Miriam Walden, new Government/Economics and World History teacher, has made it her goal in life to always serve others.
Her parents first introduced her to the concept of service when they moved to the Congo to serve in the Peace Corps when she was a child. She described the experience of living amidst the political turmoil as being extremely stressful. Furthermore, her time in Africa made her abandon all efforts to fit in. After being stared at by all of those around her because she was different, she learned to embrace herself for the “weirdo” she is. She learned to see the value in helping others.
While she had considered working in the Peace Corps as an adolescent, she grew to realize that she would prefer to serve those in the United States. She said of her decision, “When I got older, I wanted to do my service in my own community — I want to help those in my country.”
Walden decided to serve others in the United States by working for small nonprofit organizations. She ran a lone fund in Appalachian Kentucky and helped people start their own small businesses. She later moved to San Francisco and continued to do this.
She began to teach economics classes to community groups in the Bay Area. She worked in Richmond trying to help church leaders think about the politics of getting better housing and helped youth groups in East Palo Alto to become involved in economic planning in their community.
She described her experiences in saying, “I traveled around the country and around the state working with community groups that were doing things and tried to contribute to their effort by teaching them what they wanted to know about the economy.”
Though she did not make much money doing this kind of work, she found it extremely rewarding. During her time teaching, she realized how much she enjoyed working with young people because they questioned her and truly made her think. She decided to become a high school teacher because she believed it was the hardest thing she could possibly do, and she wanted to challenge herself with her work.
Walden began to serve on the Albany School Board when her eldest son was in kindergarten because she wanted to be involved in his education. She enjoyed her time on the School Board, and realized that her favorite part of her responsibilities was the time she spent at Albany High School, coming into classes and talking to students.
Now that she has finished her term and learned so much about AHS from the outside, she is excited to finally see things from the inside. Walden looks forward to serving Albany as a teacher this year because she knows the experience will be very rewarding. She said, “I’m one hundred percent confident I’m going to learn as much as I teach.”
