Once a month, staffers at Sullivan Middle School in Sullivan, Illinois, pick adjectives to describe their feelings about work as part of an anonymous online survey. 

Principal Nathan Ogle said the short questionnaire, which he implemented in October, has helped transform employee culture at the rural school of 250 students. It鈥檚 one of the products offered by , an education technology startup that鈥檚 trying to improve teacher well-being across the U.S. 

The company has pulse surveys, downloadable resources and staff care packages that schools and districts can purchase. Since its 2022 launch in Omaha, Nebraska, Alpaca has worked with more than 100 schools and districts in 25 states. It received at the 2025 Future of Education Technology Conference, which features ed tech innovations and businesses.

鈥淚t’s been incredibly useful just to get that feedback from my staff on what things they’re feeling and experiencing,鈥� Ogle said. 鈥淚’ve been able to respond to that stuff as it’s coming in, more or less in real time.鈥�

During the 2023-24 school year, 48% of public school teachers reported declining mental health that impacted their work, up from 42% the year before, according to . The percentage of teachers who reported their schools offered minimal or no employee wellness programming increased from 68% in 2023 to 72% in 2024.

For Alpaca鈥檚 founder, Karen Borchert, the focus is employee engagement and retention: “What does it feel like to go to work when you are a teacher, what is it like and what could make it better?” Borchert went to college to become a high school teacher, but after earning her degree became interested in nonprofits and startups. She decided to create her own company after the pandemic hit and school staff shortages worsened.

She began by selling subscription care packs to teachers and schools. The packs 鈥� which inspired the name Alpaca 鈥斅燾ost $25 to $35 each and include items like snacks, pens, notepads, markers, tissues, lip balm and a handwritten note.听

Last year, Alpaca launched its online pulse survey along with free like staff activities, teacher appreciation tips and strategies to help administrators make their employees feel valued. Borchert said most of the schools that use Alpaca will have staff complete the survey in monthly meetings. Some use Alpaca鈥檚 digital resources to host games and give out the care packages as prizes.

鈥淲e love to see them work together as a system or as a platform,鈥� Borchert said. 鈥淎nd then, by the time the principal gets back to their office, all of their survey data is live and ready, and they can see what鈥檚 needed.鈥�

Ogle said the monthly pulse surveys are more useful than his district’s annual climate survey, which doesn鈥檛 provide results until after the school year is over. When he began implementing the survey last fall, many teachers said they felt stretched thin and wanted time to plan with one another.

In response, he restarted a school tradition of 鈥淲orking Wednesdays.鈥� Administrators took over supervising students during lunch so teachers could use that time to collaborate with colleagues.

鈥淪ince we’ve implemented that, 鈥榮tretched thin鈥� is no longer a phrase that people are choosing” on the survey, he said. 鈥淚 have staff members who, if I just went and asked them, 鈥楬ey, how are you doing?鈥� They’re going to say, 鈥楩ine,鈥� because that’s what they do. But this gives them that opportunity to anonymously let me know how they鈥檙e really doing.鈥�

Alpaca’s reach also extends beyond schools and districts. 

High Desert Education Service District, a Bend, Oregon, agency that places thousands of substitute teachers in 10 nearby school districts every year, began . Part of the state’s Department of Education, High Desert uses the pulse survey for the subs to rank how they feel about working in different schools and districts. Substitutes also receive Alpaca packs when they accept a certain number of school assignments.

Borchert said Caddo Parish Public Schools in Shreveport, Louisiana, uses the products in its . And the University of Nebraska-Lincoln uses the pulse survey and care packages for its student teachers. 

Sue Kemp, a professor in the university’s special education department, said the survey results help her decide which schools to place student teachers at to gain practical experience in the classroom. 

