I am Crystal Gilstrap, a secondary English Language Arts teacher at Phoenix Academy. I am an Atlanta native and a product of the Atlanta Public Schools System. I received my bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in Composition and Rhetoric as well as my Master's Degree in Secondary English from Georgia State University. I am currently in my 12th year as an educator. With each year of my career, I have experienced changes and challenges and each and every one of those experiences has made me a stronger teacher, mentor, teammate, and leader. I have worked in urban, Title I schools my entire career and have developed a passion for inspiring students to create futures that are brighter than their pasts. Every student that walks into my classroom is met with the belief that each of them can be better today than they were yesterday. In my free-time, I enjoy spending time with my family, playing board games, reading and watching movies. My favorite book is Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown. I have read this book more times than I can count and I even have a signed copy that I was gifted as high school student.