The Final Lesson – Mr. Waters and Mrs. Eves

In this special episode of the CKS Podcast, Maisy sits down with longtime CKS teachers Mr. Waters and Mrs. Eves as they reflect on their years at CKS ahead of their retirement. They shared fond memories, funny stories, and the moments they'll miss the most. This conversation is a heartfelt look back at the impact they’ve made on the CKS community over the years. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:01

This is your Christ the King Catholic School Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hi everyone, welcome back to the CKS podcast. I will be your host today, and I'm a seventh grade student here at Christ the King. Today we are joined by Mr. Waters, our sixth grade history teacher. How are you, Mr. Waters?

SPEAKER_04 0:22

I'm doing quite well and you, Macy?

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Yes, very well. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 0:24

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Of course. So let's just start thinking back to your first day at Christ the King. What when you think back to it, what was the first memory that kind of pops into your mind?

SPEAKER_04 0:34

Well, my first my actual first teaching day at Christ the King, it was it was my birthday. It came in January. So I was kind of trying to not let everybody know. I didn't want to, you know, start off the whole birthday thing. But my uh first memory is we went out to morning assembly just like we did today. Everybody met out there with their backpacks, and I thought that was a unique way to start the day where everybody came together as a community because I hadn't seen that before, and I think that's a tradition that I really liked over the years that of morning assembly.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

That has always been a special part of my day, giving me kind of a talk as a fresh start because we'll have a talk from a different member of the staff every day. Um if you had to describe your teaching style in one sentence, what would it be?

SPEAKER_04 1:15

I like to be intentional with the relationships I form with my students, and because I think once the students have a relationship and understanding the teachers there to help them, it's it it doesn't really matter which strategy, you know, is as long as they know that you're reproachable for help.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Do you ever take your lessons that you learned as a child from your daily life and bring it into teaching even if it doesn't relate to history?

SPEAKER_04 1:38

Oh yeah, I grew up in a big family. So I use that experience quite a bit because you know I I saw my brother somewhere had some strength, and my sister had some strength, and but they all learned they learned and did well, but they they had different approaches. So I remember that, and then I just remember being part of teams and some of the teachers I had, like Sister Catherine, uh, there's probably not a a week go by that I don't incorporate some of the strategies that she taught me.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Do you think be living in a big family and growing up in a big family and learning how to be a part of a community helped you teach your students to do the same?

SPEAKER_04 2:16

Um because sometimes we had to be i in a big family you you learn independence pretty quickly. You know, Muhammad, I was number seven of ten, all right. So um I saw that like my older brothers did some things, and my mom and dad said you can't do those things, so right away I knew you can't do those things, right? So they taught me that. But they also um were like coaches to me, some of my older brothers and and mentors, and my parents gave us a lot of responsibility and and basically told us we had to make school work for us, all right? And they expected us to go to school and do our work and behave and become better Catholics and so what was one thing your students would be surprised to learn about you? That I really wasn't if they would have seen my middle school report card, they might have wondered. Okay. I think they would because the gradings were a little bit different back then. Um I think they would also would be surprised that um the fact that many of them like you know what it's like to be in a big family, right? Some of them don't know those um things. So I think uh that's what they'd be surprised that. For example, when I was 14 years old, my parents felt comfortable for me going from Long Island into New York City to watch a basketball game with friends. I I just don't think we live in a world like that anymore.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

That's very true.

unknown 3:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

So we know that you are very close with a lot of the students that even after they graduate, Christy the King. How do you foster that relationship and really make sure that you still stay in touch with them even though they've left?

SPEAKER_04 3:49

Well, one of the helpful things, uh I was given some advice when I came here, and it actually was easier here than in my previous school, uh, because uh Father Argentina was a pastor then and he gave me some advice because this is not my home parish. So he said, come to mass here once a month and just stay for coffee and do things. And I like coffee. And so that was easy. And so you would see people, especially ones who were in high school and college, and and even then get married. I was coming in a few weeks ago and to another event, and one of my students introduced me to um their fiance. And so that's just by showing up to things, I think that that helps going to basketball games, going to plays, um, being around the schools are community, so you make yourself available to the community. Some of them I see in Carline here, and we talk about high school and college, and so it's just trying to be intentional about it to make make yourself available to go to opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

So I feel like that's a great way to remember to stay in touch with them so that you don't just see them once, and then once they're gone, that's all the lessons you can teach them. It's kind of a reminder that you can keep teaching them and helping them even though they may you may not be their teacher anymore.

