April 18, 2024 • 21 mins
Welcome to this special episode of Affton Unplugged, where Superintendent Travis Bracht sits down with two retiring educators from Mesnier Primary School in the Affton School District - Cheryl Ladd and Janet Peistrup. Each of them has worked extensively in shaping the growth and learning of numerous students throughout their teaching careers.
In the first part, Cheryl takes us through her journey from an Affton graduate to becoming a beloved kindergarten teacher who took a break to focus on her family before returning to her Alma mater to dedicate another 19 years. Janet, a reading and language teacher who transformed into a reading specialist, discusses how her three-decade-long career has been instrumental in helping students acquire foundational reading skills.
Sharing a sense of nostalgia, both the retiring educators illuminate their profound love for education, the undying passion which shaped their careers, and the positive influence they’ve had on students' lives. They offer valuable career advice for fellow educators and highlight how embracing change, balancing work with personal well-being, and maintaining an open mind can lead to better learning outcomes.
In the later part of the episode, Cheryl and Janet share some heartwarming classroom stories, shedding light on the immense impact educators have on their students. As they head towards retirement, our guests express their gratitude towards the Affton School District for fostering a supportive environment that helped them grow both personally and professionally.
Join us in this episode of Affton Unplugged as we celebrate the achievements of Cheryl and Janet, two exemplary educators whose contribution to the domain of education is truly inspiring!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Music.
(00:20):
Welcome to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District that highlights
the people and stories that make the district great.
I'm your host, Superintendent Travis Brock, and in the Afton School District,
education is the most important thing we do.
Music.
(00:44):
All right. Welcome to this episode of the Afton Unplugged podcast.
And today we're going to hear from two of our retirees across the whole district.
We only have two teachers that are retiring this year, which is good news for us.
And it just so happens that they're both at Manor Primary School.
So I thought that would make a nice episode to have them both talk with us.
(01:05):
They've been in the district for a while. They've actually taught together for a long time as well.
So I'm sure they have lots of stories, lots of good things they'd like to share with us.
And so our two guests are Cheryl Ladd, kindergarten teacher,
and Janet Pystrup, reading interventionist.
And Cheryl, Janet, thanks for joining me. You're welcome.
And we always like to start the podcast out by getting to know the people of the district.
(01:27):
And so I'd invite you to introduce yourselves.
And so maybe tell us a little bit about your current role in Afton.
How long have you done that?
Have you had any other roles in Afton or have you taught anywhere else outside of Afton?
And then likewise, if you have any interests outside of work or anything you
want to share about your family, feel comfortable doing that as well.
(01:47):
So without further ado, Cheryl, you want to start us off?
Okay. I actually am an Afton graduate.
The year is immaterial. But anyway, I am an Afton graduate and I did teach kindergarten
for five years and the last year in Clayton.
And then I had four kids in six years that were six, four, two and new.
So I thought I needed to stay home with them, which I did for 16 years.
(02:11):
Then I came back to Afton.
So, and I have been here now it's 19 years and I've been the grade level coordinator
for probably any of those.
And kindergarten's always been my favorite year.
I tried third grade one year when they could read and write,
and I needed to get back to the color cut and glue stage and a little more hands-on.
(02:31):
So as far as outside of school, I love to spend a.
I feel like even in the summer when we're, you know, with family or traveling,
that there's still that little inkling of kindergarten, like,
oh, what did I learn this summer? How can I bring that back to school or things like that?
But, no, I've had a really good, nice, good run at Afton. All right. Very happy.
(02:55):
Thanks for that. Jan, tell us a little bit about yourself.
So I've been with Afton School District for 34 years now. I started my career
in Afton right after college, and I taught sixth grade reading and language arts for one year.
Then I was able to switch from the middle school to main year to teach first grade for six years.
(03:16):
And then after that, I became a reading specialist here at main year.
So during my years as a reading specialist, I also worked as a literacy coach
in there for seven years.
So it's been a wonderful career in Afton for me. I couldn't have asked her anything more.
I have two daughters who both came to Maine Year for kindergarten since I was
(03:40):
teaching here at the time.
So they got to come with me to school every day that year of kindergarten.
They are now 24 and 28 years old. So, yeah, it's been wonderful.
And then outside of school, I'm playing pickleball, which I'm going to be doing
a lot more of in retirement. Yeah.
(04:01):
And I like to travel and we'll be doing a lot more of that in retirement as well.
All right. Well, yeah. Thanks for sharing some of those things.
