This Kindergarten Teacher Wants to Foster the Belonging She Found at School

Ahead of the 2024 school year, PS's The Educators is spotlighting 24 public school teachers around the country who are making a difference.

Alicia Simba is a teacher at Prescott Elementary School in Oakland, CA. With four years of experience, she teaches transitional kindergarten, a grade that acts as a bridge between preschool and kindergarten. Having had caring teachers throughout her upbringing in Tanzania and while attending college in New York City, she wanted to "pay that love forward" as a teacher today. Keep reading to get to know her.

What inspired you to be a teacher?
Working at my campus daycare and seeing that teaching was a way to laugh and play every single day and I could make an impact in the lives of kids and their families every day.

What's the most rewarding part of your job?
Getting rushed with hugs from my kids each and every morning.

Who was your favorite teacher and why?
In high school, my chemistry teachers were these two Black men who were incredibly patient and gracious and would reteach their content to me after class because I would spend the whole period talking and then come to them stressed and confused afterwards!

What's your go-to teaching uniform?
Denim maxi skirt and a crop top.

What do you always make time for because it makes you feel good?
I have to go to the movies every week. It doesn't matter what's showing, just the experience of sitting in the dark and decompressing is amazing.

What's your morning routine on a school day?
Wake up, shower, get dressed, listen to a meditation podcast, drink a peanut butter and banana smoothie, and walk to work.

How do you practice self-care?
Going for long walks and hikes to be around nature and recenter.

What are you watching?
Jenn Tran's season of "The Bachelorette."

What are you reading?
"False Starts: The Segregated Lives of Preschoolers" by Casey Stockstill.

What's your fitness routine?
Every day I try do an hour of Trap Cardio, which is a YouTube channel with dance routines done to the music of Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, and more; it's run by Black women in a studio that is size-inclusive and super fun!

How do you keep from getting sick during the school year?
I don't play about my eight hours of sleep, so my body is always rested and ready to go.

What's your go-to feel-good music?
Girl rap! Flo Milli, Monaleo, Bia, Ice Spice, Latto, the list goes on and on.

Yerin Kim is the features editor at PS, where she helps shape the vision for special features and packages across the network. A graduate of Syracuse University's Newhouse School, she has over five years of experience in the pop culture and women's lifestyle spaces. She's passionate about spreading cultural sensitivity through the lenses of lifestyle, entertainment, and style.