鈥淚t gives me a better picture about how the students are feeling and doing in their school,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 get a better snapshot of the support that they’re feeling in the school and in their own skill development, and what they need on top of it.鈥�

The student teachers and the educators who are supervising them in the classroom also receive monthly Alpaca packs as a way to say “good job” or “thank you” for their work, Kemp said. She said the students and the supervisors have reported that the care packages make them feel more positive about their jobs and more connected to the college.

鈥淲e are at a moment where I think our educators are going to need so much care, and they’re going to need so many good support systems,鈥� Borchert said. 鈥淭hey’re going to need to be able to say how they’re feeling and what they need while we kind of walk through uncertain or unprecedented times.鈥�

In early 2021, the district was back in school after closing for the pandemic, but my teachers were fried. We serve approximately 1,300 students in four schools and three off-campus sites, including a program for 18- to 22-year-olds with a high level of special needs and pre-K-12 programs for those with social-emotional disabilities and autism. We were all waiting to see if we would get a vaccine for the coronavirus, and everybody was a mess.  

To help teachers de-stress, I took a 200-hour teacher training in mindfulness, social-emotional learning and yoga with . Educators can integrate these practices into their classrooms and use them to support their own mental and physical health. Everyone who completes the course is certified to teach yoga, so when I finished, I offered my stressed-out teachers a class on Fridays. We met in the library. Everybody spread out and brought their own mat, giving us enough physical distance that we could take our masks off. 

When the first six-week session was done, all 10 teachers said they wanted to continue 鈥� and learn to teach yoga themselves. Today, the district has about 46 educators who are certified Breathe for Change facilitators, and our program serves a dual purpose. It helps the teachers help themselves, which empowers them to build a culture of care and trust with their students. And it benefits our students in a variety of ways.

The schools where teachers regularly implement these strategies have seen a significant decrease in chronic absenteeism. At Colegrove Park Elementary, the rate dropped 11% last year, which put the school in the top 10 for attendance statewide. In recognition of this achievement, Colegrove Park was awarded a from the NBA champion Boston Celtics.

One teacher told me that since she started using mindfulness strategies in her fourth-grade classroom, 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 had a significant disciplinary referral this year.鈥� That鈥檚 huge in a district where 71% of the students are identified as high-need. As a former science teacher, I love this kind of qualitative evidence that the program is working. 

At Drury High School, one creative teacher came up with the idea of giving students facing discipline a choice: They could sit in detention or participate in mindfulness and yoga practice. So many took her up on it that the school started offering yoga regularly for all students. 

I asked the football coach to co-present with me to all the teaching assistants, and to see him stand there and say, 鈥淚 know you need this, because I need this,鈥� was amazing. He talked about his football players and said, 鈥淚 need them in the zone. And for me to get them into the zone, they have to quiet their mind and be fully present to me so they can hear me and understand what I expect from them.鈥� That was a very powerful moment.

The young adults in our 18- to 22-year-old transition program have also been heavily involved. Many of these students are unable to communicate verbally and will always need some level of supervision in their lives. Teachers use yoga breathing techniques to help calm students who become agitated, and the physical movements provide a form of exercise for those who struggle with physical fitness and control.

The program has also grown beyond the district, through partnerships with other community groups and local nonprofits. For example, we offer a free community yoga class at the library twice a week, which primarily draws senior citizens. The class has a limit of 15 people and is always full. I have seen regular attendees progress from not being able to touch their toes to doing full Sun Salutations. Just after the pandemic, I did a session at the library for parents while their kids went off to a reading. It helped them relax and become more comfortable being around other people again. And I鈥檝e done modified yoga sessions for breast cancer survivors, who often lose mobility in their upper body. We have also partnered with the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts to develop a graduate-level course for educators in social-emotional learning, and we have a map to provide evidence-based curriculum for all grade levels. 

For next year, my goal is to step back from leading this initiative and have our core group of certified instructors implement practices in the classroom and train their colleagues. I鈥檓 getting to the point in my career where I鈥檓 thinking about the legacy I will leave to this district that I鈥檝e loved and served. These yoga and mindfulness practices will be an important part of that.