I'm sure you're looking forward to those having time to do some of those things
that it's kind of probably hard to work that into your normal routine during
the school year. So, well, thanks for introducing yourself.
Let's hear a little bit about you've got so much experience in these roles that you've done.
(04:24):
Tell us a little bit about what might be unique or what are some things that
people may not really think about in your different roles?
So as a kindergarten teacher, as a reading specialist, what do you think people
might like to hear kind of about what you do on a daily basis or some things
that maybe people don't think about that you think our listeners would really enjoy?
Well, I think when you think about kindergarten, you have to think about we've
(04:47):
got nine months to turn a preschooler into a first grader.
And there's a lot you have to do in those nine months.
And when they come in, unfortunately, we're feeding in from maybe 30 preschools.
We don't know if you went to a preschool or a daycare.
You may come in reading chapter books. You may come in not even knowing the
first letter of your name.
(05:07):
So the diversity is great. Great.
So, and getting all of those kids where they need to be by the end of the year is quite a challenge.
And it's also, it's a challenge, but at the same time, it's such an opportunity
to be the first, their first school experience.
And you can make it such a positive one that they can develop a love of learning
(05:30):
that lasts all through their school career.
And they do come to school. They love school. Once they realize they're excited
to come to kindergarten until they realize it's all day, every day,
every day, every day. The first few days are magical. Right.
And then the tears start.
But, no, I think it's a really unique spot because most of them have no school experience.
(05:51):
And this can really make their whole attitude about school such a positive one
and such a love of learning.
Yeah, you know, we had another teacher at a younger level that kind of mentioned
that same thing that they they're like, I don't know what it's like teaching
at the high school, but I know at this level, I see the learning every day.
I see it every single day and kind of every moment.
(06:13):
I see that light bulb. I see that go off. And they're like, I don't know whether
they see that at some of the older ages, but that was rewarding for them is
that even though it's tough because there is such a spectrum of where kids are.
That's what keeps them. They said that's what keeps them going is they get to
literally see that connection being made. Well, thanks for that.
(06:34):
And Janet, that kind of dovetails a little into why reading interventionists
are so important, because we do have kids that are at lots of different places.
And I know your role kind of helps make sure that everyone's getting what they need.
So tell us a little bit more about just being a reading interventionist. Yeah.
And the really neat thing about being a reading specialist is that I get to
(06:54):
work with kindergarten, first and second grade students.
So I get to see all those developmental stages throughout those three years and the kids.
And then like Cheryl's helping them get ready for first grade,
I'm also helping them get ready and becoming more literate to get ready for
that next grade level as well.
(07:16):
So I work with students in small groups. So I really get to individualize their
instruction and meet their needs and start teaching right where they are with
what they need to learn next and then help them make progress from there.
We work on learning to identify letters, learn letter sounds,
learn how to blend those sounds so that they can read words,
(07:39):
and then how to segment the sounds so that they can write words.
And we do a lot of different activities to help them with all of those phonic
skills that they need. Okay.
And you talked a little bit about some things that are probably enjoyable.
Anything stick out as like maybe one of the most enjoyable things,
maybe specifically about the old duty?
(08:00):
I'm sure there's a lot, but what comes to mind when you think about this is
this really is what this is why I do the job.
I think sometimes when you teach them something, and it might be a week later
and they come back and revisit and say, remember the other day when you told
me that if you put S on the end of the word, it means more than one?
My mom said, we're getting two cats.
And all of a sudden you think, wow, they transferred it from the classroom to their real life.
(08:24):
And they're just so proud of themselves. I can spell cat, C-A-T.
You just see that light bulb going off all day long all around the room. And it's rewarding.
And they get their own self-confidence, their confidence boosts.
And I just feel like no matter what happens before they come to school,
they walk in the door, no matter what you say to them, nice shirt.
(08:46):
I see you got your zipper and you wore a coat, whatever.
Just to say, whatever happened before you got here, this is happy place.
And that's what they need. Yeah, exactly.
How about you, Janet? Well, and you kind of touched on it before,
but one of the things I enjoy most is about seeing the excitement in the students
when they're able to do things that they weren't able to do before.
(09:08):
And when they realize that now they can, they went from knowing two letters
to knowing all of their uppercase and all of their lowercase letters, that is so exciting.
And their excitement is what just warms my heart.
They're always motivated and excited and that's what motivates me and gives
me that excitement about teaching every day. Great. Well, thanks for sharing that.
