#DreamBIG

Ni Hao! My name is Mercedes Yarbrough students know me as Miss Mercedes.  I am a multi-racial woman mixed with Black, White, and Native American from the hite Earth Ojibwa tribe. I am a mother to 4 BOYS! Besides my family :) , I LOVE sneakers, sports, and creating new things. I have worked in the education system for 10 years, and am currently the Intervention Specialist at a Chinese Mandarin Immersion School in the Saint Paul Public School District in Minnesota. Over the last 10 years i specialized working in Special Ed, behavior, and  spent my summers serving as a Freedom School Servant Leader Intern. During this time I became aware of the broken inequality in the school system. Much of the curriculum was outdated and was not culturally relevant to  its students. Growing up I remember being the only brown girl in the room learning about slavery and all eyes were on me to see my reaction. I wanted to change that so I created curriculum that makes our kids of color  feel empowered by their history and not ashamed. After covid I noticed how the world was shifting into a tech world. So decided to create Mizz Mercedez which is me in the virtual world making learning fun through Art, Games and Technology through culturally relevant curriculum.  Besides creating I am a big advocate for LOVE IS POWER! I believe that whenever you do anything with love it will bring power to the situation. I give everyone I encounter LOVE whether its smiles, hugs, laughs.