“Innovative,” “supportive” and “encouraging.” These are some of the words students used to describe seventh grade English teacher Sala Bandele.
As a teenager, Bandele attended Beverly Hills High School, where she was inspired to be a teacher after she observed a lack of diversity among her educators.
“There was usually never, or hardly ever, a Black academic teacher,” Bandele said. “I just felt like, when I was going to Beverly, I didn’t have a space where I felt like I could really be myself.”
Before working at Archer, Bandele worked at KIPP Capital Region Public School, a co-ed school. While working at the school, Bandele said she felt uncomfortable about her physical appearance on a daily basis.
“I think that because the staff was more diverse in gender, what we looked like definitely was more under a microscope,” Bandele said. “That was a bit uncomfortable for me at my first school, whereas here I don’t feel like that at all.”
Early in her career, Bandele said, she noticed the gender and racial pay gap in teaching, so she decided to work at Archer because she believes the school cares for the needs of the students and teachers. According to the Institute of Women’s Policy Research, Black women earn 67.4% of what white men earn.
When Bandele started working at Archer in 2022, she said it was an adjustment from teaching in a co-ed environment. Marcy Ponce (‘28) appreciates Bandele for being understanding towards her students and said Bandele helps her students on a deeper level than just academic teaching.
“She was able to understand me, step into my shoes in a way and know how I was struggling,” Ponce said. “She also helped me improve myself as a person and to try to be more mature with more decisions that I make.”
During the beginning of the year, Bandele said, most students are wary to think outside of the box. She said she challenges that head-on and tries to make students feel comfortable to take take risks.
“I was connected to one of the books, and then I didn’t say anything until she asked me questions about it,” Ponce said. “That’s when I was starting to open up about how I connected to the book, and I got out of my comfort zone and started talking more in classes.”
Abigail Ewing (‘30) said it is always stressful adjusting to new classes, but Bandele’s individualized support helped her adjust to a new course.
“I think she’s a good amount of supportive,” Ewing said. “She’ll push you to do your best work. She definitely knows you. She’ll pay attention to who you are and then also give you individual feedback a lot, so that like helps you grow.”
Bandele’s specialty in teaching is nurturing students’ individual learning, Ponce said. She said she implements this knowledge into her connections with students.
“One of my strengths as a person and as a teacher is my ability to develop, nurture and grow really strong relationships with my students,” Bandele said. “I really get to know who they are outside of just being an academic student.”
Bandele helped Ewing feel comfortable in the classroom and approach learning in a more positive manner. Bandele said her goal in teaching is to make her students feel heard and empowered to learn.
“I think that what I’ve seen in my life before Archer is that the teachers that stand out are the ones who care about the entire you,” Bandele said “The teachers that typically don’t stand out are the ones who are there to simply teach you the material and go home.”
Not does Bandele want to nurture the students as individuals, she also wants to help them become excited to explore things about their own lives.
“It helps me to get them to be more invested [in class], and then they become more intrinsically motivated to do whatever it is they want to do,” Bandele said. “Not just in the classroom, but in their real lives as well.”
Elizabeth English • Jan 27, 2025 at 1:48 pm
Lovely feature! Thank you for celebrating our faculty and their extraordinary dedication.