Dec 19-Jan 20 Advisor

HONORING

8 CEA ADVISOR DECEMBER 2019 – JANUARY 2020

MEET 2020 CONNECTICUT TEACHER OF THE YEAR MEGHAN HATCH-GEARY Region 16 English teacher committed to young people, social justice

Woodland Regional High School’s 600-plus students rose to their feet and cheered as beloved teacher Meghan Hatch-Geary was honored in a surprise ceremony announcing Connecticut’s 2020 Teacher of the Year (TOY) earlier this fall. The announcement came at the Beacon Falls school where she and her husband, building rep Paul Geary, teach English. “We are so proud to see Meghan recognized for the invaluable work she does and for the talent, passion, and dedication she brings to the teaching profession,” said CEA President Jeff Leake. “Her work, like that of her peers, does not begin and end when the bell rings; it extends well beyond the school day and well beyond the walls of her classroom, into extracurriculars and the community sphere. Connecticut’s teachers truly enrich the lives of their students and delight in their personal and academic achievements, and we are pleased to honor Meghan as an ambassador for the profession. She is an exemplar and an inspiration.” CEA Vice President Tom Nicholas, who serves on the TOY selection committee, explained, “So many things impress me about Meghan, including her commitment to social justice—not only promoting social justice in her classroom and sponsoring school clubs and activities On young people’s side Hatch- Geary helped found the Woodland Worldwide Club for students and teachers as a way of taking action on human trafficking and advancing women’s and girls’ issues locally and globally. She also served as an advisor to her school-based gay/ straight alliance, establishing the GSA’s signature field trip to the True Colors convention hosted each year at UConn. As a supporter of the arts, she regularly attends her school’s fine arts evenings and participates in faculty and student book clubs. “I’ve created my own reading challenge, #MRSGEARYREADS, for faculty and students,” she says, “in which I encourage readers to explore world cultures and diverse voices. I have built a classroom library over the years that reflects the lives and stories of ethnically diverse people.” “Ms. Geary is such a positive but also doing work in the community and beyond.”

others, we strive to emulate her.” The daughter of two public school teachers, Hatch-Geary notes, “Few people outside of our profession truly understand the complexities and demands of our work.” Those demands, she says, include • Making students feel valued and supported and safe • Being rigorous but flexible, firm but fair, patient and passionate • Helping students analyze multiple perspectives even when they don’t want to know other perspectives exist • Remaining neutral—but not irresponsible in that neutrality • Challenging students’ thinking and helping them find the nuance and the contradictions • Nurturing creativity and curiosity, teaching skills, empathy, and kindness • Meeting benchmarks and objectives • Implementing new initiatives • Entertaining, facilitating, collaborating, and inspiring “It’s a lot,” she says, “and that list just scratches the surface. Ask any teacher: some days it feels like we’re engaged in a Sisyphean task, the boulder getting bigger and heavier as it rolls back down the hill. It is a massive responsibility to be a teacher. Thus, we are held to a high standard —higher, it would seem, than many of our government’s leaders, which can be galling—but we do this work because we love it, even when it’s messy—especially when it’s messy. We do it because we care, and because we believe it is the most powerful profession in the world. “When I first imagined being a teacher, I saw myself in a room full of students reading with rapt attention, discovering the power of literature, making connections to their society, and passionately discussing universal themes and nuanced characters. Don’t get me wrong, there are days when this tableau sort of comes to life, but most of the time, it’s messier than this. Most of the time I’m competing with the myriad distractions boomeranging around my room: the Snapchat story, the subtweet, the air pods, the insecurity, the hungry belly, the lost sleep, the parent separation, the anxiety, the depression. “I know all of this and more is happening in the lives of my kids, and so I recognize how important it is when a 14-year-old finds the energy and focus to care about The Odyssey , or about nouns and verbs or thesis statements, when his home life is falling apart. And I recognize that in order to get kids to commit and engage like that, I have to create a space in which they can. And I have to make sure they know I care, because sometimes they’re only doing it for me, because I’ve asked. Sometimes the only thing keeping that kid in the room with their brain on the book and not on their personal tumults is me. That is a staggering realization, but this is what teachers are charged with every single day. That is what it means to be a teacher. Teaching is so much more than a job—it is a life.”

Region 16 Education Association President Stephen Jerram, CEA President Jeff Leake, and CEA Vice President Tom Nicholas greet 2020 Connecticut Teacher of the Year Meghan Hatch-Geary, shown below in her classroom at Woodland Regional High School.

influence on the entire student body,” said Woodland High School freshman Kayleigh Budnick. “I always see her in the hallways initiating conversations with students that show how much she cares about us. She deserves all the love and attention she is getting today.” Like dozens of her peers—and teachers—senior Madelyn Vallillo wore a T-shirt in the school’s colors emblazoned with the words “Team Hatch-Geary” on the front and “I’m with her” on the back. “I absolutely adore Ms. Geary,” Vallillo said, holding up a special journal she purchased and passed around for students to write their own personal messages of congratulations and thanks to their Teacher of the Year. “It was the least I could do to support a teacher who has made such an impact on me.” Vallillo has never had Geary as a

teacher but says, “She is always stopping me in the hallway and talking to me about journalism, which is what I do, and she has been such a great influence on me.” “There is nobody more valuable in the world than a great teacher,” said Governor Ned Lamont, congratulating Hatch-Geary on her award. “Nothing is more important than a teacher who inspires you and helps you find something you love. Judging by the reaction of this crowd, we got it right.” Education Commissioner Dr. Miguel Cardona offered his congratulations to the school community and commended Hatch- Geary for her passion for equity and elevating the work of educators. “She serves as a living example of what we know: that teachers save lives,” Cardona said. Embracing the challenge Taking the stage, Hatch-Geary thanked her colleagues and reminded her students, “You give my life purpose. Maybe some of you will become teachers and experience the profound gratification of a career you love—one that humbles and inspires you. This is where I found my true self, my calling, my life.” Woodland High School student Emma Flaherty followed Hatch- Geary to the podium to offer this assessment of her teacher: “Anyone who has had the privilege of knowing her knows how much she deserves this. She is involved in everything. As students, we feel welcomed and safe, and we feel her dedication to us. She focuses on what we do right, and she also insists that we challenge our worldview and examine how we treat others. Because she is so kind, poised, intelligent, and accepting of

Woodland senior Madelyn Vallillo holds a journal she purchased for fellow students to write personal messages of congratulations to Ms. Geary.