It is a full circle moment for two former students and their teachers at Rose Creek Elementary School.
On this episode of the Supercast, listen as the former students are reunited with the teachers they grew to love in elementary school. They are reunited as co-workers, now teaching side by side in classrooms at Rose Creek. It is a story that speaks to the life-long impact a good teacher can have on his or her students, leading to lasting friendship and future success.
Audio Transcription
Rebecca Chandler:
I was so lucky to have this amazing little girl in my class named Sariah, and wouldn't you know it, she interviewed for our school kindergarten position last year.
Sariah Schmelter:
She really was a great teacher and set the mood right off the bat for me and I just grew up knowing I was gonna be a teacher.
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a full-circle moment for two former students and their teachers at Rose Creek Elementary School. On this episode of the Supercast, listen as former students are reunited with the teachers they grew to love in elementary school. They are reunited as co-workers, now teaching side-by-side in classrooms at Rose Creek. It is a story that speaks to the lifelong impact a good teacher can have on his or her students, leading to lasting friendship and future success.
Anthony Godfrey:
Talking now with two kindergarten teachers at Rose Creek Elementary. Introduce yourselves and how you know each other.
Rebecca Chandler:
Well, my name is Rebecca Chandler and I have been a teacher for 14 years in Jordan School District; took a little bit time off in the middle for about six years before returning back to teaching. I know this teacher when I started teaching at Hayden Peak Elementary in kindergarten and it was my second year teaching and I was so lucky to have this amazing little girl in my class named Sariah. And, wouldn't you know it, she interviewed for our school kindergarten position last year. Wow.
Sariah Schmelter:
I'm Sariah Schmelter. This is my first year teaching here at Rose Creek and I'm teaching kindergarten, and like Becca mentioned, I had Becca as a kindergarten teacher which was amazing. One of the reasons I actually wanted to come to Rose Creek was because I remembered how amazing she was as my teacher and I knew that she would be a good leader and mentor to me.
Anthony Godfrey:
You just called your kindergarten teacher ‘Becca’ twice. So how long did it take for you to get used to that or are you used to it yet?
Sariah Schmelter:
It was really weird, especially around my family, because my younger sister actually had her the year after. She to this day is still my mom's favorite teacher and so we always talk about Miss Chandler, Miss Chandler, Miss Chandler. So when I started calling her Becca, my mom's like “wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! This doesn't make sense.” Yeah, it's taken a while.
Anthony Godfrey:
I remember that as I have maintained contact with some students that I taught as well, they called me Godfrey for a while like they would drop the beginning. They finally called me by my first name a few times but I think it's still uncomfortable for them. Thirty years later, they still do, you know. It's ingrained, it's ingrained. Now you taught or you sought out the opportunity to teach with your kindergarten teacher. Tell me about that.
Sariah Schmelter:
Yeah, so I was just looking for jobs last year and I would do like a little bit of snooping, I guess, through the websites for each school, and just kind of seeing who's teaching there because I had a couple friends that taught at different schools.
Anthony Godfrey:
And it makes a difference who you're teaching with.
Sariah Schmelter:
It does, it really does. You want to be with people that you know will support you and and lead you. So when I saw Becca on there I was kind of like mind-blowing because for some reason, I thought she moved out of the state, which I don't know why I thought that.
Anthony Godfrey:
We have a lot of myths about our teachers in our mind, that they never go to the grocery store, or yeah, exactly.
Sariah Schmelter:
Yeah, so I remember I saw her there and I like took a picture of like my computer screen. I sent it to my sister, was like, Miss Chandler still teaching! Then she's like, “that's so crazy!” So I applied and when I got to interview, it was, it just felt right and so yeah, it's been fun.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fantastic. What was it about her that made you want to teach with her?
Sariah Schmelter:
She just I always remember her as being one of my favorite teachers. She was just always so kind and patient and I really enjoyed kindergarten. Because I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, I knew that having a good kindergarten teacher that like I had already experienced be my leader and be my mentor was going to be a great option for me. So that's one of the main reasons that that I kind of sought out this position over some other ones.