(09:33):
Obviously, if you're at that stage of your career where you can retire,
you've probably come across some people that have maybe influenced you positively,
or maybe, you know, really, you look back on your career and say that this individual
or individuals really either helped me or influenced me.
Who are some of those folks that come to mind, whether you if you want to mention
them by name, you can, or if you just want to maybe tell us how they positively
(09:57):
influence you, you can do that too.
I would definitely say it's been such a great influence having so many people
on the kindergarten team because we have a great balance of experience and maybe
people that have more technology experience but not much classroom experience and,
you know, maybe more experience with parents,
less experience with kids or whatever.
(10:18):
And I think when you combine that all together, you just get the best of everything.
Okay. And I think I'd start with even my own parents as my first teacher.
Really instilled a good work ethic into myself, my sisters, my brother.
They always instilled in us also the importance of a good education.
(10:39):
And so I feel like I've kind of carried that into just their morals and values
into my life and my career.
And then aside from my parents, I also think the other reading specialists that
I've had, I've just been blessed to be able to work with over the years.
I've learned so much from all of them and even all the other teachers,
(11:04):
classroom teachers and colleagues here at Main Year too, because I've gotten to go into classrooms.
Even Cheryl's room and work alongside classroom teachers.
And I've learned so much from that as well. Yeah.
Well, kind of picking up on what you've learned, what advice or words of wisdom
might you have for colleagues here at Manor?
(11:26):
Or if you think it really applies to anyone across Afton, no matter what school
you're working at, what comes to mind?
What are some of those things you've learned that maybe you can put into advice or words of wisdom?
I would probably say the biggest advice I could offer would be to embrace the change.
Because if you're in education, one year we're doing this and the next year
it's out the window, or we're going to tweak it a a little bit.
(11:48):
So just embrace the change and don't be afraid to maybe disagree with your colleagues
simply for the fact that I believe I can do it better this way and you believe
you can do it better that way.
It doesn't have to be right or wrong. It's just we can both do it, but in different ways.
And I think that's what when we interview people and there's 10 people on the
kindergarten team, that always comes up. How do all 10 of you work together?
(12:09):
And that's how we work together because we agree to disagree.
And if you feel like you can do writing better before lunch and I feel like
I can do writing better after lunch.
That's great. As long as your kids are getting what they need and my kids are
getting what they need. That's awesome.
You know, and I think that's why having a team of 10, why our team is so just
so close knit and successful because we're all, you're in it for the kids. Yeah.
(12:33):
Everyone's in it for the kids, but embrace that change because it's going to
change day by day, month by month, year by year.
Yeah, there's that cliche saying that if you're worried about how fast things
are changing, at least know this is as slow as it's going to be.
It's only going to get faster.
And so I think that's a good sentiment is that you got to lean into it,
embrace it, and you're not expected to know everything.
(12:56):
You just have to try to do what you think works for you and then just know that,
you know, there's really no way to always keep up with everything.
You just have to kind of do your best to, I think you said it really well,
embrace it instead of fighting against it or think that you're going to slow it down or stop it.
Yeah, it's always going to be change no matter what grade level or job you're doing.
(13:20):
So, Janet, what comes to mind for you? I would definitely want to remind all
teachers everywhere to take care of themselves.
As teachers, we tend to be very selfless and put others' needs before our own.
And I think we need to take care of our health, especially both physically and emotionally.
(13:41):
So I just would emphasize just how important it is to take care of yourself, too.
And then I think another little bit of advice would be keep a journal of all
the funny things your kids say throughout the years of your career,
because that is, I mean, we all need laughter and keeping it fun is going to
(14:03):
make your career even that much better.
So keep it fun. Keep a little journal of all those fun little things that kids
say that you can go back and look at and just have a good laugh.
Yeah. Yeah. Well said there, as well as, you know, trying to embrace the change.
It can be daunting personally.
You know, the times have changed.
(14:23):
Everything's getting quicker and it's easy for too much to be put.
And I think people need to allow themselves to be reasonable with what they're
able to bring to the table, knowing that more so than ever, you have to be mindful of that.
You know, as times change and get quicker, more things can easily pile up.
(14:44):
So good, good advice there for sure.
We're going to kind of pivot into like favorite memories or stories.
But before we do that, anything else kind of connected to your specific roles
that come to mind that you want to share?
OK, well, yeah, let's let's we always like to also talk a little bit about not
only the people of the district, but what are some of those favorite stories or memories?
(15:06):
And I'm sure you have a ton of them, but is there anything that sticks out from
your career, whether it's recent or maybe it happened quite a while ago that
that really will stick with you and you'll take with you?
