Audio File
Transcript
Hi, my name is Kyra Henderson. I was raised by my paternal grandmother and grandfather. My grandmother raised me since I was two days old, so I grew up in Hill District. My grandmother owned a store and a restaurant and my grandfather was one of the first black police officers. So although they weren’t educated, they still had roles in the community. Traditionally educated meaning in a classroom, getting their high school diploma or going to college, they had knowledge, but it wasn’t formal education but they emphasized that for me, so that I will be able to do better.
My mother was a nurse. She was a certified nursing assistant. So she worked a lot to make ends meet and my father was incarcerated in prison. I had a set of cousins that lived across the street from me and some friends. I still live in the same community, It’s really close knit. So everybody knew you. Everybody knows me by my nickname. Most of the people that I grew up with don’t even know what my real name is. They all call me by my nickname. Everybody is still really close when we see each other because some people have moved out of the neighborhood or out of the city.
It was a good childhood and I think, although I was poor, I didn’t know it. The Hill District had a real community feel. You do something down the street, that parent will whoop you and then call your mom and have them or in my case, my grandmother would be coming up the street and so it was a real peaceful time. I don’t remember being afraid or, you know, scared or worrying about violence, when I was growing up. Which is a a big difference in today. I had a baby when I was young, so I didn’t go away to school, but I went to CCAC and they had a partnership with Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and so I did a collaborative program with them to focus on education. After I graduated from there, I attended Carlow College to get my masters in educational leadership and currently I am pursuing my doctorate from Capella University in curriculum and instruction.
I’ve been an educator for the past 18 years in a Pittsburgh public schools. I started off as a paraprofessional or teachers assistant. I worked my way up through the system and right now I am the head principal at Pittsburgh Weil in the Hill district. I always wanted to be a teacher. I started off working in the daycare center when I was in high school. I did like a co-op program. So I went to school half a day since I had enough credits and I went to work at the University of Pittsburgh Child Development Center. So I worked with preschool students. I kind of moved up from there. I worked at Sunshine Christian Learning Center, so I worked with two year olds and then I became a director there and it closed down and so I went on to Pittsburgh public schools. But even as a principal right now, I so miss teaching. I think it’s the best job ever. I just love being with students and connecting with them and helping them to see their potential and teach them you can learn as you can do this. So I think teaching was my dream job. As I look back, I feel like everything that happened and my life happened for a reason, so my son’s father was killed when my son was five years old, and so I feel like if I wouldn’t have had Jordan, his dad’s namesake wouldn’t live on and so even though at the time I felt like it was a challenge, it ended up being something positive and just to see him grow up and develop, I think it was all worthwhile and it it’s really hard because when you’re a teen mother, there are odds that are against you. Luckily for me, I was always really smart and I work really hard in school, so I was able to still be successful because having a child at a young age could also be a set back. But thankfully I had the support of my friends and more importantly, my family. My son really made me understand that I needed to grow up, and I needed to do so quickly. So there are some things that I didn’t do and I didn’t want somebody else to raise him. I wanted to raise him and so I had to make some sacrifices and I had to set some goals. My first goal was by the time my son was 5, to have my Bachelors in Education. So that I could get a job and provide for him the way that I felt was appropriate. My stepdaughter, she came into my life when she was seven years old, and that relationship has evolved too. As she gets older and it’s not something that you can force and so over time, we’ve become closer. She’s doing great things. She had some tough experiences too, growing up, but she still was able to persevere.
My kids show me that they come from some really hard times. Even though you try to protect them from those things and they can still be successful. I would just like to encourage young black girls in the Hill District community. You guys are strong, you’re resilient, you’re smart, you’re brilliant. Don’t let anybody tell you anything different. You are the leaders of the future. You determine who you will be and what you will be and how you will get there. It’s about choices. It’s about planning. It’s about determination and its about about hard work and commitment and a lot of the things that you want you might not get them in an easy fashion, but if you work hard and your heart’s in the right place, I think you can reach for the stars. You can do what you want to do. You can be successful. Don’t ever forget where you came from. The Hill District is your community and you always want to think. How can I give back? What can I do to give back and reach back to those that have uplifted me? So don’t forget when you get older about the kids that will be sitting in these seats where you are today, don’t forget about them and say how can I give back? How can I make a positive impact on our community and continue to grow what is already happening here?