Teaching In A High-Need School

It's a well known fact that high-need schools are located in low income communities. More commonly known is the logical fact that people with lower incomes have lesser access to top class education, professional counseling and luxuries that people with better incomes can afford. The people who live in these communities belong to the lower tiers of economic class and have their own fair share of  problems that arise from living in densely populated areas. Children growing up in these areas remain more exposed to unwholesomeness, corruption and lack of social values since it is extremely difficult to isolate them and provide them with appropriate environment in their impressionable years.   I, myself have grown up in a low income community, and am very familiar with the kinds of problems that teachers and students face every day. My experienced as a child has given me a foundation to teach  effectively in any educational level and environment I desire.  In my view, high-need schools require teachers with skills that surpass their academic qualifications. Being passionate about teaching, I know that a board approved curriculum is only a basic foundation that needs to be customized depending upon the environment it is being taught in and the students it is being disseminated to. In a high need-school, students should be taught more about life in their existing circumstances and the plethora of socially correct choices they can actually make in their daily actions. I say from my own personal observations, that a large number of youngsters face social afflictions and dilemmas in their lives on regular basis. These include mal/unhealthy nutrition, easy access to drugs, parents who are drug addicts or alcoholics, physical and sexual abuse at home or institutions, unhealthy sexual practices, STDs, bad hygiene, teen pregnancies,prostitution and so on. As a teenager, I had always dreamt of being strong enough to contribute positively to affliction ridden societies.  Working in a high-need area school is definitely difficult, but it is also rewarding. One gets to help students build a base knowledge which they may never get without an education. Most of the students come to school because it is the one place that they feel safe and they are driven for the routine and schedule that they may not get at home. To work in a high-need school, one needs to have patience, flexible, caring and I know I have these traits and I can use them in my job effectively enough to teach in a high-need school  .