Traci D. Manuel is a 10th grade advanced English II teacher at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As a child, Manuel faced many academic challenges that brought her back to the classroom to ensure, like educator Marva Collins, that she unlocked the brilliance that was inside of every student. She helped do that for several hundred students  by  designing  a district-level leadership course and curriculum,  directing  the AVID college prep program,  creating  the summer reading service learning project and Women of Power class.

Manuel’s fierceness, dedication and unique teaching methods, inside and outside of the classroom, have always caused her to be a motivator and champion for all children. Her unconventional path to teaching shows her that the difference starts in the classroom. This teaching path started for her as a graduate student, where she began studying the effects of the achievement gap on African American students at Ann Arbor Public School District. The outcome of this study propelled her to dive deeper into the data to see if there were similar disparaging academic parallels within her hometown, where the infamous Tulsa Race Massacre took place. Motivated to make a difference, she moved back to Tulsa to be a long-term substitute and moved through the ranks as to become a teacher assistant, parent facilitator and finally a certified classroom teacher.

Manuel holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Philander Smith University  and has 12 years of teaching experience.