SPEAKER_04 5:00

And to be fair, sometimes students have have taken the initiative and approach me. Like this past year I received a email from a former student of mine who teaches in Pinellas County, and he has one of my former students in this class over in Pinellas. So that was kind of a unique experience because I hadn't heard from him since he was in eighth grade. And then to see that now he's a teacher in the Pinellas County uh school system for the last 12 years, and it's just so connections happen, and I'm not really on social media quite a bit, so but sometimes uh I see things and people show me that.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

So back to kind of the idea of like connections. Was there anyone specifically at this school that you got along with well and were close friends with all throughout teaching together throughout you the years you've been here?

SPEAKER_04 5:47

I will go back first to people I had before I got here, too, okay? So and then I'll go to that. Um my first supervising my supervising teacher was a man by the name of Joseph Cavazzo, and he really invested a lot in me. And my first apartment head was a man by the name of Mr. Paul Lonspah. It's rarely that I am not thinking about what they would what they do and how they would have handled the situation. Um I have a lot of I have a lot of respect for a lot of the teachers, so you know, to say, you know, I've coached with Coach Cole for like 15 years. Um so when you coach and things like that, Mrs. Vivian and I were partner teachers, Mr. Jenrin and I were partner teachers. There was a lot, and you know, Mr. Prieto, he he he he's here every day doing things, and uh I make connections with them. I so there's a lot here, and I now I'm feeling like I'm gonna forget somebody. But I mean I work with a really rock star group of teachers, and I always had and from the Mrs. Forbes who hired me to Mr. Carey or Miss and Mr. Tiennes, I've had great principals to work for.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

That's very good. So going back to Coach Cruel and how you've coached together for a while, we know you're a very, very good basketball coach for in Medi um of the competitions. How did that how did you bring your teaching and all of that, like your faith into teaching and helping basketball?

SPEAKER_04 7:06

I I think if you take your faith everywhere you go, make it every party of your life, it's it's kind of easy. But I mean St. John Bosco one time gave advice. He said when kids are sweating, they listen better. So I sorry. I took that idea that after a practice we could have a quick little devotional. Um we would go into the chapel sometimes, you know, just to kind of practice wasn't going good, we just sit down before the blessed sacrament. And I'm not saying that makes us you win games, okay? But it does bring you back to what's important, okay? So I I think just it's just every day part of your life, okay? So like if we we talk at recess, we try to bring Christ into it. We we do it in history, we do it in Carline.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

How did what did Coaching Festival teach you about your students and how did you better understand like their personal life outside of just their learning?

SPEAKER_04 7:59

Coaching allows you to form in some way deeper connections with students that you have. And I see people here that are in the play. I mean, when you when you in the play, you really make connections with La Pierre. You're in the you're doing those little nativity sets with um Mrs. Wilson, you start to form deeper connections. It allowed me to see students uh outside the classroom, and I think if I give advice to teachers, see see students outside the classroom. And coaching allows you to also tell the student, hey, you want to play the game, I I need to see that your your grades are getting. So keeping your grades up. And I'm I'm kind of uh very uh happy with the fact that you know, in the many years I coached uh basketball here, we really never had any academic issues. Students kept so allow me to help them with that. And it also you you're waiting there for them to be picked up at night and you meet the families in a different setting. So it's it's a way for people to ask you questions without having to come into your or send you an email.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Can you just kind of think of CKS and the community we've built here? When one word, what do you think that would be and why?

SPEAKER_04 9:07

It would be community, Catholic community. Um everything we do is wrapped around our Catholic faith. And you see it when you walk into a classroom, there's a saint uh when you walk this campus, you see uh statues of Mary and other saints. You go into Our Lady of uh Angels Chapel, it is a sacred place. I so I just see Catholicism.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

I think that's also really important to build in here because we are a Catholic school. But some people may forget that, but anywhere you walk in the school, you might and not only by like the statues, but also by the teachers and that the people and the students that are here.

SPEAKER_04 9:44

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

So to be completely honest, how many batches of brownies do you think you've made since you've been here? How many brownies have you we know your brownies are so famous here at Christ the King. To be honest, how many batches do you think you've made since you've started here?

