GIBSONTON - East Bay High School math teacher Taina Cote knows what it's like to claw and fight her way toward a good education through some of the most trying of circumstances.
A self-described inner city kid, Cote worked her way through 10 schools growing up in New England and was living on her own by age 16. Yet through her chaotic upbringing, the Connecticut native found a way to get an education.
"I truly would not be here today if it had not been for others who were willing to step up and help," said Cote, who was named the 2018 Diversity Educator of the year by the Indian School of Business.
During spring break, Cote spent five days with East Bay High School students in Harlem and the Bronx, helping students during a New York City math mission trip. The purpose, according to Cote, was to not only help other educators find a better way to teach math but allow some of New York City's most vulnerable students a chance to see someone like them succeeding in school.
"It's something that's not being done anywhere in the United States. We don't have mission trips, especially math ones," cote said. "We're giving them a break and taking them out of their little box to show them that there is so much more out there."
The purpose of Cote's nonprofit is to inspire and teach students of color. It also holds educator workshops, where Cote teaches others on the best ways to reach minority students. A second trip to New York City is already in the works.
Cote teamed with math teacher Patrice Brown for the mission trip, many of the students who went to New York had never traveled outside Florida. Many of the East Bay students are dealing with the same circumstances as the low-income students they tutored, making it easier to gain trust.
"The kids just instantly connected to one another and talked to one another," Brown said. "And once they start doing math, you could see the kids learning from each other."
The students first visited Beyond Readiness, a tutoring program just outside Harlem that uses a holistic approach to education by working closely with students and parents. They also visited A House on Beekman in the South Bronx, a nonprofit program aimed at maximizing the next generation's full academic potential.
"It meant something to me," said East Bay junior Isaiah Ershery. "I felt good after I left there."
Cote and Brown worked for four years to bring the trip to fruition, each year adding to the number of students they could afford to take with them. It wasn't until recently, when Bookbag Tours, a nonprofit group that sponsors global trips for teachers, agreed to help make the trip a reality.
The group, along with a GoFundMe account, paid for East Bay's airline tickets, subway passes, food and a visit to the Statue of Liberty. The students also got a surprise visit to meet fashion icon Oscar de la Renta, a trip that influenced at least one East Bay student to become a designer, Cote said.
The students who visited New York City were picked because of the leadership skills they displayed at school, Brown said.
"Every child has the ability to learn math and to share it with someone else, even if they're not the straight-A student. They can still share what they know. And to see these kids now say 'I will give up my time that I have for spring break to go help somebody else,' to me it's just a testimony to who these students really are," said Brown, an East Bay Teacher of the Year.
At Beekman House, teachers told the East Bay group their trip was one of the first that included students of color. Most educators who visit the impoverished area are Caucasian, Cote said.
"Not only did our kids look like them, they talked like them. They use the same slang as them," she said.
This aspect of the trip was especially important for Cote. She grew up believing that people of color were not able to obtain an education, especially a college degree.
"They needed to see that they can obtain this," said Cote, whose heritage is Puerto Rican.
The trip was also an eye-opener for the teachers' students. The students, although many low-income themselves, learned that life could be so much worse. The Bronx has one of the highest crime rates in the nation and East Bay students were shocked to learn that many of the children they tutored were limited to only one pair of shoes or pants.
"I'm a shy person, so the kids there really opened my eyes," said East Bay junior Arelis Martinez. "They were actually joking around with me and brought me out of my shell. That really impacted me."
Despite a trip to the Big Apple with all its lights and glamour, most of East Bay's students came back with the same favorite memory of mentoring kids, according to their teachers.
"While we were at Beekman House, one of the teachers told us 'there's something different about your group. The whole atmosphere has changed. It's like it's coming from the heart,'" said Brown.
For more information about Teach with Love, visit teachwithlove.com.