CEA Advisor_December 2022-January 2023 issue_web

DECEMBER 2022 – JANUARY 2023 CEA ADVISOR 5

Q&A

WITH THE FINALISTS

Lisa Abel, Simsbury High School music teacher Budget cuts often hit music departments first and hardest. What can you tell us about the importance of music education? Music is such an integral part of my educational philosophy that it is difficult to define its importance as a separate component. In addition to its own value, aesthetics, and skills, the study of music embodies the larger goals of our school systems. Arts education is essential

Jennifer Rodriguez, Anna Reynolds Elementary School first-grade teacher, Newington How does it feel to be honored and to represent your colleagues?

to the development of social-emotional skills and provides opportunities for establishing equity and access. Several districts have recognized the impact of the arts and have aptly redefined their “specials” as “essentials.” The pandemic disproportionately impacted music instruction and created unique challenges there. Can you describe some of those? Music classes are spaces where strong communities are formed, and restrictions such as online lessons, hybrid classes, and spacing requirements significantly impacted the interactions between students. This year, music programs appear to have returned to normal. We began classes together in our regular spaces with no performance restrictions; festivals, concerts, and other events are in person. However, there are underlying impacts that music teachers will feel for years to come. At the start of the pandemic, current ninth-graders were just beginning their instrumental instruction in many districts. These students have never had an authentic ensemble experience. In many ways, the impacts of the pandemic are more apparent in my classroom now than over the

It is hard to believe just two years ago I was strongly considering leaving the profession altogether. Today, I am proud to say I am Newington’s Teacher of the Year and a 2023 Connecticut Teacher of the Year Finalist. The journey to the final four began with colleagues who saw something in me: a collective work of many hands and happy hearts. This experience has been affirming and uplifting.

You are a building rep at your school. Why is it important for teachers to stand strong with their union? When we link arms, we have a

stronger voice. When we link arms, we are given a seat at the table. Unions advocate for all aspects of education, and all stakeholders, students, and families are positively impacted by strong unions.

CEA is currently running an awareness campaign called Because of a Teacher that highlights themany positive impacts teachers have on their students. Do you have any stories of your own to share on that topic? When you are a first-grade teacher, it is hard to know your long-term influence on students as they grow through their public education experience and beyond. My students and their parents were interviewed during the Connecticut Teacher of the Year finalist selection, and here are some of the stories that brought me to tears. • A student and I made a lasting connection as we are both hearing impaired and wear hearing-aids. I shared my experiences with the class and normalized the disability. We watched videos that mimicked and helped students understand the hearing-impaired experience. This student is now a middle schooler who still emails me regularly to catch me up on her life and ask about mine. • The quiet student who remembers sharing a video of his “I Have a Dream Speech” from church with our class. How I celebrated that speech! I was so proud of him for being brave both in church and at school. His parents now attribute that encouragement and the love for reading instilled in first grade for setting him on a path to being an honor student and a lawyer. • The letter I hold from a student who wasn’t in my class. The family and I had become close. He was having a challenging time in middle school, and his parents asked if I would drive him to school, as they could not, and they didn’t feel he was safe on the bus. In his senior year, on the verge of graduation, he sent me a letter. He remembers those car rides and feeling safe. “When I needed a safe space and a ride to school, you were there for me. All of these small but important moments have added a lot to my life, and I will carry them with me.” John Allen, Putnam High School civics teacher How does it feel to be honored and to represent your colleagues? I am incredibly honored to represent my remarkable colleagues at Putnam High School. I feel grateful that this district took a chance on a brand-new teacher eight years ago. This community has built me into the teacher I am today. My colleagues, old and new, have inspired me and kept me sane throughout the uncertainty of the last several years, and I know without a doubt that I wouldn’t be where I amwithout them. I love this field, and I hope I make them proud.

past three years, as I have recognized the need to reinforce the fundamentals, practice strategies, and basic rehearsal techniques that are often learned in the younger grades. This will continue for several years. While we have had our challenges, music teachers have found silver linings in pandemic teaching. New technologies have provided opportunities for differentiating instruction and facilitating more efficient assessment. Composers and publishers are producing more accessible music, and teachers are working more collaboratively than ever to help one another recover from this difficult time. Tell us about a student who was inspired by you to do something cool. Some of the most meaningful relationships in my life are with former students. It is such a blessing to follow them after their graduation and celebrate their successes. From Simsbury, Allison Hughes Van Doran has established herself as a premier flautist and teacher and now works with my current students. Ben Poirot is pursuing a graduate degree in tuba performance on a full scholarship in Chicago and maintains a relationship with our band program when he is in town. Most recently, I reconnected with a student frommy first job, at Montville High School. Last spring, I came upon an article that interviewed Barry Zhou, a conductor with the Norwalk Youth Symphony, where he mentioned the impact I had on him. I was touched! He contacted me only a few weeks later to let me know he had accepted a high school director position. We have been in communication ever since, and I am excited to be visiting his school to work with his students. As teachers, we really never know the extent of the impact we can have on students! students engaged in understanding the world around them. It is always my goal that the content of my courses is functional and not forgotten. When they leave our school, I want my students to know how to be informed and make a difference. Who are the teachers who influenced you? I feel indebted to the most amazing teachers at Tolland High School who, through just being great teachers and people, changed my life for the better. I specifically want to shout out Kimberly Quirk, Frances Sterling, Ali Chase (now Carlson), and Beth Regan. I have stories for each of them, but I’ll share this one about Mrs. Regan, who we all called Regs. Regs had a reputation of being a larger-than-life person who was enthusiastic in all elements of our school culture. Discovering that I was interested in history, I had to take a class of hers. I loved the class from day one. She was passionate about everything we learned. She created all these fun inside jokes that carried throughout the whole semester. I walked away from that class with a thorough overview of Russia’s major moments in history and ended up using the content of that course over and over in my first year of college. At that point, I knew I wanted to become a teacher, but Regs’ presence in the classroom transcended the content of the class. She truly cared about each and every one of her students. One memory that sticks out to me was when a student tragically lost his father in a very sudden way. Regs asked the class if anyone had heard from him, and I told her privately why he was out of school. In that moment Regs changed the class from learning about Russian history to discussing how we could help when he came back to school. She told us, “Some things are more important than school.” We ended up making a card as a class that we all signed, and not one person was left out of its construction. We talked about life, and time seemed to stop in that class period. I’ll always appreciate that I witnessed in that moment how teachers acknowledge humanity before academics. Regs instilled that in me, and I try to carry that through the doors of my classroom every day. Beth Regan (“Regs”), now vice chair of the Council of Elders for the Mohegan Tribal Nation, delivered remarks at the Connecticut Teacher of the Year awards ceremony. She proudly gave a nod to Allen, her former student.

Educators have been hit particularly hard in recent years when it comes to attacks on what they teach, often because of misunderstandings about what is being taught. This is especially true when it comes to history and social justice. As a high school social studies teacher, what are your insights and experiences? What do you hope students gain from being in your class? As someone who teaches civics, politics, and history, I am clear to my students that it is never my goal to influence their views of an issue, and I am intentional about my wording to follow through with that. I provide the facts but want students to explore their ideas

without judgment and come to their own conclusions. In fact, I often tell my classes that diversity of ideas leads to the best discussions and debates. If everyone had the same views, my class would be boring! I know that I have the responsibility of preparing students to vote, and they trust me to provide themwith the tools to become informed citizens. My classes are not just about the content; I strive to get