Anthony Godfrey:
And just for context for our readers who may be more advanced in years, what year did you go to kindergarten?
Sariah Schmelter:
Oh, let's see. Okay, it was 2006 to 7.
Anthony Godfrey:
2006, 7 in kindergarten and now in your first year of teaching. You’re a very young teacher at the time. Becca, tell me about the experience of realizing that you're gonna get to teach with your former student.
Rebecca Chandler:
Oh, it was so fun. I didn't I'll be honest I didn't recognize her right off the bat but as soon as she asked if I had taught at Hayden Peak and she told me her name. I she didn't have to tell me her last name. I just knew it right away, oh my gosh, and I remember your little sister, Nicole. It's like I could just see their little faces exactly. Then once I realized that, I'm like oh I can totally see you just as a little five-year-old. I just remember them being just both so sweet and kind to everybody. It just took me right back. It was such a wonderful time for me teaching there and just starting my career and everything. One of the things was our community was so great and my students were amazing and so it was just, just a flood of memories and it was just so fun to be back.
Anthony Godfrey:
She's tall for five years old.
Rebecca Chandler:
She's tall for five years old.
Anthony Godfrey:
And very accomplished.
Rebecca Chandler:
Just like a parent, you don’t like it when they get taller than you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Your kindergarten student has outgrown you but she hasn't outgrown learning from you, I'm sure. What are some of the things that you have picked up from Becca that have really helped you as a teacher?
Sariah Schmelter:
I don't even know where to begin. There have been so many things especially as a first-year teacher that I'm still learning and developing. Becca's been amazing and has come in and observed me several times and has helped me kind of figure out what I need to work towards especially, in like student engagement which can be sometimes be hard. I feel like that's one of the main things I've learned from her but also just how to be like kind and empathetic. She's an amazing teacher and her students love her. I mean,, I still love her like from a student perspective and her kids will come in during Walk to Read time and they're just like, “oh, we love Miss Chandler,” and like, “I love Miss Chandler, too.” So just learning how to be kind and empathetic to the kids so that you form that connection so they can have that healthy learning environment. I think that's one of the biggest things I've learned.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's wonderful! Tell me what you love most about teaching kindergarten.
Rebecca Chandler:
Oh, I don't even know where to start. Probably because I just find it so satisfying. What I mean by that is they come in just babies. I mean, they are babies. I still remember my kids that that little and I just couldn't imagine sending them off. So their parents are trusting us to have them and nourish them and teach them. It's just so satisfying to watch them come in, and while some may know how to read and things like that, they still don't know a lot about how school works. So to see the amount of growth from the beginning of the year to the end of year is incredible. I'm sure other grades see that too, but for me it feels just even more spectacular in kindergarten.
Anthony Godfrey:
It is something different when you're teaching students how to be in school but you're also teaching parents sometimes how to have kids in school. Tell me about what that's like.
Sariah Schmelter:
I feel very fortunate I have some amazing parents this year who seek out advice and really follow things. We work together as a team and so that's been really awesome. But yeah, I think there definitely is that learning curve when especially I have a lot of first kids.
Anthony Godfrey:
So first-time parents. first-time students,
Sariah Schmelter:
Yes, yeah, exactly, and but again I feel very fortunate that they they're willing to work with me. We talk about their students and how we can help them in class. They're just very open and willing to learn and grow and I'm open to it or an open and willing to learn and grow, so I think it's just been a good experience. They've all done really well.
Rebecca Chandler:
It is it is really fun to see some of these first-time parents because they I feel like are more nervous than the kindergartners. It is an extra responsibility to try and ease them into the into the role of being a parent of an elementary school student. Sometimes it takes a lot of time and training but overall, this is a great community.
