By Tyler Bielecki
Q: How long have you been teaching?
A: “I've been a teacher for 8 years but I have been in schools for 11 years, I was a para for the first 3 years of my educational career in Northampton”.
Q: What made you want to get into teaching?
A: “My High School history teacher, Mr. Ortiz, inspired me because he was such a good teacher. I sort of lost touch and at the end of my college career, but then I rediscovered teaching, Friends and family saw me filling that role so I took it. I tried to reject it but kept finding my way back to it. I could complain about the pay, but there is nothing else I could see myself doing.”
Q: What do you most enjoy and least enjoy about your job?
A: “I Mostly enjoy the friendships I make and coaching my students up as scholars. Watching the students grow overtime is awesome. My least favorite part is grading, education reports, paperwork, and professional development”
Q: What was your "this job is totally worth it" moment as a teacher?
A: “I've had a bunch of those moments, It's more about little things, Kids making me a birthday card, leaving a note for me when I'm absent, hearing another teacher mention students talking about my class, students asking about AP classes because they want me as a teacher, things like that. When a tough class or group finishes something the way I want them to finish it, when people can hang on and get through it, I feel like I won and those are important moments especially for students who do not care about school. It makes me feel like I accomplished something special.”
Q: What's the most difficult daily aspect of your job?
A: “Making what we learn about relevant and relatable to students' lives so they do not find it boring. It's tough to get teens to believe school is important for the future and it's tough to convey to them why it is important. Just a couple of weeks ago, I had a student tell me that the material was boring and told me to shut the f*** up. This job can be rough.”
Q: What is the craziest thing that has happened to you on a job?
A: ”One time, while teaching middle school, I thought I was going to fight a kid. I got so hot and irate. The student in question was bullying kids, so I got in the kids face and started bullying him back since the other kids he was bullying couldn't, and that was probably the angriest I had ever been. Another time, a student had a seizure and almost fell on me and she was very large. Another student had to try to catch her and I had to call the nurse to get the EMTs on scene. It was scary.”
Q: Have you had any other jobs/careers other than teaching?
A: “Yep. Landscaper, for 16 years, I am still doing that. I landscape at a golf course in the summer, I find it peaceful. I don't really have to think and can just chill, it's enjoyable for me. If it paid better, I would've pursued a career in that field. Although, I knew I didn't want to kill my body and thought I ought to use my brain more, anyway.”
Q: How do you typically spend your breaks and summer?
A: “I enjoy weightlifting, beach trips, hiking, and working outside although it makes me want to sit inside in the ac and play video games and watch TV.”
Q: What was your “I almost quit" moment as a teacher?
A: In Holyoke, after the state took over, the hours were longer and the school was trying to get me in trouble over paperwork and that day was a bad day already because there were fights all day. It was a challenging day and I was sick of all the crap, I felt I was at my breaking point, I coached basketball for free, never got paid, always stayed late and was involved in the community and the school treated me completely unprofessionally and made me feel unwanted. I have never felt that same feeling here at Chicopee High. Springfield was still dealing with the state takeover. Holyoke felt broken, kids seemed to give up and the schools did not care. Chicopee is not a broken place and people still come to school.
Q: What is your opinion on YONDR?
A: “I think the cell phone situation could have been handled more diplomatically with a step-by-step process because a transparent progressive discipline policy is the right way for kids and parents. People thought we should used the phone pockets like Mr. Minic used versus going straight in with YONDR, I do support it, though, because it is for Mrs. Kruser to punch back against a culture she does not want. With YONDR, we do not have to tolerate drama, fights, etc. And also the state is looking at MCAS scores and seeing they are not good, and the opinion is that taking care of the cell phone situation could help improve MCAS scores and the state will stop poking around and redefine us. So, for the most part, I agree with the implementation of YONDR, I just don't love the timing or the way in which it was rolled out.”
Q: If you knew then what you know, now would you still have decided to get into the profession of teaching?
A: “Yeah, I think I would have, at the end of the day. I could look at bad moments and bad days, even bad years, and all the good moments outweigh the bad moments. The rational side of me says 'make more money.' However, I don't think it would've given me as much satisfaction, and I just get something special from being a teacher."
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