Teacher Stories: Carrie Hayden, ESL Teacher at Lakewood High School, New Jersey
I’ve always felt like, while I have two children myself, I firmly believe all children deserve excellent teachers. I feel like children who come from homes and communities where, you know, they don’t have adequate food or shelter or other things going on, it’s even more important for them to have someone in their life who encourages them, is there for them, and is supportive of them. You know, let them know that they can be whatever they want to be, accomplish things that they want to accomplish. I think it’s really important that they have someone on their side like that.
I’ve always had students in my room whose English was a second language for them, and I had many of the same students twice. It’s really inspiring to see these students. They really just want better for themselves. They want to learn English. They want better opportunities. You know, a lot of them aren’t here with their families. They’re here with an aunt or an uncle. Since I had ninth through twelfth graders, I had a lot of kids who work, and they rent a room in a home, and they’re here by themselves. So, to see these kids go through what they went through–their stories about how they got here–is so inspiring.
Some of the stories are horrific, and to see them just persevere and keep trying and working because they really want something better for themselves. They’re super appreciative of all the opportunities that come their way. It’s just, it’s just an awesome thing to see. I had a few seniors graduate, be at their graduation, and know that they’re going to do wonderful, great things. I even had one student who was a mom. She had a one-year-old as a senior in high school, and she missed some school, and understandably so, but she would always email me, and she would catch up on the work she missed.
Sometimes I bring what I see with these kids home with me, in terms of when I talk to my own children. I’ll say, “You know how mom teaches you as you grow up, to be appreciative and to be grateful for things?” And I’ll tell them about challenges my students are facing in their lives, and I’ll say, “So, when you’re feeling like maybe you couldn’t get what you wanted, or you’re feeling a certain way, you always need to be appreciative and always need to be grateful, because there’s so much worse that could be going on with us.”
Interview by Gregory Andrus
Portraits of the Jersey Shore
