As a Teaching Fellow at Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia, Rex Yin carried a
small card in his folder with a personal reminder: Be the best teacher you can be.
“That was like my daily mantra...and part of that was being authentic to myself,” he said. Whether rejoicing in the best classroom moments or wrestling with the difficult ones, the most important thing is “recognizing that those are the ways that we can grow as educators.”
He was a Teaching Fellow in the summers of 2013 and 2014, and returned to Breakthrough in 2019 as an Instructional Coach for Middle School Science, guiding aspiring educators on their professional paths.
Now an education researcher and practitioner, Rex’s own journey reflects a resiliency and curiosity ignited by growing up in an immigrant community, and a steadfast commitment to engendering the bestpossible educational outcomes for underserved children.
Born in Thailand to Cambodian war refugee parents, the family moved to the U.S. when Rex was two years old. They moved again when he was 4, this time to Philadelphia, where he attended public schools and immersed himself in the Cambodian community through faith-based voluntary work and activities.
His parents gave him “free rein” to explore his interests, he said, and he studied culinary arts at vocational high school Jules E. Mastbaum. An English teacher recognized his academic potential and guided him to work with an educational non-profit organization to apply to college. He enrolled at Gettysburg College in 2010. During his sophomore year, he took a course on immigration, culture and education that led to a decisive turn in his path. Rex had to research the education experiences of an ethnic community in the U.S. – he worked on a project on Cambodian Americans in Philadelphia.
“It unraveled so much that I wasn’t aware of,” said Rex. “It even explained my own journey in
education...that it wasn’t normal to have outdated textbooks, it wasn’t normal to walk through metal detectors day after day, it wasn’t normal to hear teachers talk about that we just don’t have enough, and we’re going to do what we can with what we have.”
Seeing more clearly the inequities of the education system in minority communities, Rex designed a major in educational research with a focus on education diversity and culture. Next step was to get some “meaningful” hands-on experience, so he became a Teaching Fellow at Breakthrough.
“At Breakthrough is where it really felt personal,” he said. “That first summer revealed so much about the field of education, the professional development opportunities and connecting with current educators, people from other education-focused organizations and the work they are doing.” He returned the following year to deepen the learning of teaching skills and the connections with budding and established educators.
His experience with Breakthrough instilled in him the certainty that middle school years are
crucial for children’s futures, and after college, he earned his Master of Education at Eastern University, and worked as a Middle School Science teacher in Philadelphia for seven years, from 2016 to 2022.
Rex remained involved in the Cambodian community, writing grants for educational programs
as a volunteer at the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia, and eventually joined the organization full-time to establish children and youth educational support programs and partnerships, all the while continuing to advocate for equity in education.
Rex’s advocacy work paved the way to the next phase in his career, when he joined Acelero Learning, a provider of equity-centered kindergarten education programs. He worked with the Mayor’s Office for Children and Families on a Pre-K initiative, developing and facilitating training on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) to more than 200 early education providers in Philadelphia. He is currently the DEIB Manager for Acelero.
From his experience at Breakthrough, Rex still holds some valuable insights.
“I really appreciate the empowered learning culture of Breakthrough, which means that there is autonomy and opportunity,” he said. Although the Fellows have specific roles during the summer program, there is room for creativity and agency in the student-centered teaching experience, said Rex.
For future Teaching Fellows, he hopes they take time to rest, restore and be genuine.
“Many successful educators have always seen rest as an act of recovery but also of active resistance...so for the Teaching Fellows committed to really not just teaching but also fighting for education and justice, prioritizing well-being is a way for us to continue that fight day after day.”
Standing in front of a classroom of young students can be like staring into a mirror, so the wa y to succeed is to be “your authentic self,” said Rex. “The children you teach have a way in which they can bring the best out of you, and they can also bring the worst out of you...and in those moments is whenwe can actually think about how we are being the best that we can be.”
Carrying a little note card as a reminder to be the best is always an option.