Consider Newton High School, located in a large metropolitan area in Texas, where an alarming 39% of teachers left their positions between spring 2020 and fall 2021. The principal hired replacements, many of whom were new to teaching, and then worked to build trust and a collective vision among her staff. Yet, before the next school year, another 43% of Newton’s teachers quit, restarting the cycle. Over four years, the high school lost and replaced 88% of its staff, leaving only 12% of the teachers who started teaching in the 2019-20 school year remaining by 2022-223. 

What happens to a school community when large numbers of teachers leave? High turnover student academic performance, in part because of the loss of human capital: When teachers leave, they take their knowledge and skills with them. This is especially damaging to schools when the replacement is less experienced, which is often the case in high-poverty schools.

Turnover can also erode the social capital鈥� the relationships and culture 鈥� that holds a school together. We designed a of four high schools to investigate how turnover influences how teams work together; what happens to reform efforts, which often take years to reach fruition; and, perhaps most importantly, what schools are doing, or could be doing, to cope with negative effects.

Turnover weighs down schools. Strong relationships and shared culture are important if schools are to improve by engaging in ongoing inquiry and revising their practices from year to year. When teachers leave, these bonds weaken. Teachers lose close colleagues, making it harder to collaborate on curriculum or seek trusted advice and support. As one teacher at Newton said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 building those relationships again, and then they leave.鈥�

This can discourage teachers from investing in relationships, further accelerating turnover, and disrupts teamwork as well. Teachers spend valuable meeting time just getting on the same page, which limits their ability to learn from past lessons that were effective and to reflect on which instructional strategies worked, and why. One Newton teacher said her team 鈥渃an鈥檛 build anything because we can鈥檛 keep people here for more than one year. You鈥檙e constantly starting over from scratch.鈥�

But schools can adopt strategies to mitigate these harmful effects. One strategy is to track team progress from year to year. For example, at Rivera High School, which had high turnover among English teachers, well-organized calendars and a shared bank of lesson plans gave educators an alternative to reinventing the wheel multiple times, as they had in the past. New teachers could draw from this resource rather than starting from scratch. This helped them improve instruction and overall student learning experiences.

Another effective strategy is maintaining stability in teacher teams whenever possible. Principals can unintentionally make the problem worse by shifting teacher assignments frequently 鈥� a form . Even a single teacher鈥檚 departure can have big ripple effects, eroding team progress from the prior year.  The most stable teams we observed could build upon the previous year鈥檚 work to reach new heights. 

Of course, schools can only do so much to mitigate the harmful effects of turnover 鈥� the issue also requires action from policymakers. The problems caused by teacher turnover are not equally distributed across schools: turnover disproportionately impacts schools serving low-income students and children of color. It鈥檚 a systemic problem that exacerbates and perpetuates inequality between schools. Schools that have high turnover rates should receive additional funding to help stabilize their teaching and administrative staff. Accountability measures must also be adjusted: Rather than punishing schools for turnover-related issues, policymakers should offer targeted support. Additional public transparency around turnover data is needed to reveal the depth of teacher losses 鈥� which are by the typically reported annual turnover rates. 

Our data were collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, which might have . In fact, today, a wider number of schools are experiencing high rates of turnover that was 鈥� prior to the pandemic 鈥� once unique to higher-poverty schools. But we believe our findings apply even when turnover is less severe because our study demonstrates that even the loss of one to two teachers can have a detrimental impact.

To be sure, some turnover can be good for schools, as when new teachers bring fresh perspectives or disgruntled educators leave. However, we found few instances of this in our study. Instead, we saw high rates of turnover break up social networks, erode trust and diminish institutional knowledge. Turnover prevents schools and districts from implementing long-term improvements that engender hope and optimism in parents, policymakers and community members. You simply cannot build a house on shaky ground. It is past time to recognize and address this problem head-on and create stable, thriving learning environments that empower students and teachers to succeed. 

