EDUCATION
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2013/Marietta Daily Journal
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BY LINDSAY FIELD / MDJ STAFF WRITER
game-changers in lives of our school children
CELIS HARTLEY-LEWIS: Marietta High School
She changed paths to be a teacher
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Marietta High School science teacher decided to become an educator while applying for and waiting for admission into medical school. “I realized that I was only doing it to satisfy this sense of what I should be doing and not what I wanted to do,” said 39year-old Celis Hartley-Lewis. She was accepted into a Bridge Program, which helps future students get into medical school, and while going through that process, she started looking into teaching. “I literally thought that teaching was going to be my ‘holding’ place until I figured
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out what I wanted to do,” she said. She has been teaching for 18 years, the last 11 of which have been at Marietta High. She is the school’s science department chair and 504 coordinator for her school. The children are what have kept her in the classroom for nearly 20 years. “The idea that in my little classroom, these four walls, I change someone’s life is wonderful,” she said. “I expose them to something phenomenal, and new every day, especially in science. I love to see that light turn on in their heads.” Hartley-Lewis said she is
proud that in some form or fashion, she and other teachers get to be a part in the development of a young person. “It’s like leaving little parts of myself in every generation,” she said. “You’re getting students ready to face the real world.” Another reason HartleyLewis has enjoyed teaching at Marietta High is because of the diversity of the student body. “It’s not just cultural but socio-economic diversity,” she said. The 39-year-old was born and raised in Panama and came to the United States in 1989. Her teaching career began in Seattle, Wash., where Hartley-
Lewis said everybody “has and can.” “In our school, we’re working in a building with a group of students who are incredibly bright, yet poor, sitting right
next to a student who is struggling academically, yet has it all,” she said. “An environment like this just prepares a student for the diversity that they will see in the world.”
The idea that in my little classroom, these four walls, I change someone’s life is wonderful.
TERRI PELLEGRINO: Sawyer Road Elementary School
LUZ MONTANEZ: Green Acres Elementary
She’s really into one of ‘hardest jobs you’ll ever love’
Labor of love: Teacher gives 100% to job uz Montanez learned the importance of a good education from her parents, which led her to become a teacher. “My dad only finished fourth grade and my mother did not finish high school, so ever since we were very little, my dad always was saying the good memories of childhood were his teachers and that stuck,” she said. “So, I just wanted always to teach and to help other students.” She began teaching at Green Acres Elementary School five years ago after transferring to Cobb from Miami. She has eight years experience in all in the classroom. The 37-year-old, who was born in Colombia but moved to the United States with her family at 17, said she continues to teach because of the way it makes her feel. “The students just make you laugh all day long, and they love learning and are so eager, and you’re just happy together,” she said. “I will be teaching until the very end, I am positive.” She has also learned that each year’s students have helped her to continue her education in the profession. “As a teacher, you have to change your practices for whichever groups of kids are coming your way,” she said. “What you did this year might not work for the next group. There are so many things you can do to continue learning. You have to be very open. You have different learners and children love learning, so you have to be a good teacher to help them learn.” Her passion for teaching has also led Montanez to be as involved as possible in her school community. “I’m all over the place,” she said laughing. “I’m the team leader for second grade, I have the lab classroom for the school and county to train our teachers and I tutor children in my spare time if they need extra help.” She is doing all this while studying to earn a master’s degree. “When you have a community that needs the support, you should be willing to give 100 percent,” she said. “They will receive it and appreciate it. The parents need a lot of support, especially if the parents speak another language. Plus, I enjoy it a lot!”
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The students just make you laugh all day long, and they love learning and are so eager, and you’re just happy together.
