Teachers sparkle and kids shine

Happy Monday! Let’s discuss my favorite people.

Today’s the first day of school. You’ll know that by all the smiles on the faces of happy parents, and the beleaguered look on kids who wondered how summer break ended so quickly.

I was never a big school fan, so it’s not like nostalgia grips me every fall (or August). Frankly, even at my ripe young age, I’m still glad I don’t have to go back to school.

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That probably explains the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants educational trajectory of my life. I’m not kidding when I say it’s still a shock someone handed me a high school diploma, let alone a college degree. Not admitting to anything, but it’s possible bribery played a role.

I digress. Because today is a good day for education.

Superintendent of Schools Scott Hebert was kind enough to let me tag along one day last week while he made the rounds as educators prepared for the opening of school.

Few things make me happier than hanging around a school. It’s an activity I almost didn’t get.

Let’s go back several years. The Chronicle editor handed me the education beat, which I didn’t mind all that much so long as I didn’t have to spend time in any, you know, actual schools. See, school and I don’t get along. That was my thinking then. I can cover the School Board as a government, and let a feature writer take care of the teacher-kiddie stuff.

Well, I learned (ha!) that wasn’t going to work. See, unlike the County Commission, where there’s a clear cause-and-effect on nearly every vote, the School Board works very much in the 30,000-foot vacuum. It’s more difficult to see the actual real-world effect of a School Board decision.

The feature writer left, so I agreed to write a few classroom stories until we were up to speed. Once begun, I never left the classroom. Not only were classroom stories fun, but they also provided that vital link between government and real life.

I couldn’t get enough of school. What I avoided for 12 years now provided the imaginative spark that allowed me to see things in a different way. Two distinct memories:

— I shadowed a Forest Ridge Elementary School kindergarten teacher one year because I wanted to know how she teaches little kids to read. From observation, I learned some kids have it tougher than others. It’s incredibly sad to see 6-year-olds with fog in their eyes. Some kids are eager to learn. Others are trying to survive.

— FCAT was the new rage when I first started writing about Citrus County education. I was in a Rock Crusher Elementary third-grade class, talking to the kids about this new scary test. A timid 8-year-old said to me, “If I don’t pass FCAT, I can’t go to the fourth grade with my friends.” His response made me angry. Not at him, but at the foolish politicians who experiment with kids and parents in the race to make Florida No. 1 in whatever it is we feel necessary to brag about this month.

My favorite back-to-school Chronicle stories were of the teachers who are products of Citrus County Schools, go off to college for a degree, then return to their home county to teach.

I ask, why did you come back home to teach? And the answer is often quite similar — a Citrus County teacher inspired them. Inspired them so much, they wanted to come home to inspire others.

Becky O’Connell was one such teacher. Becky inspired legions of children, parents, and educators during her 25 years teaching kindergarten and third grade at Inverness Primary School. She died in April 2010 after years of battling breast cancer.

It isn’t unusual at all to run into former students of Becky’s who are now successful, supportive, and carry empathy for the less fortunate.

And that leads us to Sarah Grimo, who is pictured today with Dr. Hebert. Sarah is teaching in the SAME CLASSROOM she attended as a kindergarten child when Mrs. O’Connell was her teacher. A spirit resides in that room, one that these kids will carry with quiet confidence because a teacher is making sure of it.

Teaching has never been more challenging. We’ve become a cranky, self-righteous, complaining society. Teachers get it from all directions. We expect miracles from these lay people and then blame them when a child who is ignored at home doesn’t excel in school.

That’s why teachers are my favorite people. Regardless of the circumstances, they put kids first.

Today’s the first day of a new school year. Here’s to the teachers for making it a memorable one.

Have an awesome Monday, friends. Watch out for school buses!

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