Evan Taylor

Evan Taylor is an outstanding junior in the Urban Education, Elementary Education program here at UIC with the goal of becoming a middle school Math teacher.  In addition to the 1000+ hours in the schools that is required for the Elementary Education degree program he has been extremely involved in uplifting the African American male community on campus.  While maintaining an active role with Holy Family Ministries as a Guidance Counselor and After School Director, Mr. Taylor is also currently involved with various student organizations and departments on campus.  He is a Student Ambassador for the African American Academic Network, was a Teaching Assistant and Researcher in the College of Education as well as a Principal Investigator with a faculty member researching how African American males learn mathematics through cultural practices.  He has also volunteered his time with the “I Have a Dream” Leadership Conference as a motivational speaker on how middle school students could use their high school courses to prepare them for college.

Mr. Taylor is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and the UIC Honors College.  He is an excellent student, maintaining a 3.75 GPA and his aspirations for excellence have inspired other students to excel academically.  He has a passion for working with black males and has become a mentor to several UIC students and students in the community.

Mr. Taylor maintains that “Teaching is my life, I cannot see myself doing anything else with my time here on Earth. Teaching is the means by which we set children free to imagine and we lose the chains off of the minds of adults.  Through teaching I have touched more lives and have been touched by more lives than I could have ever imagined. I have taught students of various backgrounds on the west and south sides of Chicago and have never felt more fulfilled than when I am interacting and conversing with students. No paycheck or other job can compare to when a kindergartener walks up to you and says that they remember you from when you read stories to them over the summer.  All of the works that I have done have not been for myself but have rather been for the people. All of the awards and accolades that I have received are not for me, but are for those who have paved the way for me, those who have stopped along the way to offer me advice and those who have allowed me to sit amongst them to teach me as I teach them.  My hope is that through teaching and learning from youth, I will continue to light up the darkness and by doing so at the end of my mortal journey I will be able to put on my crown that has already been bought.”