I think about five years ago, I had a parent send me an email and she said,
I'm sorry, but I finally had to tell my child, I'm sorry, Mrs.
(15:27):
Ladd doesn't live with us.
And I didn't know what she was talking about, but she said every time she did
something, her child would say, Mrs.
Ladd said, if you ask a question, you should say yes, please, or no, thank you.
Mrs. Ladd said, you have to zip your coat before you put mittens on it.
And I guess she was just repeating so many things I was saying all the time
that the mom finally said, I've had enough of it. Mrs. Ladd doesn't live with
us. We're going to do things differently at home.
(15:48):
And I just thought that was so cute because she was taking all this stuff home.
And I guess finally mom was like, you know, sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
But the kids do have, you know, they'll tell you funny stories about their family and that.
And you just think, hmm, it's their little take on things. So exactly.
That's very cute. So one thing a little bit unique about my position is I get
(16:14):
to go pick up students and bring them back to my room for their reading intervention.
And sometimes that walk back to the room is where some of the cutest conversations
take place. So one time I'm walking
this little boy back to my room and he always likes to hold my hand.
And so he says, this is my favorite time of the day.
(16:35):
And I just was like, oh, my gosh, mine too, because you love to read.
And he said, no, because I get to hold your hand.
Oh, it just like melted my heart. But it also just shows, too,
that our students love and sometimes need extra attention.
And I just feel fortunate that I'm, you know, I've been able to give them that. Mm-hmm.
(16:59):
Those are a lot of good things you hit on. I don't think there's any way that
a teacher can truly know their impact.
As you mentioned, you don't know what they take home.
A parent decided to give you a little glimpse into that, but otherwise, you really don't know.
You hope, you think that there's things that are making it back there,
but it is nice every once in a while to have that affirmation.
(17:20):
And I bet there's a lot of things that are making their way,
you know, positively back to the students in the home that hopefully they learned here at school.
And I think what you mentioned made me think about those small moments that
you have to allow yourself time to not just rush from one place to the next.
Take time, walk with students.
(17:40):
If they need their handheld, do it. If they need to be spoken,
you know, if they if you need to spend a little extra time, that matters.
And it's nice that every once while you kind of chip away at really figuring
out what is it underneath besides just the reading or just teaching them how to count and letters.
There's probably a lot of other stuff that is just as meaningful to them that
(18:02):
you guys you guys give them. So thanks for those stories.
Anything, any other stories? You're allowed to have another one if there's another
one. Or what do you think?
I'll just add that, you know, I just want to say how much the love and support
that I felt from our staff here at Main Year has meant to me over the years.
(18:24):
You know, they were there. They showed up with meals at my door when I had a
sickness, an illness, and was away from work for a while.
I had a tragic accident. My family, they showed up at the hospital to show their love and support.
And then one time when I was blessed with a special recognition,
(18:45):
they were right there sitting in the front row to support me.
And just it's all meant the world to me. So I'm really going to miss my family here.
And it's very bittersweet to be retiring.
Yeah, I'm sure it is. Thanks for mentioning that. Matt, as much as maybe you're
ready for the next journey, it is still a little bit sad to know that maybe
(19:06):
this chapter is closing, but I'm sure you'll open up other chapters as well.
All right. With that, anything else you want to share? I know we've kind of
covered a lot of territory in this episode.
So anything else that you want to share? I would like to give just one little
shout out. And I guess this is more to Tina and Justin.
(19:27):
You know, they're not in our classrooms all day, every day. We're in our classrooms
all day, every day. And we, of
course, think that we know what's best for every single one of our kids.
But I will say many times when I've gone to one of them and said,
here's a little situation I'm having, I think it would be better handled this
way, or whether it's the reading or the writing.
And it's always been met with, if you think that's in the best interest of kids,
(19:50):
let's roll with it. And I think just having the, you know, to be able to say,
I don't think this program is working out. I think we need to tweak it a little bit this way.
And to be, for that to be valued and implemented means a lot. Yeah.
Means a lot. So I would definitely give a shout out to that because,
you know, that goes with the whole kindergarten team.
(20:10):
We all feel that way, but it's nice when you see something that needs to be
fixed and you're able to fix it. Yeah.
Well, that's nice to hear as well. It maybe highlights how we all do have to
work together, even though everyone has their own individual job.
We kind of have our own classrooms or our own offices.
We really do have to work together. There are those times. And so thanks for
(20:31):
spotlighting that. With that, again, Janet, Cheryl, thanks for joining me for this episode.