Anthony Godfrey:
A kindergarten teacher I spoke with a couple of months ago told me about how they consider the parents on the first day of kindergarten like the paparazzi taking all these pictures, getting all the photos, and then like you said, they trust their child to come in and that's a big responsibility. When I came into your class Becca, it was obvious what a great teacher you are because the processes for getting kids in, seated, accounted for, lunches, all the procedures are there. I think that's really comforting to a kid to know to know how this works. I'm coming in, I'm part of this. You know everyone knows their place and what to do but they also get to be themselves.
Rebecca Chandler:
For sure. You know that you always learn and it's, I mean it, you will notice this in real life that behavior to how to manage behavior will always start with routines and procedures and I am a firm believer of that. My students, we work so hard on those routines that on the days that we have to vary sometimes they are so well trained in just their muscle memory, they're like Pavlov's dogs and they'll just do whatever; and I'm like wait, wait, wait! But we're changing today and they are just so used to the routine and the procedure that it's hard for them to even switch, but it makes our day go so much better.
Anthony Godfrey:
What it does is it creates time for learning to happen and for those positive interactions to happen. I've always been impressed by the way that elementary teachers in particular are able to set up those routines and you learned a lot from Becca about that just from what you described.
Sariah Schmelter:
Yeah, for sure I've learned a lot about routine and procedure. I've been able to observe her class as well and kind of see how she formulates her day, how she does transitions. Those can be really hard for kids when you're all the sudden transitioning from the carpet to the table. They want to kind of talk with their neighbor and they get lost in time. But I'm watching the things that Becca does. Sometimes she'll have them like have a task to do while they're going to their table or something like that, so it kind of keeps those kids engaged and in learning while they're transitioning. I've seen some really positive effects from doing stuff like that.
Anthony Godfrey:
You give them a great launch. Look at the launch that you gave her.
Rebecca Chandler:
She's given me a lot of credit, but she is one of the most incredible first-year teachers I have ever seen. In my observations, I've all made notes about, I love that, I'm gonna steal that idea. So, I even made a couple of notes and then I've used them in my classroom. My students have really loved it. So she's given me a lot of credit but she needs to give herself credit because she really is an amazing first-year teacher.
Anthony Godfrey:
I talked to a lot of teachers and it's really obvious what a great teacher you are right out of the gate, so I hope you have many years ahead in Jordan District. You have as many as you want, but it's a real thrill to talk with both of you and enjoy celebrating this year of progress that your kindergartners have had. You've given them a great start.
Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us when we come back as we talk with Stacy Marshall and Riley Butterfield, teacher and student who became a teacher.
Male voice:
Never miss an episode of the Supercast by liking and subscribing on your favorite podcasting platform. Find transcripts for this episode and others at supercast.jordandistrict.org.
Sandy Riesgraf:
Are you looking for a job right now? Looking to work in a fun and supportive environment with great pay and a rewarding career? Jordan School District is hiring. We're currently filling full and part-time positions. You can work and make a difference in young lives and education as a classroom assistant or a substitute teacher. Apply to work in one of our school cafeterias where our lunch staff serves up big smiles with great food every day. We're also looking to hire custodians and bus drivers. In Jordan School District we like to say, “people come for the job and enjoy the adventure!” Apply today at employment.jordandistrict.org.
Anthony Godfrey:
We're here with two teachers at Rose Creek Elementary. Go ahead and introduce yourselves and then we'll talk a little bit about how long you've known each other and why.
Stacy Marshall:
My name is Stacy Marshall and I taught Riley in kindergarten in 2002, so that’s why we are here.
Riley Butterfield:
I'm Riley Butterfield and I am now here at Rose Creek for my second year of teaching.
Anthony Godfrey:
Riley, the former kindergartner, what do you remember about being in that kindergarten class?
Riley Butterfield:
Honestly, I don't remember a whole lot just because that feels so long ago now.
Anthony Godfrey:
It’s a long time ago.
