了七个州的学校, adding to his broad and deep understanding of K-12 educational issues.  从不满足于自己的荣誉, 他最近开始在范德比尔特大学皮博迪学院攻读组织领导力和学习的教育学博士学位.  Says Paulsen, “我希望EdD项目能够为我提供一个学习社区，推动我的思维，同时也为我提供成为一名变革型学校领导者所需的技能.  每所学校都有很多有能力的学生, but too many never have the opportunity to realize their full potential.  我想改变这一点.”

保尔森的长期梦想是加入一个领导团队，致力于结束几十年来困扰美国学校的系统性不平等现象.  For him, leaders have a responsibility “to give a voice to those who don’t have one.”  Sammon, his longtime mentor, 有充分的信心，保尔森确实会改变世界:“安德鲁把马塞琳·尚巴纳的信念牢记在心:‘要教育年轻人，你必须首先爱他们, 并平等地爱他们.“他不仅有教学天赋，而且对这个职业充满热情，希望看到他的学生发挥他们的潜力。.  In particular, he looks out for kids who might feel marginalized or are dealing with difficult personal or family issues.  My hope is that he continues to work to change our world, one student at a time.”