Fables in Other Languages

Grant County Journal
Fables in Other Languages
January 10, 2001
Written by Janet Warren

Sometimes I get a 6 a.m. call from a creepy guy that Ephrata School District hired this year. It’s really a computer system called Aesop (Automated Educational Substitute Operator). He has been hung up on more than once from would-be substitutes thinking he was a telemarketer. For years, DeDe Vernon, who works at Grant, made all the phone calls trying to fill the substitute positions. She still needs to fill in the blanks where Aesop fails, since it is easier to say “no” to a computer than to a nice person like DeDe, but Aesop has taken over much of her responsibility.
Last year I substituted only for paraprofessionals, so I was in the classroom with some of the teachers in the district. I wanted to get to know the schools and what was expected before I used my emergency substitute license. An emergency sub is basically someone who has at least a bachelor’s degree but no formal teacher training. We get called if none of the real teachers are available. My first full-day teacher sub job was Mrs. Jones’ first grade class at Grant. Everything went pretty well. Teachers almost always leave detailed substitute plans and Mrs. Jones was no exception. Unexpectedly, two of the volunteers didn’t show up during the reading portion which caused some classroom management issues. One little girl, at the end of the morning, threw her arms around me and told me I was the best teacher ever. I’ve raised five children and been around the block a time or two, so I realize this translates to “You let me do things my real teacher never would have let me do.”
The last 10 minutes of class was chaotic. For some reason, I thought they would all line up after getting their backpacks ready. In hindsight, I realize how naïve I was to think 24 first graders would actually listen to me as I called out who was supposed to leave for the bus. Those last 10 minutes of a relatively successful day gave me a raging headache. After the kids were gone, I talked to the teachers in the hall expressing my dismay. Mrs. McNeill asked me how the rest of the day went. “Well, I followed the lesson plans, the kids worked and had some fun, and no one got hurt,” I said. Mrs. McNeill then gave me the best advice I have ever gotten in my substitute teaching career: “Then you were successful. It doesn’t matter how YOU feel at the end of the day.”
I have been amazed that this small town has attracted and retained such excellent teachers. Linda Hutchins is a great English teacher. I have a degree in English, but didn’t learn some of the things she teaches until I was in college. I was in Greg Hanberg’s history class last week and was caught up in his teaching methods. On the board he had written, “Are you thinking and linking, or are you blinking?” I don’t know if that is an original saying of his, but it was his method of teaching. He linked information about the Incas to other things the kids could relate to. Last year I was in Gary Klepec’s kindergarten class. He was kind, yet firm with the children. He is someone I would have liked to teach my children. I was impressed with Mrs. Carvo’s way of keeping her class on task. I never heard her raise her voice or get angry. She just stopped and waited for the class to respond. Any of you parents who have children in special needs at Grant are lucky to have Judy and Jeff and the paraprofessionals. That is a demanding job, both emotionally and physically, and your kids really matter to them.
Last week I spent the day in one of my favorite places, the skill lab at Ephrata Middle School. Sigrid Vira is the teacher and she has two paraprofessionals—Becky Lnenicka and Jim McNeill. I like that the groups are small, sometimes one-on-one, and there are some great kids. The purpose of the lab is to fill in some gaps that may have occurred up to this point. Mrs. Vira has been teaching special needs for years, starting at the high school, moving to Parkway and then five years ago beginning the program at the middle school. She is knowledgeable, but I also like her laid-back attitude that makes the room a comfortable place to be.
Jim McNeill was a sergeant with the Ephrata Police Department until he retired five years ago. His wife, Donna, is the teacher who gave me advice at Grant. Only recently, I made the connection those two are married. His wife encouraged him to apply for the paraprofessional job when it was posted, and it has been a great second career for him. When I asked how long he had between jobs, he said, “My wife let me have 27 days of vacation before I started.” What a lucky man. Mike only got 14 days between retiring from the State Patrol and taking over as police chief here. Since I was substituting for Becky, I didn’t get a chance to talk to her specifically for this column, but I have worked with her before and she is great with the kids. She is calm and organized and it is clear the students like her. The only part of her job that I don’t particularly like is the 40 minutes she has to be outside in the morning before school. It’s not bad in good weather, but kind of miserable when the temperatures start dipping.
I don’t substitute that much because I am out of town a lot. There are many teachers I have never met, but I am fairly intuitive and can tell a lot by the way the schools feel. Mike has been similarly impressed working with the administration of each school. Teaching is a tough job. The rules and regulations continue to increase along with class size. The money continues to decrease. If you are tempted to complain about your child’s teacher, you should volunteer. In fact, volunteer in a class where your child isn’t so you can be objective. Or try herding 24 first graders down the hall, keeping them quiet while walking in a straight line. You will never complain again.