Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Jonté Lee


As per my Sunday tradition, today the individual who is deserving of our praise is Jonté Lee, who is a high school physics and chemistry teacher at Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington D.C. Teaching high school in D.C. is, by itself, praiseworthy, but that is not the reason for his honored spot in my Sunday blog.

From The Epoch Times:

Known for going above and beyond in the classroom, Lee delighted students during the early 2020 lockdown when he set up a functional chemistry lab in his home kitchen. He went viral for this 2020 attempt to enrich his students’ virtual learning experience. Doing this during Covid was also praiseworthy, but nonetheless, that is not the reason for his honored spot in my Sunday piece.

Once a corporate marketing specialist, Lee has been teaching in Washington public schools for the last nine years. “My first call to teaching was when I volunteered for the ‘Big Brother Big Sister’ program while working in the private sector,” he explained. “There, I would read to my little brother twice a week. I liked it so much that I sought out to become a teacher.

“I enjoy making meaningful connections with students and pushing them academically forward. My greatest joy is seeing them grapple and learn a concept … Through teaching, I found my life’s passion.”

Like a lot of individuals Jonté Lee had student loans, and he owed a fair amount on these loans. Lee’s original student loans comprised $16,574 in 2004, $25,413 in 2005, and another $25,413 in 2006, totaling to just over $67,400 by graduation. With late fees and two deferments, said Lee, his principal balance was $88,339.90 exactly. Between 2008 and 2018, Lee paid roughly $400 a month in loan repayments, without a fixed interest rate or loan consolidation. But by May 2018, he had only paid off $33,067 of the principal balance, and at some point he decided that this situation needed to change.

Lee recalls his biggest challenge as having to change his attitude toward money. He felt embarrassed by the amount of debt he had accumulated.

He said, “I know what it is like to wake up in the middle of the night with a suffocating feeling of fear. I know what it is like to have my credit card swiped and pray that it goes through,” he confided. “For 12 years, I beat myself up about my student loans because I knew that some of that money did not go towards schooling. It went towards me having a good time.”

Jonté didn’t complain. He didn’t whine for someone else to pay off the debt he had accumulated. Instead he went “full throttle.”

“I worked extra jobs,” the teacher explained. “I taught additional classes after school and during the summer … I also drove for Uber and took on extra project jobs that involved teaching.”

“Working multiple jobs was exhausting and there were moments where I wanted to quit,” he admitted. “My original intent was to pay off my student loans in eight months … I had to readjust.”

After one year of careful planning and immense hard work, Lee officially paid off his outstanding $57,000 debt. He did the right thing, paying off his entire loan with hard work and a lot of sweat.

Truly Jonté Lee is a laudable individual.

4/10/22

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