Teaching on two fronts: Chicago teacher juggles parenthood and pupils - Mariama Cosey-Rhodes

HERS is the voice of experience--firm and encouraging, corrective but loving, teaching yet listening. It doesn't matter if the audience is her two young daughters or a class of sixth-graders, single mom and third-generation teacher Mariama Cosey-Rhodes has a voice that makes people--particularly young people--listen.

The Chicagoan--a teacher at home and at school--is one of many women who juggle work and family, and finds delight and challenges in both. The oldest of five children (she has four sisters and a brother), Cosey-Rhodes says her parents (her mother is a teacher, her father a jazz musician) taught her the importance of learning and family from an early age, and they continued to encourage and nurture her even after their divorce.

"The one thing that really left a mark on me from [my parents] was education and how important it is to expand your mind," says Cosey-Rhodes, a graduate of the University of Illinois-Champaign. "I'm a single mom now, but I saw that it could be done. I saw my mother sacrifice for her children and saw that you have to give your children what they need at home because no one else will."

Her eyes light up when she sees her daughters, Ijunaya, a serene 7-year-old, and Hadiyah, a feisty 4-year-old. Divorced from Christopher Rhodes (who's very much involved in his daughters' lives), Cosey-Rhodes and the two girls live with her mother, sister and her infant nephew on Chicago's South Side in the house where Cosey-Rhodes grew up. The two children are articulate, expressive, playful, bright and curious. They both say their mother is a "good teacher."

Ijunaya, whose favorite book is Shel Silverstein's Falling Up, says her mother takes them shopping, helps them with their homework and even hosted a sleepover for 15 of her closet and dearest friends on her last birthday.

"Each time when I'm at my Dad's house, I miss her a lot," says Ijunaya, who sees her father every other weekend. "We miss each other."

Hadiyah says she likes it when her mother draws pictures for her to color and takes them camping ("We sleep outside in a tent"). She says that she loves her mommy "a big much--a whole bunch!"

As a mom, Cosey-Rhodes says she wants to make sure her girls embrace new experiences and are challenged on a daily basis. She takes them to the track with her sometimes (she ran the Chicago Marathon last year) and they read to each other all the time. She also makes sure they are involved in other activities, including soccer.

"I definitely want to expose them to different things," says Cosey-Rhodes of her children, who attend Catholic school but will eventually go to public school. "I want them to be school-smart, but I also want them to be a little more street-smart than I was."

As a teacher at Myra Bradwell Math, Science and Technology School on the city's South Side, Cosey-Rhodes often believes her students have experienced a little too much in their short lives. Many children at the school come from extremely difficult circumstances, and lead lives where just making it to school can be cause for a celebration.

"Some of them come from situations that I think many people could not handle, situations that are unimaginable," says Cosey-Rhodes, who has taught at Bradwell for her nearly 10-year career. "Despite all the hardships, they come to school as often as they can for as long as they possibly can. They feel comfortable here."

On this particular morning, the class, wearing the bright yellow shirts that are part of the school uniform, is remarkably well-behaved and attentive. During a journal exercise and reading lesson, observers can see that Cosey-Rhodes has a way of working with them--looking over a shoulder here, offering gentle correction there--that makes them more at ease. She says the students' needs are pretty basic--wanting to learn and wanting to be loved. And she understands because she attended school in the same neighborhood.

"I love education, and I see it as an empowerment tool," says Cosey-Rhodes, who has wanted to teach since she was a little girl. "I want to empower children, and show them that they can start working on the rest of their lives right now."

In her years of teaching various grades at Bradwell, one thing seems to hold true--successful students have parents to support, guide and nurture them. It has to be a team effort. Cosey-Rhodes strongly believes that teachers shouldn't be parental substitutes, that young people need nurturing and education outside of school.

"Parents are the most important teachers in a child's life," says Cosey-Rhodes, speaking as a parent--and a teacher.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group