New academic years bring opportunities to numerous constituents in a school, and first year teachers are no exception.
“As I move forward in education jobs, clarity is something that comes with every new job,” Philip Campbell said, Instructor of Education and first-year full time professor, here at Cabrini.
He is not the average educator. Before being an adjunct professor for Cabrini and the University of Pennsylvania, Campbell was a committee member, program director and even a principal in the Philadelphia area.
“I was the first person in the building, and the last person to leave,” Campbell said. Speaking about his one-time position as the principle at the Young Scholars Charter School in North Philadelphia. He describes it as an awesome experience, but still happy to be back at Cabrini.
“I hope this is a long-time-fit for me,” Campbell said, who is also a Cabrini graduate. The full-circle, 25-year relationship he shares with Cabrini is something that seems to give him solace: “I’m proud. It’s a special place.”
Campbell has an admirable view on why he teaches. “When I had 24 students I was impacting them, and hoped someday what I taught them would carry over to their children,” Campbell said. “Then I was a principle, with teachers below me who all had their own 24 students.” “To me, it meant my web was growing larger.”
This “web” Campbell is speaking about is something he takes very seriously. “Now I’m here, and if someday my students bring what I’ve taught them to the field and teach other students, my web keeps growing,” Campbell said.
While the goal he holds for himself is to ensure the reaches of his teaching, it is not solely a goal for him. The aspirations he has for the students here at Cabrini stem from his idea of the web. “I hope that I instill in my students a love for teaching and a love for impacting students,” Campbell said. “So it becomes the hallmark of their practice.”
