|
Listen to this article here
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A Black teenage teacher exemplifies every aspect of Black excellence, becoming a 16-year-old who teaches young children education. The 16-year-old third-grade teacher is Shania Muhammad, an Oklahoma native who values the importance of education.
Muhammad uses her three college degrees to help children find joy in learning. In an October 2023 appearance on the “Jennifer Hudson Show”, she stated, “My students walk around saying, ‘My teacher is walking Black history.’ It touches me different.”
She became the youngest teacher in the U.S. late last year.
Shania Muhammad graduates with a 4.0 GPA
At fifteen years old, Muhammad attended Langston University in Oklahoma and graduated with a 4.0 GPA, the highest in her class.
After receiving her Bachelor of Arts, Muhammad went back to college for her associate’s degrees from Langston and Oklahoma City Community College.
Throughout her college years, Muhammad experienced obstacles but did not let that prevent her from success.
The Black teenage teacher emphasizes the importance of Black students, “understanding that we are invisible Black scholars of this world. We don’t have the press that the athletes, the artists, the social media influencers do because we are unrecognized in society.”
Her passion for teaching is ongoing, as she plans on teaching for a long time. In addition to teaching, Muhammad loves to speak.
“Outside of college, my biggest thing is I’m a speaker. I’ve always wanted to do public speaking, and national speaking, just spreading my story, spreading what we do here at the Muhammad house. Showing others ‘trust me, it’s possible.’ It just takes a team and hard work.”
Muhammad’s next goal is to publish her book, detailing her inspirational story and impacting others to do the same.
“I am going to publish my book soon. It’s called ‘Read, Write, Listen: 13 in College’ How I did it. And it basically goes over the basic blueprint of how I even got started.”
From graduating college at 14 to becoming a third-grade teacher at 16, Muhammad hopes her story inspires other people to continue to work hard and reach for the stars.