I really enjoyed it. We're going to miss you tremendously.
So I want to say thank you. And I'm sure that you mentioned your colleagues.
I'm sure they're going to miss you a lot, too.
So if you want to come back and visit, I'm sure I know they'll enjoy it.
(20:51):
But feel free to always keep Afton kind of in a special place for you.
And we'd love to love to see you around even after retirement.
So thank you for joining me for this episode. Thank you. Thank you.
Music.
(21:15):
Thanks for listening to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District
that highlights the people and stories that make the district great.
In the Afton School District, education is the most important thing we do. We'll see you out there.
Music.
Music.
(00:20):
Welcome to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District that highlights
the people and stories that make the district great.
I'm your host, Superintendent Travis Brock, and in the Afton School District,
education is the most important thing we do.
Music.
(00:44):
All right. Welcome to this episode of the Afton Unplugged podcast.
And today we're going to hear from two of our retirees across the whole district.
We only have two teachers that are retiring this year, which is good news for us.
And it just so happens that they're both at Manor Primary School.
So I thought that would make a nice episode to have them both talk with us.
(01:05):
They've been in the district for a while. They've actually taught together for a long time as well.
So I'm sure they have lots of stories, lots of good things they'd like to share with us.
And so our two guests are Cheryl Ladd, kindergarten teacher,
and Janet Pystrup, reading interventionist.
And Cheryl, Janet, thanks for joining me. You're welcome.
And we always like to start the podcast out by getting to know the people of the district.
(01:27):
And so I'd invite you to introduce yourselves.
And so maybe tell us a little bit about your current role in Afton.
How long have you done that?
Have you had any other roles in Afton or have you taught anywhere else outside of Afton?
And then likewise, if you have any interests outside of work or anything you
want to share about your family, feel comfortable doing that as well.
(01:47):
So without further ado, Cheryl, you want to start us off?
Okay. I actually am an Afton graduate.
The year is immaterial. But anyway, I am an Afton graduate and I did teach kindergarten
for five years and the last year in Clayton.
And then I had four kids in six years that were six, four, two and new.
So I thought I needed to stay home with them, which I did for 16 years.
(02:11):
Then I came back to Afton.
So, and I have been here now it's 19 years and I've been the grade level coordinator
for probably any of those.
And kindergarten's always been my favorite year.
I tried third grade one year when they could read and write,
and I needed to get back to the color cut and glue stage and a little more hands-on.
(02:31):
So as far as outside of school, I love to spend a.
I feel like even in the summer when we're, you know, with family or traveling,
that there's still that little inkling of kindergarten, like,
oh, what did I learn this summer? How can I bring that back to school or things like that?
But, no, I've had a really good, nice, good run at Afton. All right. Very happy.
(02:55):
Thanks for that. Jan, tell us a little bit about yourself.
So I've been with Afton School District for 34 years now. I started my career
in Afton right after college, and I taught sixth grade reading and language arts for one year.
Then I was able to switch from the middle school to main year to teach first grade for six years.
(03:16):
And then after that, I became a reading specialist here at main year.
So during my years as a reading specialist, I also worked as a literacy coach
in there for seven years.
So it's been a wonderful career in Afton for me. I couldn't have asked her anything more.
I have two daughters who both came to Maine Year for kindergarten since I was
(03:40):
teaching here at the time.
So they got to come with me to school every day that year of kindergarten.
They are now 24 and 28 years old. So, yeah, it's been wonderful.
And then outside of school, I'm playing pickleball, which I'm going to be doing
a lot more of in retirement. Yeah.
(04:01):
And I like to travel and we'll be doing a lot more of that in retirement as well.
All right. Well, yeah. Thanks for sharing some of those things.
I'm sure you're looking forward to those having time to do some of those things
that it's kind of probably hard to work that into your normal routine during
the school year. So, well, thanks for introducing yourself.
Let's hear a little bit about you've got so much experience in these roles that you've done.
(04:24):
Tell us a little bit about what might be unique or what are some things that
people may not really think about in your different roles?
So as a kindergarten teacher, as a reading specialist, what do you think people
might like to hear kind of about what you do on a daily basis or some things
that maybe people don't think about that you think our listeners would really enjoy?
Well, I think when you think about kindergarten, you have to think about we've
(04:47):
got nine months to turn a preschooler into a first grader.
And there's a lot you have to do in those nine months.
And when they come in, unfortunately, we're feeding in from maybe 30 preschools.
