Alan Llavore | Office of Marketing and Communications | (909) 537-5007 | allavore@csusb.edu
As Maria Gadsden, M.A. ’18, educational administration, stood on the deck of the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls last July, the roar of the water was deafening. She was participating in Footsteps to Freedom, an eight-day journey retracing the route of the Underground Railroad from Ohio to Canada with other educators from throughout the Inland Empire.
“We all felt like the water was baptizing us,” she said. “I felt invigorated, and I felt a new energy for teaching.”
When she returned home, inspired by the experience, she knew she was ready to use that energy for new challenges. She applied to become a California Education Policy Fellow, and in late September learned that she was selected as one of only 21 fellows for the 2025-26 term.
The fellowship, sponsored by the Institute for Educational Leadership, connects professionals across K-12 and higher education throughout California to explore leadership and policy. Over the next year, fellows will meet in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. to discuss how classroom experience can inform educational reform.
“I’ve always loved teaching,” she said. “But now, I want to use my voice to advocate for students — especially those whose voices are often unheard.
“After being in the classroom for 35 years, I’ve seen a lot of programs and curriculums and initiatives come and go, and I really would like to see something that is more targeted for African American students, for Black students, at the state level.”
In addition to her role as a California Education Policy Fellow, she was also selected to participate in San Bernardino City Unified School District’s (SBCUSD) Future Administrators Program, which prepares teachers for leadership roles in the district.
“I’ll always be a teacher at heart,” she said. “But I believe I can make a greater impact on more students as an administrator.”
Gadsden’s belief in the importance and power of education is reflected in her own academic pursuits.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in child development from Cal State Fullerton. That was followed by a master’s degree, a teaching credential and a doctorate in education from Claremont Graduate University. In 2018, she earned a master’s degree in educational administration at Cal State San Bernardino and is currently pursuing a third master’s degree, this one in reading, from Cal State Fullerton.
“When I earned my master’s in educational administration through Cal State San Bernardino, that’s really where my career took a whole new turn,” she said.
She credits her experience at CSUSB with broadening her perspective and connecting her with influential mentors, including Wil Greer, CSUSB assistant professor of educational leadership. Greer is also the director of the Equity and Targeted Student Achievement (ETSA) department at SBCUSD.
“Through my classes with him, I began thinking about educating Black children specifically and addressing the education gap that we see in their learning,” Gadsden said.
That gap, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, shows that in 2022, only 30 percent of Black students in California met English standards and 16 percent met math standards, compared with 61 percent and 48 percent of white students, respectively.
“These numbers represent real children,” she said. “They deserve the same opportunities to thrive.”
So, after 20 years with a neighboring school district, in 2023, Gadsden joined SBCUSD as a second-grade teacher in the SANKOFA magnet program, finding what she calls her “professional home.”
“Here, I have a voice. I am supported. I feel loved,” she said. “I can grow as an educator.”
The SANKOFA model, the first of its kind in California, is designed to empower students through culture, history and rigorous academics. “SANKOFA means reaching back into your past for knowledge and wisdom that impact your present and your future,” she said. “It’s good teaching for all students, and all students are welcome, but the majority of our students are Black.”
In her classroom, Gadsden’s students are surrounded by books and images that reflect their identities. “When they see themselves represented, it builds confidence,” she said. “Every day, I tell them they’re brilliant and come from a long line of brilliant people.
“My charge is for my students to go home every day and teach their parents what they’ve learned in class so that we’re not just educating the students in our classroom, but we’re educating families and uplifting the family — and the whole community, really.”
Gadsden also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in CSUSB’s Teacher Education and Foundations Department, preparing future educators to meet the needs of diverse learners.
“I want teachers to be valued as professionals,” Gadsden said. “It’s not just our job to take curriculum and then disperse that to students. I always tell my Cal State San Bernardino students that there’s an art to teaching. We have a lot of knowledge, and I would like to see us use that in the classroom.”
Reflecting on her goals as an education advocate and her upcoming year as a policy fellow, Gadsden said, “I want to advocate for Black students the way I have seen English-language learners advocated for in the state of California through cross-cultural language and academic development, which is state mandated.
“There are integrated strategies that we put into our lesson plans to help students become fluent in English,” she said. “I would like to see that same energy and enthusiasm go into programs for African American students, lessons that are culturally responsive that consider environment, culture and the experiences of our Black students.”