One Arkansas teacher is proving that commitment can go a long way after driving hundreds of miles a day to do what she loves at the Pine Bluff School District.
PINE BLUFF, Ark. — For many, teaching is a calling, and for Raven Wright, that calling led her down a highway three hours each way to reach her classroom in Pine Bluff.
“I got a call from Mr. Laurent, and they were like, We want to offer you a job. And I was like, Can I call you back in like, five minutes? Because I called my parents and I called my boyfriend, and was like, I don’t know if I should take it, it’s almost three hour commute, but I don’t want to do anything else, like I was almost refusing to do anything else besides teach,” Wright said.
After graduating from Lyon College in 2024, Wright knew she wanted to teach English, but finding her first classroom wasn’t easy.
“500 miles a day. Yeah, it was a struggle,” Wright said.
She began teaching under an emergency certification and later joined the Arkansas Teacher Corps, a program that works to address teacher shortages in high-need districts like Pine Bluff.
“Superintendent Barbaree actually pretty much told me it was insane when I was driving. And so once I had gotten into Arkansas Teacher Corps and knew that that was a three year commitment, they had some hesitancy, because I was commuting from Searcy at a bare minimum, which is still a bit of a commute,” she explained.
Her commitment soon caught the attention of Home Again Pine Bluff.
“The one that I got was I bought the house, I got a grant for being a teacher in the district, and that paid my down payment, and I think the first year of insurance on the house,” Wright said.
Now, her commute is down to just eight minutes, giving her more time to show up for her students both in and out of the classroom.
“I go to more functions for my kids. I’ve been at every football game, minus the two that were out of state,” she added.
Wright said that her passion for teaching, her love for English, and her students help keep her motivated every day.
“I love my kids, and I think that’s why I come to work, because any of the day to day, I guess adulting aspects of teaching would drive anyone crazy. But… that’s what keeps me in this profession,” Wright said.
And despite never having visited Pine Bluff before taking the job, it’s now a place she’s proud to call home.
“I had never stepped foot in Pine Bluff prior to getting a job here, but since being here, all of the stigma that I’ve heard and grew up in around this town, I don’t really see it, and I love my kids, like at the end of the day,” Wright said.
From hundreds of miles on the road to building a life in the classroom, Wright’s journey is a testament to dedication, community, and the power of showing up.