We don't know if you went to a preschool or a daycare.
You may come in reading chapter books. You may come in not even knowing the
first letter of your name.
(05:07):
So the diversity is great. Great.
So, and getting all of those kids where they need to be by the end of the year is quite a challenge.
And it's also, it's a challenge, but at the same time, it's such an opportunity
to be the first, their first school experience.
And you can make it such a positive one that they can develop a love of learning
(05:30):
that lasts all through their school career.
And they do come to school. They love school. Once they realize they're excited
to come to kindergarten until they realize it's all day, every day,
every day, every day. The first few days are magical. Right.
And then the tears start.
But, no, I think it's a really unique spot because most of them have no school experience.
(05:51):
And this can really make their whole attitude about school such a positive one
and such a love of learning.
Yeah, you know, we had another teacher at a younger level that kind of mentioned
that same thing that they they're like, I don't know what it's like teaching
at the high school, but I know at this level, I see the learning every day.
I see it every single day and kind of every moment.
(06:13):
I see that light bulb. I see that go off. And they're like, I don't know whether
they see that at some of the older ages, but that was rewarding for them is
that even though it's tough because there is such a spectrum of where kids are.
That's what keeps them. They said that's what keeps them going is they get to
literally see that connection being made. Well, thanks for that.
(06:34):
And Janet, that kind of dovetails a little into why reading interventionists
are so important, because we do have kids that are at lots of different places.
And I know your role kind of helps make sure that everyone's getting what they need.
So tell us a little bit more about just being a reading interventionist. Yeah.
And the really neat thing about being a reading specialist is that I get to
(06:54):
work with kindergarten, first and second grade students.
So I get to see all those developmental stages throughout those three years and the kids.
And then like Cheryl's helping them get ready for first grade,
I'm also helping them get ready and becoming more literate to get ready for
that next grade level as well.
(07:16):
So I work with students in small groups. So I really get to individualize their
instruction and meet their needs and start teaching right where they are with
what they need to learn next and then help them make progress from there.
We work on learning to identify letters, learn letter sounds,
learn how to blend those sounds so that they can read words,
(07:39):
and then how to segment the sounds so that they can write words.
And we do a lot of different activities to help them with all of those phonic
skills that they need. Okay.
And you talked a little bit about some things that are probably enjoyable.
Anything stick out as like maybe one of the most enjoyable things,
maybe specifically about the old duty?
(08:00):
I'm sure there's a lot, but what comes to mind when you think about this is
this really is what this is why I do the job.
I think sometimes when you teach them something, and it might be a week later
and they come back and revisit and say, remember the other day when you told
me that if you put S on the end of the word, it means more than one?
My mom said, we're getting two cats.
And all of a sudden you think, wow, they transferred it from the classroom to their real life.
(08:24):
And they're just so proud of themselves. I can spell cat, C-A-T.
You just see that light bulb going off all day long all around the room. And it's rewarding.
And they get their own self-confidence, their confidence boosts.
And I just feel like no matter what happens before they come to school,
they walk in the door, no matter what you say to them, nice shirt.
(08:46):
I see you got your zipper and you wore a coat, whatever.
Just to say, whatever happened before you got here, this is happy place.
And that's what they need. Yeah, exactly.
How about you, Janet? Well, and you kind of touched on it before,
but one of the things I enjoy most is about seeing the excitement in the students
when they're able to do things that they weren't able to do before.
(09:08):
And when they realize that now they can, they went from knowing two letters
to knowing all of their uppercase and all of their lowercase letters, that is so exciting.
And their excitement is what just warms my heart.
They're always motivated and excited and that's what motivates me and gives
me that excitement about teaching every day. Great. Well, thanks for sharing that.
(09:33):
Obviously, if you're at that stage of your career where you can retire,
you've probably come across some people that have maybe influenced you positively,
or maybe, you know, really, you look back on your career and say that this individual
or individuals really either helped me or influenced me.
Who are some of those folks that come to mind, whether you if you want to mention
them by name, you can, or if you just want to maybe tell us how they positively
(09:57):
influence you, you can do that too.
I would definitely say it's been such a great influence having so many people
on the kindergarten team because we have a great balance of experience and maybe
people that have more technology experience but not much classroom experience and,
you know, maybe more experience with parents,
less experience with kids or whatever.
(10:18):
And I think when you combine that all together, you just get the best of everything.
Okay. And I think I'd start with even my own parents as my first teacher.
Really instilled a good work ethic into myself, my sisters, my brother.
