{"id":161154,"date":"2025-01-08T11:32:22","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T18:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=161154"},"modified":"2025-01-08T14:02:54","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T21:02:54","slug":"from-classroom-to-crown-fatima-stansell-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=161154","title":{"rendered":"From classroom to crown | Fatima Stansell \u201924"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fatima Stansell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Following her May 2024 graduation from UCCS, Fatima Stansell has seamlessly transitioned from student to educator and now to a celebrated pageant winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just five months after graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Inclusive Elementary Education, Fatima was crowned Ms. Black Colorado USA 2025. She also has endorsements in Special Education (SPED) and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education (CLD).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Fatima with her crown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As Ms. Black Colorado USA 2025, her platform – Bridging the Literacy Gap \u2013 ties directly to what she hopes to accomplish in her kindergarten classroom at Colorado Springs District 11\u2019s Adams Elementary School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Reading truly is fundamental, and I am committed to making a lasting impact,” she said, highlighting her mission to raise awareness about literacy challenges and support students in developing essential skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prestigious title is her first-ever pageant experience, and it has been nothing short of life-changing. As she prepares to compete at the national level in August 2025, the mother of two and first-generation college graduate is looking forward to watching her students grow and thrive, both academically and emotionally. She said her job in D11 underscores her commitment to fostering a nurturing and inclusive educational environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with FOX21 News<\/a>, Fatima said as one of very few African-American teachers in the region, she wants to be a positive role model and represent her community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause a lot of our children come in and they\u2019re dysregulated, and so my job and what I like to do is help them regulate themselves and build confidence. A lot of it is confidence,\u201d she said. \u201cI use it as a confidence piece to them, showing them, \u2018hey, this can be done. No matter where you are, no matter what community you live in, [there are] people to look up to.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As another way to further her mission of inclusivity and literacy, Fatima hosts literacy hours at local libraries and creates videos for parents about how to help their children read. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Fatima, crowned Ms. Black Colorado USA 2025 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

She said several mentors at UCCS played a crucial role in her development as a student and as an educator including Henrietta Williams Pichon, Margaret Scott, Leslie Grant Ph.D., Dan DeCelles, Kylie Swanson, and Katie Anderson-Pence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir guidance and encouragement motivated me to keep pushing forward and achieve my goals,\u201d Fatima said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her choice to attend UCCS was influenced by the Chancellor\u2019s Award Scholarship, which helped offset her school expenses while traveling to campus from Denver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdditionally, I benefited from funding for the Praxis exam and a student educator stipend through the Removing Barriers to Educator Preparation Act,\u201d Fatima said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her time at UCCS, Fatima founded Krimson Kourt Inc. (KKI) in 2022. The multicultural community service organization provided her with sisterhood with other first-generation and multi-cultural students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese organizations allowed me to make a meaningful impact on campus and beyond,\u201d Fatima said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her advice to current UCCS students is simple yet profound: “Keep going. The journey is worth it, and the opportunities that await you are limitless. Keep your head held high, and don\u2019t be afraid to advocate for yourself.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following her May 2024 graduation from UCCS, Fatima Stansell has seamlessly transitioned from student to educator and now to a celebrated pageant winner. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":161155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,427,47],"tags":[370,369,82,332],"class_list":["post-161154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-alumni-stories","category-education-and-public-affairs","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-success","tag-college-of-education","tag-more-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Fatima_Stansell_1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-FVg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=161154"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161169,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161154\/revisions\/161169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/161155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=161154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=161154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=161154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}