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Compass PD Podcast with Dr. Carrie Hepburn
Compass PD Podcast with Dr. Carrie Hepburn
Episode 81: The Gift of Showing Up: Celebrating Educators
In this special episode of the Compass PD Podcast, Dr. Natalie Fallert brings you a heartwarming celebration of educators everywhere. With all the appreciation days that fill the month of May, we decided to join in the celebration by reflecting on the moments and mentors that inspired us, the most meaningful gestures we’ve received, and the powerful ways we can show appreciation to others.
This episode isn’t your typical two-guest format—instead, Natalie invites friends and fellow educators to share their stories, shout-outs, and small but mighty moments of gratitude. Whether it’s the reason they entered the profession or the best “thank you” they ever received, each story is a reminder of the magic in education.
So take a deep breath, enjoy the journey down memory lane, and let this episode refill your cup as the school year winds down. Because even on the toughest days, your presence matters—and that alone is a gift.
Hello, thank you for joining us on the Compass PD podcast. I am Dr Natalie Fowlert with Compass PD, and today we want to celebrate educators. All the Educational Appreciation Days happen in May, so we thought it would be fun to give a few shout outs to those who have inspired along the way, share some of the best appreciation gestures we have received, and offer some suggestions of ways you too can show your appreciation to others.
Speaker 1:Today's format is not a traditional two-guest show, but again I got a little help from my friends and asked them to share their experiences with us. I asked participants to share a memory from school or life that prompted them to go into education, the best appreciation gift or sign or gesture that they have ever received, and ways that they do or have shown appreciation to others. They could also give a shout out to a teacher or a mentor who helped mold them. Today's episode is lighthearted and fun. We hope that it allows you to take a stroll down memory lane and fill your cup as we are winding down this school year. So let's start with a story that prompted you to go into education, or a shout out to a teacher or mentor who helped mold you.
Speaker 2:Constance Hollemeyer, secondary math, a school memory that made me want to be a teacher. I would have to go back to Miss Leibold. So Gingy Leibold was my English teacher and she just had creative ways of getting us to connect to our reading. Even though I'm a math ELA, I'm a math teacher. She helped us figure out ways to connect and so that was my inspiration to want to help kids want to connect with math instead of ELA. I came in high school. I had a high school ELA teacher and she was amazing. Her name was Gingy Liebold. She's still there, but she just inspired me.
Speaker 2:I know it's gonna sound weird for ELA to actually connect with books the the kind of books that you read when you're in high school and you have to read them. That maybe aren't necessarily the books you choose to read, but she always gave us a project to do with the reading so that we felt like we fit with the reading or the writing. She allowed us to write about things that were in our lives. I remember a story that we got to write about a trip. It was a poem and it was a six-part poem and some friends and I took a trip and we all wrote about the same trip and when she finished reading all of ours, she knew all about that trip.
Speaker 4:To give a shout out to mentors who have helped mold me.
Speaker 4:I have to say that I met a group of teacher leaders several years back and they were instrumental in inspiring me and showing me how you can take this work we do day in and day out and turn it into something good for the greater good of teachers, not only in our district but in the area.
Speaker 4:These teachers are Natalie Fallert, who asked me to do this podcast or to record some things for this podcast, julie Power, sarah Valter, kristen Forth and Carrie Hepburn. We would come together as a learning network and we would work to refine the way we deliver information to teachers and the way that we process the information that we have and all the research that we were learning about and the strategies, and we would work together to bring those out to our teachers. And part of that is just making sure that our collective work is as great as it can be. We can be great individually in our districts, but really we are all working to serve the greater St Louis area, which is just such a powerful and purposeful mission that we have and that we share, and so I am forever grateful for that group of women because they are just as passionate about this work that we're doing to benefit all kids and teachers, not only in our own personal worlds but in the greater community.
Speaker 3:This is, ms Hager, my first year at Freshman Academy at Perth Amboy High School. What first inspired me to become an English educator was my freshman year English teacher, mr Chaya. He was incredibly intelligent and commanded respect in the classroom, but, more importantly, he challenged us to think in ways I had never considered before. He opened my eyes to how literature can expand our understanding of the world, introducing me to works that explore deep philosophy themes like the Stranger, which sparked my interest in existentialism. He also emphasized the power of language, from our daily vocabulary challenges to the way he engaged us with poetry, especially modern poets like EE Cummings. I still remember when he told me that my writing and poetry were precocious from my grade level. His encouragement stuck with me and helped shape my identity as both a writer and an educator.