The salary boost for The Equity Project鈥檚 90 teachers was announced as continue. In New York City, the district鈥檚 ranges from about $57-87,500.

Compared to wealthy are more common TEP鈥檚 salary nearly doubles starting pay for teachers with master鈥檚 degrees. It rivals one of the highest in California, found in the ultra wealthy 鈥� where Mountain View Los Altos teachers鈥� starting pay is . New teachers with master鈥檚 in Westchester County鈥檚 Scarsdale district earn . On Long Island, Syosset Central Schools pay new teachers with master鈥檚 . 

鈥淥nce it initially hit we were jumping for joy 鈥� super excited, very grateful,鈥� said Lynette Cray, an elementary physical education teacher at The Equity Project.  

鈥淎nd then we got right back into the thick of things,鈥� Cray said. 鈥淲e don’t take it for granted. We’re still just trying to be the best educators we can be and that is honestly just icing on the cake for a lot of us.鈥�

Since making headlines in 2009 for offering all teachers $125,000, TEP had not adjusted salaries in about 15 years. At the same time, average monthly rent in Manhattan, where 1,080 students are served at three Washington Heights campuses, jumped to . 

Simultaneously, students鈥� academic and mental health needs mounted throughout the pandemic while the climate around teaching and education became increasingly negative.

鈥淭here couldn’t be a more appropriate time for us to re-express our commitment to the impact of great teachers,鈥� head of school Casey Ash said. 鈥淣ow more than ever, students at TEP, students everywhere need the very best, highest quality, most compassionate, most committed educators working with them.鈥�

Though the school does receive philanthropic and independent dollars, which last year amounted to 0.7% of their annual income, teachers鈥� salaries and all operational costs are paid with public funding. 

To afford the higher-than-average pay, TEP minimizes central expenses and hires fewer administrators than many other schools, with 34 full time.  

鈥淚 might ask the question, how other schools cannot afford to do this? Because we are able to do so without any external funding,鈥� Ash said. 

Last school year, 49% of TEP鈥檚 public funding went toward educator costs. Philanthropic funds were used for its alumni program and middle school facility.

With high compensation comes high expectations. Each teacher must take on a dual role to fill in gaps; are called to substitute teach for colleagues; and serve students longer than most other schools, until 4pm for middle schoolers and 3:45 for early childhood grades. 

In addition to helping children develop motor and social skills, Cray serves as social emotional learning coordinator. Outside of teaching, planning for her workshops takes at least three hours weekly. 

But for others whose dual role is family engagement or special education coordinators, the responsibilities, time and care required can increase greatly. 

Still, TEP has maintained a retention rate around national averages, 86% for the 2021-22 school year. 

Outside of financial compensation, the school offers unique benefits for teachers: a sabbatical year for those who鈥檝e taught at least five years; more, brief vacations via a trimester system.

Ash credits the schedule as a key contributor to a sense of work-life balance and reducing summer slide or academic loss. 

鈥淸The compensation] just opens up more possibilities for us to do the things that we need to do for ourselves to sustain being a teacher,鈥� Cray told 蜜桃影视, like taking care of their mental health or supporting family members. 

Raising teacher quality, pay and well-being have been key goals for advocates pushing for better education for low-income and underserved students. 

TEP鈥檚 students are nearly all Black or Latino and live in poverty. Nationally, they are more likely to be taught by early-career or inexperienced teachers, including those with provisional or temporary certification, than their peers. 

But at TEP, most educators have at least five to seven years of experience, according to elementary school director Joelle Fenton. They do not hire early career educators. 

Local and statewide efforts to raise educator pay and attract higher quality educators for underserved students are underway. 

is proposing a statewide $60,000 base pay as a part of their Blueprint plan. Attempts in California have tried and failed, with to address the unequal distribution of teachers. Independent School District began offering a minimum $61,500 this school year.

While boosting salary is not a silver bullet, research suggests it can have a huge impact on student achievement, . 