Riley Butterfield:
Yeah, I just remember having so much fun. She really was a great teacher and set the mood right off the bat for me and I just grew up knowing I was gonna be a teacher.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you knew the way that it felt to be in her class. How did it feel to be in her class?
Riley Butterfield:
She made it a very loving environment, fun, welcoming, made sure that everyone was, you know, greeted and then sent off in a good way.
Anthony Godfrey:
Did it feel organized?
Riley Butterfield:
Oh year. She's always been organized.
Anthony Godfrey:
The reason I ask that is I know she's highly organized and has the processes, has the procedures. Do you think there's a little bit of her teaching DNA that has inhabited the way that you run your first-grade classes?
Riley Butterfield:
I would hope so. I try to be as organized as I possibly can and I think there's a little influence there.
Anthony Godfrey:
How many years have you been teaching now?
Riley Butterfield:
This is my second year.
Anthony Godfrey:
Your second year teaching and both here at Rose Creek?
Riley Butterfield:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
What brought you to Rose Creek specifically?
Riley Butterfield:
I finished my student teaching in November and I saw that there was an opening and kind of hard to find a job in the middle of the year. This one was open.
Anthony Godfrey:
At what point did you realize you would be teaching at the same school as your former kindergarten teacher?
Riley Butterfield:
It took us what like three months to realize. My mom had come and helped me set up the class and she was like, “gosh, that teacher looks so familiar.” We were trying to figure it out, me and my mom, back and forth, and she's like, maybe your brother had her. So, then I was telling Stacy about it. She pulled out all of her yearbooks and there I was, and so it was not even my brother. It was me. So, it was fun to make that connection and see that after.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now just so that everyone listening can feel a little older, in what year were you in kindergarten and now second year, now you're a second-year teacher?
Riley Butterfield:
Yes, I believe that was 2002.
Anthony Godfrey:
2002 in kindergarten.
Riley Butterfield:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Half-day kindergarten back when we did not offer that. Oh, the old PM kindergarten.
Riley Butterfield:
Yeah, I was the PM kindergarten.
Stacy Marshall:
A letter a week.
Anthony Godfrey:
Very nice. All right. How do you enjoy teaching? How do you feel about teaching now that you're now that you're in it?
Riley Butterfield:
Oh, I love it. I love being able to interact with the kids and just joke with them and teach them and watch that light bulb moment. You know, when they're reading and be able to really think back and when they're writing, thinking about their six syllable types and how they can break that apart to like, figure out the word. It's just fun to watch them do that.
Anthony Godfrey:
When you're teaching first graders you really get to see that huge progress. I taught middle school and high school and I got to see progress and you saw the light bulbs go on. But I feel like a first-grade teacher or a kindergarten teacher gets to see that all the time, that they are lighting the boards up all the time. You see this huge progress and that they're growing up before your eyes. Tell me about that.
Riley Butterfield:
Yeah, it's weird to watch them like even our beginning of the year photos, and like looking back at class photos that you take during your class parties, and then you have them flipping through on the screen. Then all of a sudden, you're at the end of the year and you're like that's a different kid. They hardly look the same. Yeah, so it's crazy to even just like look back on the photos that are flipping through the screen.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's a lot of time that they, that you, spend together every day. They get to know every stitch of clothing that you own, every mood that you are feeling. Do they, do they tell you all the time you look kind of tired or you look kind of sad?
Riley Butterfield:
No, I haven’t gotten that one.
Anthony Godfrey:
Or oh yeah, I got that all the time. Or it would be about oh are you tired, Mr. Godfrey? You seem tired. Anyway, how about you? What do you remember about Riley when she was a kindergartner?
Stacy Marshall:
Well, you know this is my 24th year of teaching so that would have been, you know, a little bit back then but I . . .
Anthony Godfrey:
She's the only one you remember? She was a standout. I mean she's shown like the sun.
Stacy Marshall:
Your first year.
Anthony Godfrey:
I mean, she shown like the sun.
