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Every teacher has that one story that they still tell years later, whether it is funny, touching, or just plain strange.
Mrs. Samantha Leone – “Let’s Go, Leone!”
Interviewed by Anagha Aravind
One year, before she taught in Nashua, Mrs. Leone had an Algebra I class full of freshmen. They were all horrible.
“For the life of me I couldn't get them to do their homework,” she said. “One day, I got fed up and decided to make them a deal: if you do all your homework for a week, I will stand on my head on Friday. I thought for sure I was safe because there's no way that would work, right? But come Friday, they had done all of their homework and were like, ‘Let's go, Leone!’ Thankfully, I had come prepared. I was wearing pants, my shirt tucked in, and I had brought a pillow to avoid a concussion. So, I placed the pillow up against the wall in front of the class, and I used it to balance against my back. I actually stood on my head.
Unfortunately, I couldn't do that every week, so my class went right back to never turning in homework after that."
Mr. Jason Robie – Haunted Halls
Interviewed by Anagha Aravind
It turns out that school is just as scary when it isn't in session. A former staff member found that out the hard way.
“There's some custodial stuff that works around the clock,” said Mr. Robie. “One night there was a woman cleaning, and she heard something. You could see on the cameras her pausing at the noise. She leaves the side of the camera and goes into the girls’ locker room, which was where the noise was coming from.”
“I was called down to security to see if anybody was in the building, and then on the cameras you see her suddenly sprint out, grab her keys, and take off down the hallway. Literally, like 5 seconds later, there's just this blur following her; we couldn't explain it.”
“That custodian that was working back then quit. Never came back. She thought she had seen or heard a ghost, and when you watched the footage, you could tell that there was something there.”
Mr. James Dowding – Declaring Neutral Ground
Interviewed by Matthew Lynn
Sometimes the toughest lessons happen outside the classroom.
“As an educator, you are always faced with interesting challenges,” said Mr. Downing. “At a former school, the issue in the neighborhood spread to the kids. The area was going through a turf war between the Crips and the West Side Longos.”
“One student made despairing remarks and flashed rival gang symbols at some classmates, and then it started. We had a series of fights across campus as different groups defended their colors. The police were called, lunch was shortened, and security, faculty, and staff hustled students back into classrooms. the campus was tense for the rest of the day.”
“For the next few days, there was additional security and police on campus, and students went through bag checks. Justice things were coming down; there was a drive-by shooting that killed the grandfather of a few students affiliated with one of the major gangs. For the next week tensions were really high.”
“We now had expanded police presence off campus at the neighboring park; even the Boys and Girls Club volunteer teams helped walk students, and assisted at The Crossings. At the funeral, gang leaders from all sides met with school officials, law enforcement, and government leaders to declare the school a neutral zone and a truce. That's how it ended.”
Ms. Lisa Yates – “Because I’m Gay, Chris”
Interviewed by Sophie Roy
Some lessons aren't about academics; they're about empathy, respect, and what it means to really see another person.
“Many moons ago, there was this kid, Chris, I think,” said Ms. Yates. “We were in class, and he said, ‘I just f—ing hate gays.’ And I'm out as a teacher, so the whole class kind of gasped.
“I said, ‘Okay, come up here,’ and set him in a chair. I told him, ‘When you say stuff like that, it can offend people,’ and he goes, ‘Why? I just don't f—ing like gays.’
“So I said, ‘Because I'm gay, Chris.’ And he’s like, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Yeah, remember when I told the class I'm gay? That means you're talking about me. Do you want to say that to me?”
“He said, ‘I don't want to say that to you…’ I said, ‘Okay, but when you say a general dig like that about gay people or Black people or any kind of oppressed group, you're coming at all of them.”
“And you could see the class waiting for it to shift. And it did. He essentially realized, ‘I don’t want to hate you.’ That moment stuck with me. People we don't get along with; it doesn't matter if they are gay, straight, bisexual, trans, people of color; they are still people, and you start from there.”
Mr. Mark Fenlon – Teaching Against The Odds
Interviewed by Matthew Lynn
For some, the road to teaching is straightforward. For others it's an inspiring journey full of setbacks, surprises, and second chances.
“When I was doing my student teaching in Texas in the 1980s, it was a miserable experience," said Mr. Fenlon. “My supervising teacher, a sweet woman just a few months from retirement, passed away from breast cancer shortly after I began student teaching. I never had another mentor, and the next 3 months were chaotic and unfulfilling. I was so disillusioned that I took my master's degree in education and essentially forgot about it for almost 15 years.”
“I continued teaching technical communication at UT Austin's engineering department until the position was eliminated. Jobless, I moved back to Lowell and got a job at Massachusetts Vocational High School. But I began having progressively severe attacks of pancreatitis until I was eventually diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I was lucky—it was caught early, and I had insurance through my job. However, I missed so much time that I wasn't rehired.”
“To be frank, I wasn't very good at my job. I had experience teaching engineering students, but no practical experience teaching high school students. A year and a half later, desperate for work and recovering from a 13-hour abdominal surgery, I finally got an interview in Nashua. I thought it went spectacularly wrong. I walk to my car muttering, ‘What a waste of time.’
“Little did I know, I’d get a call for a final interview the next day, and that's how my teaching career in Nashua started. I had no expectations other than a paycheck. And somehow it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened professionally in my life. Nashua gave me enough room to grow and become good at my craft. Sometimes life can
really surprise you.”
Sometimes the moments that stick are the ones you least expect. Through it all, school wouldn’t be the same without the people who fill its halls every day. Especially, the teachers.