Bonuses of just $10,000, designed to attract and retain experienced educators to teach in low-income Texas schools, brought average test score growth in some of the lowest performing schools close to district averages, according to a . 

When bonuses stopped, some teachers left and academic growth declined.

The average bonus for TEP teachers last school year was $18,000. Latest reveal that their fifth through eighth grade students had 37% more growth in math than their broader New York City peers, and 13% more in English language arts. 

The increased compensation has also been life-changing for teachers and their families. Cray remembers literally jumping out of her seat after hearing the news in a staff meeting before she and many others immediately called their partners. 

Having gone through a four-year fertility journey and taken time off for maternity leave, the raise means she can now start contributing to goals that felt out of reach.

鈥淲e can put it towards a home and start planning that next phase of our lives,鈥� Cray said. 鈥淚t’s not the main reason I’m here but it helps me to feel validated in what I’m doing and also helps me have a livable wage to help take care of my family.鈥�

A familiar anxiety set in. 

It wasn鈥檛 until New York City high school science teacher Joshua Modeste saw photos of the teenagers involved in the December stabbing the tension eased: He did not know her. 

A little over a year had passed since he lost his first student, , 16, shot in the stomach a few blocks away from school. Soon after, he lost another when Benji鈥檚 best friend was briefly incarcerated. Ever since, when he hears about violence involving a young person, he feels dread build in his gut.

A few hours passed before he was reminded of why. A student, hanging out in his room over lunch to do makeup work, yelled out, 鈥淲hat?! Oh my God,鈥� before bolting into the hall. The Harlem victim, Saniyah, was her friend.

Modeste felt unprepared, and worn out. Within one year, he and his mostly Black and Latino students at Harlem鈥檚 Urban Assembly School of Global Commerce navigated death, prisons, racial violence, a continuing pandemic. As one of the school鈥檚 few Black male teachers he shouldered a disproportionate weight through it all, and isolation has become . 

And while the youth mental health crisis mounts, so does the toll for educators on the frontlines 鈥� especially as force teachers like Modeste to manage alone. Traction is building for student supports, but some worry teachers are being left behind 鈥� a direct hit to learning recovery.

鈥淣obody in the teaching department or other teacher candidates talked to us about that stuff 鈥� trauma and grief, emotions, and how to manage all of that while trying to maintain a classroom of 30 kids who are going through their own situations at home,鈥� Modeste said of his teacher preparation program at SUNY Plattsburgh.听

(While there is no class on these topics at Plattsburgh, the curriculum has been revised since Modeste鈥檚 graduation in 2016 and 鈥渢hese themes are woven through many of our courses,鈥� Maureen Squires, chair of the joint bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 program, told 蜜桃影视.)聽

鈥淚t was kind of like, 鈥業f you can’t handle this, then this is not the job for you,鈥欌�� Modeste said. Still, there鈥檚 not a doubt in his mind that he should continue teaching. In fact, he鈥檚 flourishing professionally, last year among the prestigious FLAG Awardees for Teaching Excellence. 

But he is struggling. 

Teachers are for experiencing more job-related stress than any other profession. Yet help for classroom leaders is hard to come by. Mental health insurance coverage varies district to district, if visits are covered at all. Even in New York City 鈥� where teacher copays for outpatient, in-network mental health care max out at $25 鈥� provider shortages and stigma can prevent educators from accessing care consistently.听

The demand for professional support is also growing rapidly. Anxiety and depression symptoms in teachers are on the rise, highest for early career educators and teachers of color, according to Leigh McLean, a researcher at the University of Delaware. 

Overall in the 2018-19 school year, 4,550 New York City teachers accessed services through their union, the United Federation of Teachers. Last year, the number exceeded 20,000. Daily calls to the program soared, from about 20 to 100 per day; hundreds of school social workers volunteered after school and on weekends to meet the need.听

For McLean, who has studied the impact of teacher depression for years, the reality is simple 鈥� educators have been given an impossible task. 

