Jamestown Journey: Natty Teen to Now Natty Beacon Director
Natty has been part of the Jamestown community for more than 15 years. Her entry into the organization was as a middle schooler in our tutoring program at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 (BVHM). As soon as she was old enough, she quickly took on the opportunity to give back in her own way by becoming a tutor herself. Working closely with youth at a young age inspired her to continue her career in youth development.
Throughout the years at Jamestown, Natty has held many important positions such as Link Day Teacher supporting youth as they begin their school day, and as a Program Assistant, managing the many enrichment activities we support at our afterschool sites. Today we are fortunate to have her dedicated leadership as the James Lick Middle School Beacon Director, strengthening the connection between the daytime classroom and afterschool programming for students and families.
I would never have thought in a million years, this is where I would be at.
Thank you Natty for choosing to grow with us in supporting youth and families.
Give today and help Jamestown support growing leaders from within allowing us to remain a strong force in the community for another 50 years.
To learn more about Natty and her vision for supporting our community, please read more below:
Do you have any great memories in any past Jamestown positions?
I really enjoyed being a Tree House Facilitator at BVHM. I led their first girls group for 3 years. I love watching them grow as teens, problem-solve for themselves, and helping with their social and emotional learning. I saw how much the program changed them in really great ways.
I want to help them build better relationships with each other and their teachers– to have them feel like they can add more seeds in the garden of our community together.
What’s Jamestown's biggest strength?
I love what Jamestown's stands for - we help develop young staff into great tutors and teachers. It’s such a rewarding job - I get to see the community, staff and myself grow. In my current role, I appreciate getting the opportunity to build relationships with the school day staff and families feel the stability with my presence and involvement. I love that everyone feels welcome and is a part of Jamestown regardless of status, race and gender.
What are your hopes for our community?
In the future, I want to see our staff in more leadership roles, taking what they are already doing and turning it into more. For example, during the pandemic, we started self-care workshops with students, where we created space to meet and talk about our feelings and how to care for ourselves. The self-care class can become a self-care seminar with parents, and turn into something bigger.