After years working in music, security, and student support roles, Daniel Wilkerson found his calling in the classroom. Now he's helping Chicago students see what's possible for their futures and their education.
When Daniel Wilkerson walks into Emil G. Hirsch Metropolitan High School in Grand Crossing each morning, he's not just arriving at work, he's returning to the community that helped shape him. A lifelong Chicagoan, Daniel teaches special education science at Hirsch, where he works with students across biology, chemistry, and physics. But his path to the classroom wasn't a straight line.
Before becoming a Teach For America corps member, he spent nearly a decade teaching music. He also worked security jobs, navigated career changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually found himself back in schools through Chicago Public Schools' Tutor Corps program, supporting students in mathematics intervention. That experience changed everything.
"I love coming to school," Daniel said. "I love to see the students every day. I love to see them succeed. I love sharing what knowledge I have and what resources I have. I've always wanted a job where I could help and do some positive good, and this seemed like a great job to do that." Today, Daniel is in his second year as a corps member at Hirsch, balancing classroom teaching with graduate studies while helping students navigate both academic and personal challenges.
Coming Home to Serve
Teaching in the city where he grew up gives Daniel a perspective many educators spend years trying to build. He lives just minutes from his school and often sees students in the neighborhood on his way to work. "I definitely feel like I have an advantage," he said. "We're all in the same area. I've talked to a lot of other corps members, and a lot of them are coming from different areas of the country. It can be tough to connect with people who grew up differently."
For Daniel, the connection feels natural because many of the experiences his students are navigating aren't far removed from his own. That reality becomes especially clear when he works alongside educators who once taught him. One of his daily teaching responsibilities includes co-teaching a biology class with Hirsch's principal because the school, like many across Chicago, faces teacher shortages. The experience is made even more meaningful by a surprising detail: The principal was Daniel's own biology teacher when he was a student at King College Prep.
"It's really funny because she keeps referring back to when I was in high school," he said with a laugh. "She'll say, 'You remember this assignment, don't you?'" For Daniel, those moments offer a new appreciation for the educators who helped guide him. "It's really revealing," he said. "Seeing, okay, this is what my teachers were going through."
Building Relationships That Matter
Ask Daniel about his favorite memories from teaching, and he doesn't immediately talk about grades or test scores. Instead, he talks about one student. The student transferred to Hirsch after struggling at a previous school that lacked the supports he needed. At first, Daniel found the student challenging. He regularly skipped school, tested boundaries, and seemed determined to push every button possible. But over time, something changed.
The student began showing up more consistently. He started completing assignments, asking for help, attending after-school support sessions, and working toward the credits he needed to move on to the school he wanted to attend. As their relationship developed, Daniel watched the student transform. "We built a relationship that was based on 'stop punching people,'" he joked. Beneath the humor, though, was a deeper connection. "He really grew on me," Daniel said. "I think I had an impact on him, too. We worked on attention to tasks and getting work done. He utilized every resource he had to get everything done that he needed."
By the end of the year, the student had earned strong grades and moved on to pursue new opportunities. "I'm really sad that he left," Daniel said. "We had a good relationship." It's the kind of relationship that reminds Daniel why he chose this profession in the first place.
More Than a Teacher
Daniel and a fellow corps member at TFA’s Jingle Mingle
While teaching full-time, Daniel is also working toward multiple graduate degrees, including a Master's in Education with a focus on technology integration. His interest in technology comes from a desire to create greater access for students, especially multilingual learners and students with disabilities. At Hirsch, many students speak Spanish as their primary language. Daniel sees technology as a powerful way to ensure every student can fully participate in learning. "I want to do some sort of assistive technology," he said. "I want to have that impact to give access to as many students as I can because education is a game changer." His colleagues have already started turning to him as a technology resource, and he hopes to continue expanding that work in the future, whether in the classroom or in a broader leadership role.
Showing Up Every Day
For Daniel, student trust isn't built through elaborate strategies or clever classroom management techniques; It's built through consistency. When asked about how he develops strong relationships with young people, his answer was simple. "You really just have to be genuine and consistent," he said. Students, he believes, can tell when adults genuinely care about their success. "You've got to be yourself and bring the best version of yourself to the classroom every day," he said. "If they see that you're in it for them, they'll trust you." That philosophy has become the foundation of his work as an educator.
After a career that has taken him from music classrooms to security jobs, from tutoring programs to science labs, it's clear Daniel has found where he belongs. "I definitely see myself doing something with education," he said. "Education is a game changer." For the students walking the halls of Hirsch High School today, that game-changing impact starts with seeing someone who came from their city, understands their experiences, and shows up every day determined to help them succeed.