鈥淓specially through COVID, we’re putting the emphasis on teachers themselves to support their own well-being. But we’ve created a system that is not supportive of their well-being,鈥� she said.

Modeste knows this to be true. Now in his seventh year of teaching, he relied on instinct, not training, to meet Saniyah鈥檚 friend in the hall that December afternoon. 

He asked about their , whether her mom knew her too, what she might need. He told her grief surfaces in many ways, but 鈥淚 can’t tell you where that starts or ends,鈥� before offering an empty room for her to cry. 

鈥楳y anxiety lives in my belly鈥�

The son of Trinidadian pastors and youngest of three brothers, Modeste didn鈥檛 grow up talking about mental health. Don鈥檛 cry, give it to God in prayer. 

鈥淪ociety has told me that Black men are supposed to be strong and figure things out on their own,鈥� he said. 鈥淏lack men don’t talk to me about therapy. So it doesn’t seem like something that’s normal.鈥�

But the emotional weight was building each day. Soon after the murder, one of Modeste鈥檚 students sat visibly crying in class. Benji鈥檚 best friend. He did not know what to wear to the funeral 鈥� this would be his first. 

Entering grades at the semester鈥檚 end, Benji鈥檚 name on his roster stared at him, waiting for an entry. In November, Facebook memories brought back pictures, and emotions, at the year anniversary. The funeral was the first time he had seen many of his students cry, especially the boys.

鈥淚 thought I got through it. And then this time of the year resurfaced some stuff for me,鈥� he said.

Psychologists dub the phenomenon or empathetic distress. Studies have mainly focused on clinical staff like social workers or therapists. Tish Jennings, an expert on teacher stress and social-emotional learning at the University of Virginia, said researchers have only recently started to explore how it affects teachers and students. 

鈥淵ou need therapy when you have trauma exposure,鈥� she told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淚t’s very hard these days to get good treatment, because there’s such a huge need, and there’s such a shortage of good clinicians.鈥�

Because of the clinical shortages impacting New York City teachers, 鈥渕embers who cannot wait for an appointment sometimes go to a mental health provider outside the networks. These professionals often don’t take insurance and can charge what they want,鈥� said Alison Gendar, a UFT spokesperson.

Unaware of the options provided by the union and in crisis, Modeste urgently searched for a male therapist of color last fall. He ultimately paid over $120 for a month of Talkspace sessions, but could not afford to continue treatment. The NYC Department of Education did not provide grief counseling to staff or students after losing Benji, according to Modeste.

鈥淚f you have to deal with traumatized people all the time and you don’t have the skills, you can try to numb yourself as a way to protect yourself from feeling those feelings,鈥� Jennings explained. 鈥淵ou can also become kind of challenged or jaded, sarcastic as a way to protect yourself. And you can also become very overwhelmed and feel depressed and hopeless.鈥�

Teachers鈥� depression is shown to 鈥� teachers plan less, , may rely on independent or group instead of the more demanding whole-class instruction, and are less warm with students. 

High stress , too; Jennings described a scenario where a teacher under extreme stress is quicker to overreact, taking a small disruption personally, 鈥淚 might not realize this is normal kid behavior and become more punitive in response to that.鈥�

Ideally, teachers should receive training or therapy to become aware of their emotional state so as to, 鈥渞espond to situations thoughtfully instead of reacting automatically,鈥� she added. 

Modeste is beginning to recognize when physical sensations pop up and articulate his needs, or to meditate 鈥� skills he picked up at a mindfulness workshop by NYC Men Teach. 

鈥淢y anxiety lives in my belly,鈥� he said.

Experts told 蜜桃影视 teaching mindfulness and compassionate is necessary, but by themselves, cannot reduce the high levels of stress teachers face. The most effective changes are system-wide, not individual: comprehensive health care packages; staff devoted to teacher well-being; professional development; and establishing .听

An invisible tax

They鈥檙e the kinds of support that teachers are craving, particularly those who serve students disproportionately impacted by poverty, homelessness, incarceration or violence. For Modeste, constant exposure to violence and death in the community and online weighs heavy on the mind. In his youth, the only time he saw dead bodies was at funerals. 

