“I can’t help but think that Read Alliance seeded in me the notion of what teaching and education could do.”
When he was little, the closest thing Michael Partis, now 33, had to a male role model was a neighbor in his South Bronx building named Thomas, a family friend who Partis could see wanted to be a positive influence in the neighborhood. Michael’s father was incarcerated at that time and his mother and grandmother couldn’t always watch him closely, and so he would occasionally go with Thomas to buy a water and cookies or to play chess in the park.
During his freshman year of high school, Partis learned of the Read Alliance program and, though he had never worked with youth before, signed up to be a teen leader. “I thought it was a good, logical way to teach reading and I liked going into the school. I felt one-on-one time [with the student] was important. I never had one-on-one attention like that, and it makes a difference.” Partis learned the value of modeling behavior through the “my turn, our turn, your turn” word-repetition tactic that is central to the Reading for All Learners curriculum Read Alliance employs.
In high school, Partis also began running track, and found his first male mentor in his coach, Mr. Brunelle Griffith. “He was relatable, had high expectations for us and a way of modeling the behavior and ideals he felt we should carry in the world,” says Partis. “He was not a stereotypical, hyper-masculine guy. When [my teammates and I] graduated high school, he gave us books.”
After high school, Partis majored in African-American Studies and Philosophy at Fordham University, where he helped to create a college access program for students of a local community-based organization, including a college student-shadowing component. He then studied in CUNY Graduate Center’s Cultural Anthropology Program, where he served as program coordinator for Hunter College’s Black and Latino Male Initiative, which featured a mentorship component. Partis then taught at Borough of Manhattan Community College and Brooklyn College.
“Read Alliance put me on that path,” says Partis. ”I had the organization on my resume and it kept opening doors to other opportunities. Once you have experience: Boom! Another opportunity appears. Now someone wants to be your reference: Boom! Read Alliance exposed me to the classroom and it exposed me to instruction.”
Today, Partis lives in suburban Long Island with his wife and three children but still is committed to South Bronx communities. Currently, he is co-editing, with Fordham University Professor Mark Naison, a volume of post-1970 oral histories from Bronx residents, and working on a series of essays about innovation, kinship, and social networks in South Bronx Hip Hop. Michael is also facilitating workshops for youth and college students throughout New York City. His focus on local communities and neighborhood-based initiatives stems from his early experiences at Read Alliance. “I think change happens by getting as close as possible to the population that the result is focused on,” says Partis. “I can’t help but think that Read Alliance seeded in me the notion of what teaching and education could do.”