Xavier Pierce

I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in liberal studies with a focus in Black studies and Education and a teaching license and Master’s of Education through the Portland State University’s Graduate Teacher Elementary Program. I finished my first year teaching 3rd Grade at King Elementary School in PPS and will be returning next year to teach 1st Grade in the Mandarin Immersion portion of King. I did my internship at Woodlawn Elementary School, teaching 4th grade. Before that I spent five years working at Opal School of the Portland Children’s Museum as a teaching assistant for grades K-5 (an elementary charter school that I attended from grades K-5). I also advanced the outdoor education program at Portland’s Zenger Farm by implementing the concepts of playful learning and inquiry. I value how inquiry-based learning seeks out the curiosity of the student and makes it a part of what is being learned and how it is taught. I let my students know that they are just as much a teacher and learner as I am and that their communities need their voices.