PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Michelle Palmer, executive director of Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia, is helping build the next generation of talented teachers while also addressing summer learning loss.
The organization’s summer teaching fellows are college students from across the country.
“All around the country, we’re seeing people leave the field, and so we want to make sure, especially in Philadelphia, that we are trying to build that pipeline and make sure that we show it as a viable career,” she said.
Each summer, academically motivated students are invited to a free program that keeps the learning going and exposes them to future careers. Once for kids in grades seventh through ninth, under Palmer, it’s been expanded to grades 5-12, and it has been well-received.
“We put a lot of effort into our programming to make sure it’s fun while they’re learning at the same time,” she said. “While we focus on math, science, literature and writing, we make it really fun where they sometimes forget that they’re even doing that.”
In its over 30-year history, Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia has educated more than 1,600 students and trained more than 525 teaching fellows. Palmer took the helm at Breakthrough five years ago, and this will be the first time she will see students she has followed in the program graduate.
“I’m so excited for that, just to see them come from seventh grade, when they started with us, to now where they are,” she said. “We were able to provide them with high school SAT support, where one of them started off with like a 900 and now is up to a 1,300 on his SATs.”
She feels humbled to have been recognized for her passion.
“It’s bringing tears to my eyes, honestly,” she said. “I feel really grateful, and I feel really blessed. I love my job. I mean, it doesn’t feel like coming to work for me.”
During Black History Month, KYW Newsradio’s GameChangers honors individuals or organizations that have made a significant, positive impact in communities of color in the greater Philadelphia region. View the 2026 honorees here.