They always instilled in us also the importance of a good education.
(10:39):
And so I feel like I've kind of carried that into just their morals and values
into my life and my career.
And then aside from my parents, I also think the other reading specialists that
I've had, I've just been blessed to be able to work with over the years.
I've learned so much from all of them and even all the other teachers,
(11:04):
classroom teachers and colleagues here at Main Year too, because I've gotten to go into classrooms.
Even Cheryl's room and work alongside classroom teachers.
And I've learned so much from that as well. Yeah.
Well, kind of picking up on what you've learned, what advice or words of wisdom
might you have for colleagues here at Manor?
(11:26):
Or if you think it really applies to anyone across Afton, no matter what school
you're working at, what comes to mind?
What are some of those things you've learned that maybe you can put into advice or words of wisdom?
I would probably say the biggest advice I could offer would be to embrace the change.
Because if you're in education, one year we're doing this and the next year
it's out the window, or we're going to tweak it a a little bit.
(11:48):
So just embrace the change and don't be afraid to maybe disagree with your colleagues
simply for the fact that I believe I can do it better this way and you believe
you can do it better that way.
It doesn't have to be right or wrong. It's just we can both do it, but in different ways.
And I think that's what when we interview people and there's 10 people on the
kindergarten team, that always comes up. How do all 10 of you work together?
(12:09):
And that's how we work together because we agree to disagree.
And if you feel like you can do writing better before lunch and I feel like
I can do writing better after lunch.
That's great. As long as your kids are getting what they need and my kids are
getting what they need. That's awesome.
You know, and I think that's why having a team of 10, why our team is so just
so close knit and successful because we're all, you're in it for the kids. Yeah.
(12:33):
Everyone's in it for the kids, but embrace that change because it's going to
change day by day, month by month, year by year.
Yeah, there's that cliche saying that if you're worried about how fast things
are changing, at least know this is as slow as it's going to be.
It's only going to get faster.
And so I think that's a good sentiment is that you got to lean into it,
embrace it, and you're not expected to know everything.
(12:56):
You just have to try to do what you think works for you and then just know that,
you know, there's really no way to always keep up with everything.
You just have to kind of do your best to, I think you said it really well,
embrace it instead of fighting against it or think that you're going to slow it down or stop it.
Yeah, it's always going to be change no matter what grade level or job you're doing.
(13:20):
So, Janet, what comes to mind for you? I would definitely want to remind all
teachers everywhere to take care of themselves.
As teachers, we tend to be very selfless and put others' needs before our own.
And I think we need to take care of our health, especially both physically and emotionally.
(13:41):
So I just would emphasize just how important it is to take care of yourself, too.
And then I think another little bit of advice would be keep a journal of all
the funny things your kids say throughout the years of your career,
because that is, I mean, we all need laughter and keeping it fun is going to
(14:03):
make your career even that much better.
So keep it fun. Keep a little journal of all those fun little things that kids
say that you can go back and look at and just have a good laugh.
Yeah. Yeah. Well said there, as well as, you know, trying to embrace the change.
It can be daunting personally.
You know, the times have changed.
(14:23):
Everything's getting quicker and it's easy for too much to be put.
And I think people need to allow themselves to be reasonable with what they're
able to bring to the table, knowing that more so than ever, you have to be mindful of that.
You know, as times change and get quicker, more things can easily pile up.
(14:44):
So good, good advice there for sure.
We're going to kind of pivot into like favorite memories or stories.
But before we do that, anything else kind of connected to your specific roles
that come to mind that you want to share?
OK, well, yeah, let's let's we always like to also talk a little bit about not
only the people of the district, but what are some of those favorite stories or memories?
(15:06):
And I'm sure you have a ton of them, but is there anything that sticks out from
your career, whether it's recent or maybe it happened quite a while ago that
that really will stick with you and you'll take with you?
I think about five years ago, I had a parent send me an email and she said,
I'm sorry, but I finally had to tell my child, I'm sorry, Mrs.
(15:27):
Ladd doesn't live with us.
And I didn't know what she was talking about, but she said every time she did
something, her child would say, Mrs.
Ladd said, if you ask a question, you should say yes, please, or no, thank you.
Mrs. Ladd said, you have to zip your coat before you put mittens on it.
And I guess she was just repeating so many things I was saying all the time
that the mom finally said, I've had enough of it. Mrs. Ladd doesn't live with
us. We're going to do things differently at home.
(15:48):
And I just thought that was so cute because she was taking all this stuff home.
