Before Bradley Tarrance graduated from UM-Flint in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education, he knew he wanted to help underprivileged children make the most of their potential. In the summer of 2000, he became inspired while teaching tee-ball to groups of kids for the City of Flint’s summer program.

Bradley Tarrance

“I saw the curiosity, joy, and happiness that come from learning something new,” he recalled.

Raised in Flint and growing up around family members who worked for General Motors, he felt a special connection to the city and its youth. After graduating from UM-Flint, he taught for one year at Cumberland County Public Schools in North Carolina before returning home to teach at Flint Community Schools. He taught sixth grade at Cummings Elementary in 2006-07 and fifth/sixth grades at Garfield Elementary from 2007 to 2009.

Following lay-offs at Flint Community Schools, Tarrance worked for Buffalo Wild Wings where he became a manager before accepting an exciting new opportunity in the field of education.

Today he is the school leader of KIPP Camino Academy in San Antonio, Texas and, for the past six years, he has been helping students reach their goal to graduate from college

Empowering youth to reach their goals is what KIPP does best. “In the last two years, 100% of our seniors were accepted to college,” Tarrance said. “Last year our seniors earned over $6.3 million in scholarships.”

The academy is part of a national network of open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools helping prepare students for college who might not otherwise get that opportunity. Most of them are Latino or African American students from low-income families, qualify for free and reduced lunch, and have few or no other family members who graduated from college.

Going door to door in lower income neighborhoods is part of KIPP’s regular recruitment process to bring in new students regardless of their academic record, past conduct or socioeconomic background. The school combines academics with developing character, habits and skills that drive students toward the goal of earning that college degree. It partners with many colleges and universities to match students to the program that best fits them.

Photo by Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express News

“Going door to door gets the kids that we want,” Tarrance said. “The best is to see the kids walk across the stage and get their diploma and say, ‘I’m going to college.’”

Tarrance recently received his Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Trinity University, and he credits UM-Flint for providing him with an exceptional undergraduate education that gave him the necessary tools to teach and to manage the challenges of a classroom. “It gave me many prerequisite skills to be a teacher but most importantly, it gave me the theories and philosophy to ground the work so I could deal with anything that came up,” he said.

Tarrance said he still has a passion for Michigan and especially for Flint. “Flint taught me the grit and to always be a learner. As a teacher, you build a strong culture of learning and not necessarily mastering everything. If you’re in Flint, you just grind it out and make the best of what you have.”