Phillip Coard '16
Phillip Coard '16
Social Studies Teacher/Instructional Technology Coordinator/School Principal In-Training
In what ways do you feel your major in history helped to prepare you for your current career? Are there any skills that you developed as an undergraduate history major that are essential to your work? And can you give us an example (or examples) of this?
Currently, I work as a teacher and instructional technology coordinator/coach in a 6th-12th grade setting. I am also a board member for a local nonprofit on Staten Island named Canvas Institute. I feel strongly that the skills that I developed throughout my history major at Brooklyn College allowed me to have success in these roles. In my role as a technology coordinator, having strong writing and analytical skills is important in creating reports about how successful different tech initiatives are, and in summarizing data collected on student assessments and results. In my nonprofit work, the research skills that I learned as a history major allowed me to jump right into grant-writing and research with little formal training, which resulted in over $100,000 raised in discretionary finding and smaller grants from the city and other organizations. In my history major, I learned how to think critically in a way that helps me in all aspects of my life.
Are there any other reflections on your history major or time in the BC History Department that you’d like us to include in your spotlight?
As a history major at BC, I felt supported and challenged by all of my professors. The experiences that I had sparked my passion for lifelong learning, and helped to shape the values that I hold today. These values have led me towards community service and activism in my community, which I work hard to share with the students that I teach. One mentor that particularly inspired me in this path is Professor Jocelyn Wills.
Which history course or courses were particularly meaningful to you during your time as a BC history major and/or have had a lasting influence? Why?
Two courses that I would say had the most influence on me would be History of the French Revolution (Professor Troyansky) and my Independent Study (Professor Wills). In learning about the French Revolution, we also learned about the Haitian Revolution. This experience inspired me to learn more about my African-American and Caribbean roots, and in turn about the struggles of people around the world up until this day. In my independent study, I researched community activism in Bed-Stuy during the civil rights era. In the process, Professor Wills introduced me to the world of archival research and guided me through the process of creating my own historical analysis from scratch. To this day, this experience lives with me as one of the most influential of my life, and is the catalyst for my involvement in community activism and service.