Speaker 3:A shout out to a teacher or mentor who helped mold you, a teacher who truly mentored me and helped shape the educator I am today is Ms Cardone. With over 20 years of teaching experience, she generously shared her expertise and practical wisdom. She showed me countless work samples that served as strong models and helped me understand what effective, engaging instruction looks like in action. Ms Cardone also taught me how to collaborate meaningfully with both peers and administrators and emphasized the importance of maintaining open communication with parents. She guided me through building detailed lesson plans, sourcing quality materials and creating a classroom that is organized, student-centered and fun, all while upholding professionalism. Her mentorship made a lasting impact on my growth and confidence as a teacher.
Speaker 1:The person that I want to give a shout out to, who I feel has molded my professional career in education, is actually a former student teacher of mine, nicole Boyer Leachman, and I think that I learned just as much from her as she learned from me, and I share this story because there were people who were older than I, was that, who are more seasoned, I guess, and helped me along the way, but I think that she pushed me more than anyone to stay current and relevant, and she reminded me of the importance of doing that and reinvigorating that learning, and that you can never you never know it all, and and that everything is always changing. And so my shout out goes to her, because she has kept me fresh and she has kept me on my toes, and I love sharing ideas and experiences with her. So, nicole, keep it up and don't ever underestimate the value of people who are not as seasoned as you are Next up. How do you show your appreciation to others?
Speaker 2:I think my favorite one was actually during COVID. Teacher Appreciation Week came up that year and it was during COVID. Teacher Appreciation Week came up that that year and it was during COVID and I had so much fun making letters to send to all of the teachers in our building because I knew that week was gonna be kind of icky for a lot of people because we're not in school to get celebrated, and so I wanted everybody to have something that showed up for them, and so I mailed letters to everybody in our school for that week and for my department, so for the math department, I made them all brownies and delivered them to their houses and set them on their porches so that we weren't getting close. But that was probably my favorite thing to do. It was just fun and something out of the ordinary.
Speaker 5:Dr Carrie Hepburn here. My favorite way to show appreciation to educators is through words. Whether that's speaking them to them, you know, like words of affirmation, I guess maybe is me, so it could be me speaking them personally to me. Um, so it could be me speaking them personally to them, or it could be me writing them. I wish I spent more time writing letters, but I don't. I need to get better at that. But I do like to speak life into people of who they are or can be. Um, I find that building people up is way better than any way of people always like to tell us what we're doing wrong, right. So I love sharing appreciation of educators by telling them who they are and the amazing work that they're doing.
Speaker 1:I have had a lot of different roles in education and so I have shown appreciation in different ways. One way that I have shown appreciation to educators is as a parent, and I always tried to give very thoughtful gifts to teachers for either Christmas or teacher appreciation, and normally it was in the form of actual money. One year I have twin boys. I had my boys fold up money as origami and gave it to their teachers. They made little Christmas trees out of $5 and $10 bills and gave that to their teachers. It was just something unique and different. It involved the boys, so that it was also something that they participated in.
Speaker 1:As a content coordinator, I've done a handful of different things. I oversaw over 200 teachers and so it would be difficult for you to financially buy them something, but I know that whenever they would come and work with me and it was a smaller group I always tried to do something like provide donuts or bring something along those lines. I remember during COVID I had sent them all like I made stickers and it said something about like surviving. You know I can teach online or something along those lines, but I physically made those for them and sent them off, so it wasn't like it cost a whole lot of money, but it allowed me to just kind of thank them for what they were doing and all of the work and effort that they had been putting in during that time.
Speaker 3:I make it a point to show appreciation to both my students and peers in a variety of ways. For my students, I often bring in snacks, whether it's Oreos, crumble cookie or chips, just to show that I'm thinking of them and value their work. I also try to contribute in more professional settings, like helping with lesson plans or offering a hand wherever needed. Whether it's assisting with observations, participating in PLCs, attending departmental meetings or contributing to soccer award banquets. I strive to be an active and supportive member of the school community. Additionally, I volunteer for the Unified Special Ed Game, which allows me to show appreciation for our special education students in a meaningful way.
Speaker 4:In my professional life, the way that I show appreciation is being sure to take the time to listen to the teachers that are choosing to share or problem solve with me and making sure that I show them all of the good that's already happening with them in their teaching and learning journey and making sure I amplify that.
Speaker 4:Some of the ways I do that is by giving them shout outs, whether it's in an email or when I'm sharing their ideas with another colleague, just making sure that people know that a lot of the brilliant ideas that come out of the work that we are all doing together are from their peers, from their colleagues. Something else I like to do to show appreciation for others is I just like spending time with them. I enjoy giving little gifts as well. That's something I like to do in my personal life. I like to give people little, small things that I think they would appreciate. They're called Circes and it's just something I think, from growing up in the South, that I do. And so not only do I appreciate others by making sure that I am validating and amplifying all the things that they are doing, and doing right and doing well, but also I love giving tokens of appreciation.