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KIM KUNST: Vaughan Elementary School
She helps pave way for young students to get an education
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im Kunst said there wasn’t just one thing that led her into teaching but said she’s continued teaching at the elementary school level for the last 17 years because it “paves the way for years of learning.” Kunst, 39, has been a teacher at Vaughan Elementary School in Powder Springs for the last seven years, teaching second grade. She has been with Cobb Schools for nine. “Growing up, school was always a happy, successful place for me,” she said about her childhood school in Southold, N.Y. “I loved both the learning and the social aspect of it.” So, after graduating from high school, Kunst went to James Madison University in Virginia to earn her bachelors in English and Elementary Ed. “I did go ahead and major in English but changed my teaching focus to elementary shortly into the program,” she said. “I love the idea of getting children off to a positive, successful start. Elementary school teachers pave the way for years of learning.” Upon completing her undergraduate work, Kunst continued her education, earning her master’s in education in reading instruction from the University of Georgia and her education specialist in reading instruction from Georgia State University. “There are so many reasons why I continue to teach. I love the kids, their energy energizes me and they make every day different from the last,” she said. “I thrive on the daily challenge of meeting the needs of so many different ability levels and learning styles.
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I love the idea of getting children off to a positive, successful start. Elementary school teachers pave the way for years of learning.
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28-year educator at Sawyer Road Elementary School in Marietta says her love of reading is probably what led her to become a teacher. “I love reading, and it’s so important to me to instill that love of reading and learning in my students,” said Terri Pellegrino. The 58-year-old has taught at Sawyer Road since the school opened in 2005 and has been a teacher in Marietta City Schools for 23 years. “I really enjoy working with children, and I am passionate about my job,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.” Pellegrino also said teaching is “probably one of the hardest jobs you’ll ever love,” but definitely recommends the career option to anyone with the heart for helping young people. “If you’re committed, it’s something you can work on 24 hours a day,” she said, adding that she’s had an opportunity to develop strong bonds with many Marietta City Schools families. “When I walk in the door at Sawyer Road each morning, it feels like home,” she said. “I have a friend in business who always tells me how lucky I am because I really can make a difference in children’s lives. There is nothing more rewarding than watching a child go from ‘having to read’ to ‘wanting to read,’ so why wouldn’t I stay in teaching?” She also reminds future teachers to keep time management in mind and to make every minute count for students. Not all of her time is spent in the classroom, however. She also works with an organization called Change R Hearts, which was founded by a parent at Sawyer Road and delivers lunches to school families during the summers. “Several teachers and myself also distribute books to the children through our book mobile of donated books,” Pellegrino said. “It gives us the opportunity to keep in touch with the children during the summer and make sure our children are reading. This is always the highlight of my summer.”
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I have a friend in business who always tells me how lucky I am because I really can make a difference in children’s lives.
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MARIA AVITIA-FREEMAN: Hillgrove High School
‘No matter what I tried ... I can’t not teach’ o matter what routes in college Maria Avitia-Freeman attempted to take not to become a teacher, her heart always steered her in that direction. The 39-year-old is an on-level biology teacher at Hillgrove High School. She has been teaching at the school for seven years and an educator since 1997. “Everybody told me not to be a teacher because of the money and no respect,” she said. “No matter what I tried, I ended up in a classroom. I
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can’t not teach. You either are or you aren’t, and that’s kind of my philosophy.” While she was working on her doctorate in molecular biology at the University of California in San Diego, Avitia-Freeman said her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She decided to return home to help her parents and decided to substitute teach at her old high school. “I fell in love!” she said. “I love the kids and I love feeling like I’m connected to my community in a positive way. You’re doing something more than yourself.” Avitia-Freeman is the first and only educator in her family, and she encourages future educators to be as
into their profession as she is. “Get involved in your school in as many aspects as you can,” she said. “I know it’s overwhelming, and it’s the hardest job you’ve ever done, but it’s worth it. Ask for help, but don’t recreate the wheel. “When students ask me if they should be a teacher, I always tell them it’s not ‘should’ you be a teacher but ‘are’ you a teacher?” she said. The freshman science teacher also serves as the school’s biology team leader, co-advisor of the Hillgrove National Honor Society and Student Government Association and teaches inclusion of special education students.
No matter what I tried, I ended up in a classroom.
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