Last May during class, he confronted what he called a new 鈥渄eath culture:鈥� a student watching the Buffalo grocery store massacre video on Twitch during class. He had mistaken it, like many young people, for a first-person shooter game. This fall, images of rappers Takeoff and PnB Rock鈥檚 death circulated.

鈥淚 was like, ‘No, why are you watching these things? Do you understand the impact that this stuff is having on you?’鈥� he recalled. 鈥淚 don’t know if people are processing with them, what that means for you to look at that person, someone that you looked up to or somebody that you listen to their music, to see a picture of them on the floor dead.鈥澛�

It鈥檚 also not lost on him that, for some students, he may be the only one with whom they鈥檙e comfortable talking. Researchers and those in the field refer to this as an 鈥溾�� on educators of color, often among the few adults in a school who represent their students鈥� racial identities, are more likely to share life experiences.听

Black teachers report having to discipline students of color and be liaisons to families more often because of their race, according to the Center for Black Educator Development. They may also navigate more lack of trust from administrators and colleagues.

Compared to white male teachers, Black teachers spend counseling students outside of class, about five hours per week. Modeste, for instance, shared his phone number with students when they went remote for the first time in the spring of 2020 鈥� a way to stay connected if they needed it. And many did. 

He fielded calls throughout distance learning, while battling his own anxiety and isolation, witnessing anti-Black violence week after week. In sometimes hour-long conversations, he listened to students vent about fights they had with their mother; college applications and whether STEM could really be an option for them.听

Since returning to class, some have opened up about feeling hypersexualized, like they have to perform masculinity and some idea of what it is to be a Black man. Modeste keeps a note from one student, who was suicidal while in his class, in his desk at all times.

While the staff at Global Commerce is racially diverse, Modeste finds himself dispelling assumptions staff place on students 鈥� about how they spend their money or why their families live in nearby affordable housing projects 鈥� something no one had done for him. And like most other , Modeste is one of the longest-serving teachers.听

鈥淚t creates a situation where students feel either abandoned or they feel like they don’t have anyone to connect to 鈥� It puts an extra responsibility on me,鈥� he said. 

The research is clear in this regard, according to McLean: 鈥淭eachers and students in these underserved contexts are really experiencing the most trauma and are the ones that need the most prioritized and targeted support.鈥�

Modeste knew that would be his reality before beginning his career, but he鈥檚 still realizing the toll. 

In December, he briefly tried psychotherapy again through a free Betterhelp trial, offered through a teacher honor society. He had a couple sessions with a Black male therapist and wanted to continue, but the $200 per month price tag stopped him. 

For now, Modeste and his advisory students have started role-play scenarios on setting boundaries and saying no, swapping TV shows and music that helps them cope with feeling overwhelmed. Leaning on cultural affinity groups and colleagues, he is finding ways to 鈥渞eframe鈥� the parts of his life that serve as informal therapy: journaling, writing affirmations like 鈥榝ocus鈥� and 鈥榣ove鈥� on his bathroom mirror in Expo marker and caring for his pet fish.

In his Ph.D. program at Columbia Teachers College, he鈥檚 researching ways to make science education more culturally responsive, and the experiences of male science teachers of color.听

He doesn鈥檛 hide emotions anymore, or ignore what鈥檚 happening outside of school. His default demeanor is bubbly, but on days he鈥檚 going through something, he smiles and talks less. 

鈥淎nd kids will ask me like, you know, ‘Yo, Modeste are you OK?’ That’s when I open up 鈥� 鈥極h, you know, I’m going through some stuff with my family, I just need some space right now,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淚 think that that shows them that when I ask them if they’re OK, the responses that I’m trying to elicit.鈥