Stacy Marshall:
When I first started, I was eight months pregnant with my youngest. I know people say, “oh, your first year is like a train wreck or something.” You just hope they survived you, know so I was hoping. I was looking at her now. I'm like, okay, one made it.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, she made it, she made it.
Stacy Marshall:
That year is just a little bit of a blur because so much was going on and it's your first year. But it was it was a good class. I look back at that yearbook and some of the kids that were there. I taught siblings of those families. I made good connections that way with the families at Jordan Ridge and then yeah, I watch her now, she's just amazing. She's an amazing teacher.
Anthony Godfrey:
So that was your first year teaching and you had a career in law enforcement before that, is that right?
Stacy Marshall:
I did, I did 11 years with police.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about being a police woman and then coming in to be a kindergarten teacher. Tell me about the skills that transferred from one job to the next.
Stacy Marshall:
You know I tell people that it's kind of the same because, except that the kindergartners are better because they're supposed to behave that way instead of adults behaving like they're fine you know.
Anthony Godfrey:
So, they match your expectations a little better than the adult behavior did.
Stacy Marshall:
Sometimes. Wow, you know. But I don't know. I just I think because my last part of my police career was in detectives and in crimes committed against children, it just kind of led me to want to see that positive side versus I was in so much of, you know, the sadness of the things that can happened to kids. But being on the teaching part of it just brought me back that happiness. That yeah, kind of like you said, that growth and the kids are so empathetic in first grade. If you're having a rough day, they're like, “oh are you sad? You know, or how can we help? Can I give you a hug?” They're just like that and that's my attraction to first grade, too, for that the kids are just wonderful.
Anthony Godfrey:
What would you say to those who are thinking about becoming a teacher? The kindergartners out there listening to the podcast were thinking one day maybe I can teach first grade?
Riley Butterfield:
Do it. I don't know I've loved every single minute of it. I know that some people are like, “oh, never become a teacher,” but I just can't relate. I can't relate to that. I look forward to coming every day and I can't wait to hear the stories that the kids are going to share or tell me of what happened last night. I just I love it. It's really what I want to be doing and I just would say do it.
Anthony Godfrey:
The question I used to love that they would say is, you know, they can't wait to tell you about their lives but also what are we doing today? I think that's a big compliment like there's going to be something cool, what is it? I just can't wait. I can't wait to tell you about my life and I can't wait to see what you have for me today.
On the other end of a career, what would you say to those who are thinking about teaching?
Stacy Marshall:
I do think it's an innate calling that people just are drawn to that, you know, I really do. Especially I mean I guess if people stay in it for as long as they do, it has to be that connection. Yeah, and those connections, those daily connections, like you say, whether it's learning how to read or even those who are struggling, it just being a part of that struggle is a positive in your life. So, I can look back and say I know I made the right career choice. It's been a bumpy ride at times but it's been a good ride. I wouldn't have swapped up for anything. I really truly wouldn't have swapped up for anything.
Anthony Godfrey:
The bumps are part of the deal. Yeah, and what's nice is that you see the kids the next day and you're able to recover. You know, you get that consistency.
Stacy Marshall:
Well, you know, when they go to second grade the beginning of the year, I always feel like a rock star walking through the lunch room because that's always, “Miss Marshall, Miss Marshall!” Yeah, you do feel like a rock star. You've got your paparazzi back. It wears off. Third or fourth grade . .
Anthony Godfrey:
Fourth grade just kind of gives the head the head nod you know.
Stacy Marshall:
But second grade is like, but it's even fun. Still I've got the kids that I first taught here are in fifth grade now and they'll walk by and say, “Hey, Miss Marshall,” and so that's kind of fun to still have that connection with them. But yeah, beginning of the year second graders, you're just a rock star.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, enjoy your rock star status both of you and good luck with the remaining days of the year.
Stacy Marshall and Riley Butterfield:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
All right take care thanks for talking with me. Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember. education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see out there. Bye.