My name is Ariel Flemming and I think leading is something that comes natural to me. I have a drive that makes me want to do better and do more at all times. I think this impacts the people around me. When I reflect back on events in my life I have noticed that people tend to feel that what I am doing would help them and jump on board, or they praise me for what I have done. At the same time, I’m not necessarily aware that it is happening in the moment. So, when I was a young girl, growing up in Jackson, Mississippi, in YPP and the Algebra Project (AP) I was not aware of myself as a leader, but looking back on it and seeing where I am today, I guess upon reflection, I always had leader potential.
I was in the 7th or 8th grade when Omo asked me and 4 other students to go with him to do a graphing calculator training for some of the teachers in the MS Delta. This involved us going down and actually hosting workshops with them, teaching them how to use the different functions on the graphing calculator. They were using the calculator as a new teaching tool in their Algebra 1 classes but were afraid of the technology. It was sort of a generational give back type of thing – the older generation had not caught up with the technology, so it was like teaching them how to use a computer. I felt like I knew something that the teachers did not know. It was a good feeling to know that I could teach the teachers something they needed to help their students. Teachers would ask, “How did you learn this so fast?” and “Does this really help you?” This experience made me feel that I was enabling other students to have some of the same experiences I was having, which made me feel really good about myself.
I can’t remember if I chose YPP, or if YPP chose me. We grew up in the Algebra Project classes at Brinkley Middle School. In the summer before 6th grade we did a summer program with Bob Moses, and then in 6th grade Ms. Lynn Moss was my math teacher. She taught us “Trip Line”, “Make Do”, and “The Winding Game”. In 7th grade I did not have an Algebra Project teacher, so we used the traditional book method. In 8th grade I had Mrs. Byrd, who used some Algebra Project methods, but still stayed close the text book. Going to YPP became a way out of the traditional book learning for me. I was thinking, “How can I get the same feeling back that I had when I was in 6th grade?”
In AP and YPP our culture was more family oriented. We just felt happy to be together, thinking about “ What can we give today, and how can we help students?”. We were excited about learning and about the fact that we could actually use what we were learning to help others, and we loved the different experiences that we were entitled to have when working with Omo and Taba Moses. We created the “Math Lab” together, and it was exciting to be a part of something where we could leave our mark.
In high school I took two different buses in order to get to Brinkley after school so I could continue to be in YPP. I was in the International Baccalaureate program (IB), which again took me away from the AP and YPP way of thinking back to a more traditional style of learning. Being in YPP helped me to stay connected to the learning strategy, which also helped me in school. Some of my IB teachers asked me to be a peer teacher in class and after school because of what I had learned in the AP and in YPP, and one of my math teachers would occasionally ask me to help her teach a topic in class.
In 2005 I Graduated from Tenessee State University with a degree in electrical engineering. Since then I have been happily working with Proctor & Gamble in a number of leadership and managerial roles. One thing I have really enjoyed is when I am able to make a difference in someone’s career and professional development by helping them learn new methods of thinking or problem solving to help them move to the next level. Through most of my work I want to enable someone else’s day to be easier. I like to help people to get from where they are now to where they want to go.
When I first started working as a direct line manager of electrical technicians and doing troubleshooting, I would find myself always going back to the 6th grade, and the “Make Do” exercise we did. I would think, “Something is not working, what’s the short term fix, what’s the long terms fix, and how can I execute it.” Based on this thinking I introduced a new troubleshooting process to my employees. Now people in my old groups tell me that they still use the methods I introduced, even with the new managers that have come.
I started working at Proctor and Gamble at the age of 22, and my direct reports aged in range from 25 to 56. This took me back to YPP when I was in the 8th grade and facilitating to teachers. My desire was always to make them feel that I was trying to help them rather than tell them what to do. Now I’m seen as a great communicator and a great collaborator. I think in part this comes from what I learned in YPP about how to help people navigate through a process that enables them to develop their own solutions, rather than telling them the answer or how to get it. In YPP I also learned how to teach and help people of different age ranges and with different learning styles and I apply this knowledge in my daily work. The needs of a 25 year old technician who learns by trying out the equipment with minimal instructions are different from the needs of a 50 year old technician who learns by reading an instructional manual and blueprint. I am almost able to sense a person’s learning style by talking to them and then can relay a task to them in a way that matches their learning style.
I think YPP is important because it is seeking to fill an academic void that is in existence for students in traditionally marginalized areas in the United States. Through this fight for quality education YPP is not only preparing students academically, it is also preparing students socially and professionally. I never realized how much of a connection there was between the work I did in YPP as a student and what I do now until I started affecting those around me. YPP has truly been a life changing experience for me and has allowed me to change the life experience of others.
or if you prefer you may also use
to make your donation.