Speaker 1:Finally, what is the best appreciation, gift or sign or gesture that you have?
Speaker 6:ever received Hi Stephanie Evans here A gesture or a sign that I've gotten for appreciation. The best thing I've gotten is a simple note or a hey. Just wanted to let you know that something that I've taught or shared or presented or coached somebody through, or coach somebody through, was used and made an impact in their practice or made an impact on student achievement. So when I get things like that, it really motivates me to want to keep doing this work.
Speaker 1:When I think about the best appreciation gift that I've ever gotten. It has never been a physical thing or item. It has been a shout out back to me. I taught high school English for over 18 years. There were so many times that I would get these DMs or private messages from former students who are now in college and they would thank me for pushing them and helping them become better writers while they were in school. Now, believe me, they were not happy campers when they were sitting in my classroom, but the fact that they were able to come back as adults and say thank you for this really was. It's just heartwarming. And so when I think about the best appreciation, it really does come in the form of just acknowledging the role that someone plays in your life, and it isn't necessarily something monetary.
Speaker 3:One of the most meaningful appreciation gifts I've received this year from Miss Down and my third period class. They actually had me step out of the room and when I came back they surprised me with the kindest gesture a sympathy and thank you card that they all signed. The students wrote such thoughtful and heartfelt messages. It truly stood out because it wasn't just a card. It was filled with genuine appreciation and reminded me of why I love teaching so much.
Speaker 5:Dr Carrie Hepburn here, and what is the best gift or sign of appreciation that I've received as an educator? Well, it depends. So when I was in the classroom. First of all, you love when students or parents write you notes about the impact that you made in their lives. I still get kids students they're not kids anymore reach out to me and tell me about something they learned from me, or the feeling that they got, or the emotion and how much they enjoyed being in my class, and so I think that that is an amazing sign of appreciation.
Speaker 5:I moved into curriculum and I love hearing that I helped somebody realize their potential or helped push them to grow in an area or encourage them to move into leadership, and so I think, as a leader in education, part of my job was always like getting people to replace me right. So hearing that I helped somebody grow or move into a role that they they liked or loved their dream job, I think is a wonderful way to hear that we have contributed right, because that's what we're all trying to do in education is make things better, make us all better and impact learning for the better, for the good.
Speaker 2:I think the best gift is knowing that my kids are succeeding, that my kids that, whenever I see them out in the public or working, that they are doing the things that they love and that they are excited about, and that they're just successful, that they've become good humans and they're successful in what they've chosen to do in their life.
Speaker 4:There are a couple of moments that stand out when I think about my best appreciation gift or gesture that I have ever gotten in my teaching career.
Speaker 4:The first one was I had a student that looped with me from second to third grade when I taught in Rockwood School District and when she was a senior she invited me to her teacher appreciation volleyball game and we were her, I was her special person that got to walk with her out on the court and she said kind words about me and she was a really important student to me because she taught me a lot.
Speaker 4:I learned a lot from her. She was always kind and very sweet. Also, having her share those feelings that I also made an impact on her life was really amazing for me. And the other thing is when we did the senior walkthroughs at the elementary school where I taught, the elementary school where I taught, and when the kids that I had taught in elementary school came back as seniors and remembered me and shared memories of my class and wanted to give me a hug. It was the best feeling because these kids are coming full circle and heading off into their life after having their K-12 school journey and just for them to take the time to come up to me and remember me always was a wonderful feeling that showed me how much I was appreciated.
Speaker 1:Wow, what a great way to end this school year. I want to thank you for tuning in and I want to thank everyone who took time out of their chaotic schedule to share their stories with me. My hope is that you pause for a moment and remember all the good things about this profession. Despite the pressure, stress and chaos, there is truly something magical about this work. Please let me remind you that every day, you make a difference. Just showing up and being present is a gift.
Speaker 1:I know that the aha moments are few and far between, but, man, when they happen, it fills your tank and gets you to the next stop. I appreciate you and wish you a summer of personal growth, professional refueling and peace. If you didn't know, Compass PD aims to impact the learning of one million students. One way you can help us meet this goal is by sharing this podcast with a fellow educator. Thank you for joining us on the Compass PD podcast. Remember, at Compass PD, we believe that every educator has the power to inspire, change and transform student learning. Stay focused, stay inspired and keep making a difference.