The bus came to a stop and a new group boarded.

But Jessica Rosario and her fellow riders weren’t in for a typical bus ride. Their driver was taking the new Binghamton residents on a tour of the city, and it’s a ride that has a greater purpose.

Rosario and the group are actually new teachers from surrounding areas, learning where their students come from, and discovering key locations in a city where more than half of all children live in poverty.


What You Need To Know

  • New teachers from surrounding areas took time to learn where their students come from and discover key locations in the city

  • In Binghamton, more than half of all children live in poverty

  • The Binghamton City School District is welcoming over 50 new teachers and staff members this year 

“I understand the disparities, and I hope that the students will know that I can relate to them if they feel indifferent,” said Rosario, a West Middle School long-term substitute.

Like many of her students, Rosario came from a lower-income home. She grew up downstate, working her way through schools in the Bronx, where higher education wasn’t always in reach. She hopes her story inspires students to never stop pushing for their goals.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re coming from. We all can get wherever it is that we wish to go to, whether it is that you want to be a cook, an astronaut, the president. It doesn’t matter what path you were dealt in your life. You can achieve that,” said Rosario.

Witnessing where her students come from, Rosario knows her role goes far beyond the classroom, and she hopes to relate to them in more ways than one.

“I might be a little bit older than them at this time, but I was there once and our stories are probably not that different from one another,” said Rosario.

The Binghamton City School District is welcoming over 50 new teachers and staff members this year alone.