And I guess finally mom was like, you know, sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
But the kids do have, you know, they'll tell you funny stories about their family and that.
And you just think, hmm, it's their little take on things. So exactly.
That's very cute. So one thing a little bit unique about my position is I get
(16:14):
to go pick up students and bring them back to my room for their reading intervention.
And sometimes that walk back to the room is where some of the cutest conversations
take place. So one time I'm walking
this little boy back to my room and he always likes to hold my hand.
And so he says, this is my favorite time of the day.
(16:35):
And I just was like, oh, my gosh, mine too, because you love to read.
And he said, no, because I get to hold your hand.
Oh, it just like melted my heart. But it also just shows, too,
that our students love and sometimes need extra attention.
And I just feel fortunate that I'm, you know, I've been able to give them that. Mm-hmm.
(16:59):
Those are a lot of good things you hit on. I don't think there's any way that
a teacher can truly know their impact.
As you mentioned, you don't know what they take home.
A parent decided to give you a little glimpse into that, but otherwise, you really don't know.
You hope, you think that there's things that are making it back there,
but it is nice every once in a while to have that affirmation.
(17:20):
And I bet there's a lot of things that are making their way,
you know, positively back to the students in the home that hopefully they learned here at school.
And I think what you mentioned made me think about those small moments that
you have to allow yourself time to not just rush from one place to the next.
Take time, walk with students.
(17:40):
If they need their handheld, do it. If they need to be spoken,
you know, if they if you need to spend a little extra time, that matters.
And it's nice that every once while you kind of chip away at really figuring
out what is it underneath besides just the reading or just teaching them how to count and letters.
There's probably a lot of other stuff that is just as meaningful to them that
(18:02):
you guys you guys give them. So thanks for those stories.
Anything, any other stories? You're allowed to have another one if there's another
one. Or what do you think?
I'll just add that, you know, I just want to say how much the love and support
that I felt from our staff here at Main Year has meant to me over the years.
(18:24):
You know, they were there. They showed up with meals at my door when I had a
sickness, an illness, and was away from work for a while.
I had a tragic accident. My family, they showed up at the hospital to show their love and support.
And then one time when I was blessed with a special recognition,
(18:45):
they were right there sitting in the front row to support me.
And just it's all meant the world to me. So I'm really going to miss my family here.
And it's very bittersweet to be retiring.
Yeah, I'm sure it is. Thanks for mentioning that. Matt, as much as maybe you're
ready for the next journey, it is still a little bit sad to know that maybe
(19:06):
this chapter is closing, but I'm sure you'll open up other chapters as well.
All right. With that, anything else you want to share? I know we've kind of
covered a lot of territory in this episode.
So anything else that you want to share? I would like to give just one little
shout out. And I guess this is more to Tina and Justin.
(19:27):
You know, they're not in our classrooms all day, every day. We're in our classrooms
all day, every day. And we, of
course, think that we know what's best for every single one of our kids.
But I will say many times when I've gone to one of them and said,
here's a little situation I'm having, I think it would be better handled this
way, or whether it's the reading or the writing.
And it's always been met with, if you think that's in the best interest of kids,
(19:50):
let's roll with it. And I think just having the, you know, to be able to say,
I don't think this program is working out. I think we need to tweak it a little bit this way.
And to be, for that to be valued and implemented means a lot. Yeah.
Means a lot. So I would definitely give a shout out to that because,
you know, that goes with the whole kindergarten team.
(20:10):
We all feel that way, but it's nice when you see something that needs to be
fixed and you're able to fix it. Yeah.
Well, that's nice to hear as well. It maybe highlights how we all do have to
work together, even though everyone has their own individual job.
We kind of have our own classrooms or our own offices.
We really do have to work together. There are those times. And so thanks for
(20:31):
spotlighting that. With that, again, Janet, Cheryl, thanks for joining me for this episode.
I really enjoyed it. We're going to miss you tremendously.
So I want to say thank you. And I'm sure that you mentioned your colleagues.
I'm sure they're going to miss you a lot, too.
So if you want to come back and visit, I'm sure I know they'll enjoy it.
(20:51):
But feel free to always keep Afton kind of in a special place for you.
And we'd love to love to see you around even after retirement.
So thank you for joining me for this episode. Thank you. Thank you.
Music.
(21:15):
Thanks for listening to Afton Unplugged, a podcast by the Afton School District
that highlights the people and stories that make the district great.
In the Afton School District, education is the most important thing we do. We'll see you out there.
Music.
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