Who says you can't go home again? Not me.
This week I visited the New Hartford Central School District and spent all day visiting with the local union, the New Hartford Teachers Association, led by Natasha Homa, and I also chatted with the NHEU members who work in the school buildings.
I had not been back on the New Hartford campus since I graduated high school in 1987. I spent time with the educators at several schools, but we ended our tour at my childhood elementary school. Myles Elementary is where I attended school as a young child from kindergarten to sixth grade.
What I didn't know when I entered Myles Elementary was that Natasha had planned a surprise of a lifetime for me.
If you're an educator, you know there's nothing like hearing from former students expressing the difference you made in their lives, because you were their teacher. But on this fall day, the tables were turned a bit. As I was signing in, I heard a booming voice from behind me--one that welcomed me each morning as a fourth grader.
It was my now-retired fourth grade teacher, Joan Spring. As she announced, "Joooleeene!" in that familiar way, I knew right away it was her. When I turned around and saw her outstretched arms, I hugged her so tightly. The first words out of my mouth were, "I think I'm going to cry!" She had driven to New Hartford from Northern New York to take the building tour with me and to let me know that she was proud of the union work I was doing. She also shared that she had been the Vice President of NHTA when she was an in-service teacher, a fact I never knew before. I felt an even deeper connection to her knowing that fact!
We walked around the school together, with Natasha as our guide. The educators I met in each of the New Hartford schools have their share of challenges, as all educators do, but they show up each day and give 100 percent to ensure students are happy, educated and thriving! I felt that with every step and each conversation.
Some aspects of the building hadn't changed at all. When we were in the intermediate hallway of Myles Elementary, I said to Joan, "Wasn't that your classroom?" She responded, "Yes, that was our classroom." Again, if you are a teacher, you know that she meant it when she said it was our classroom-- because she had always created such a safe community there.
That classroom was where students felt comfortable, accepted and seen.
She valued us as young people.
Appreciated all of us.
She didn't take any B.S., and she didn't play favorites either.
As we toured and chatted, I shared with her that I was painfully shy as a little girl. I had very little self-esteem. I didn't like talking in class and frankly didn't always feel comfortable in school. However, I never felt that way in her classroom, and it wasn't because of the comfy, physical space she created. It was because of the climate she fostered as our teacher. Her example helped shape me as an educator and inspired me to become one, too.
Our tour led us to Mrs. Curtis's classroom where she and her paraprofessional had clearly carried on the tradition of cultivating a warm, welcoming environment for her students. As I entered I was greeted joyfully by her absolutely adorable students who had hand-drawn thank you notes for visiting them. Mrs. Curtis chose a book the children had wanted to hear, and I read aloud to them. Thank goodness I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't focus on the realization that I was "teaching" in front of Joan, a teacher I revered. Teaching is like riding a bike--I just naturally found myself asking the kids questions and encouraging them to make predictions, etc. Following the read-aloud, Joan complimented me on my teaching, and it was totally genuine--as I said, she doesn't B.S. After that, I think I was literally floating through the halls for the remainder of my school visit.
I know how hard teaching is.
I know it takes so much out of you emotionally, physically and mentally.
I also know that teaching is a gift.
Teachers and educators are a gift to their students, to their communities and to each other.
There is no other professional community who can make you feel the way I felt this week being surrounded by dedicated and skilled teachers and school-related professionals. Seeing and feeling the continuum of services the educators in New Hartford have provided for generations of students was a full circle moment for me and one that affirmed for me that after all I've been through as a student, educator and union leader, I wouldn't choose a different profession if I could. EVER!
When we talk about strengthening the educator pipeline, I hope you have experiences like the one I had this week that you can tap into and share with prospective students as they take a look at teaching, as a possible career. Because we need more educators like Joan Spring who would surprise a grown woman and once again, make her feel seen, valued and appreciated for who she was as a child and for who she is now.
So, yes, you can go home again and sometimes it is even better than it was before!
Photos below: Teacher and student reunited and the pictures from Mrs. Curtis's classroom that now decorate my office door at NYSUT.