SPEAKER_04 9:58

Well, I don't know about that count. Um I think I could if uh with the money I spent on it, I could have retired two years earlier. No, no, I'm just joking. Uh there I buy the cheapest one and I had Hershey's brown Hershey syrup, and I won't tell you how much because whatever you think you use, you gotta use a little bit more. But I try how the brownie tradition got started, it was year even before I came here, it's just a time. Let's get back to simplicity. Sometimes we're so busy we don't have time for a treat. We really should remember to take time to relax a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

It's really important. So why did you start making broaders in the first place and where did that come from? Like were you inspired by anyone?

SPEAKER_04 10:36

My mom liked to cook. And when I would see my mom sometimes when somebody needed something, she would cook things for them and bring them. And I saw I always saw the joy of the poor people. And I thought, well, when I came into schools, it would be nice occasionally to to do a gift that I have. I think I think you've you heard me say, if you ever see me with the power tool, get out of the way. But I'm okay in the kitchen. So it was a gift that I have. I like to bake, and it also makes me think about my day coming in with my students, right? So I'm making and and they could smell them when they came into the room and the excitement that that brings. And it really is not that expensive a way to do uh a recognition to because my students work hard. My students work hard, and I think uh as a teacher, sometimes you have to step back and tell them, we worked hard today, let's have a brownie.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Even though Sally you won't be teaching here, can we look forward to seeing you in the future here at Frisking?

SPEAKER_04 11:30

Yes, I I did leave my phone number, Mrs. Welsh. Don't give it up to too many people, but I did give my phone number and I will I will always answer the call for uh to Christ and King. This community has done so much for me that I you know you can't really ever leave. You come back to help a little bit, and just like you will when you graduate, you'll come back and you'll do things. You won't be in the classrooms all the time, but there'll be times I can come back and do something. And I definitely uh plan, I'm looking out here, the students I've taught, I'm gonna come back to their graduation to make sure that they finished well, okay?

SPEAKER_00 12:06

So just to kind of wrap up, what will you miss most when you walk out of the building for the last time?

SPEAKER_04 12:11

Oh boy. I don't know yet. Okay, so I wasn't expecting that question. I really um haven't tried to think about that yet, okay. But it would be the kids. But wherever I go, I'll work with kids.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 12:29

That was a tough one.

unknown 12:32

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 12:32

Yeah, that was what's the list.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 12:37

Do we even have to redo that one? That was good. I mean, I will miss students and I will uh my uh hero is one of my heroes, remember we talk about here with a head, was Sister uh Jean Dolores. And she said she loved being around young people. So I love being around young people, and I plan to do that even though I'm not teaching at Chrys the King. But I will miss a lot of things about Chrysler King, the families, the church, the the camaraderie of uh people like Mrs. Walsh, Mrs. Uh Gonzalez back there, and other people who challenge you to be better, right? But that was a good question.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Just to wrap up finally, if you're l students were listening right now, what would you want to say to them?

SPEAKER_04 13:19

Finish well. All right, right now to listen right now, we're getting ready for exams, right? So and for eighth graders, um, it's been great that you've been here. Some of you have been here since I remember getting you out of cars when you were four years old. But now you're going off to high school, and it it's you know, stay committed to the Lord, stay committed to your family, and the other things usually work out.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Well, thank you so much for coming today. I really enjoyed it. Thank you. So we just heard from our sixth grade history teacher, Mr. Waters, and now here we have Mrs. Eve, our first grade teacher. So let's just kind of start off beginning. We just heard from our sixth grade teacher, Mr. Waters, and now we're back with Mrs. Eve's, our first grade teacher.

unknown 13:59

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

To be in the beginning, when you think back to your first day at Chris the King, what is the first memory that pops into your mind?

SPEAKER_03 14:05

Oh gosh. I started in kindergarten and at the end of our first uh week, I was teaching with Mrs. Fogerty. She was KB, I was KA, and at the end of the week, I was exhausted. And I looked at her and she says, You go home and you give yourself a gold star because you made it through your first week. And I will always remember that.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

That's really cute. I love Mrs. Fogerty. She's so inspiring and she's just so sweet. So what was there a moment when you realized like this is exactly where I'm meant to be, and God put me in the exact place where I'm supposed to?

SPEAKER_03 14:40

You know, uh I've always been very happy here. I grew up as a Catholic school girl from first grade through university. And when I did my inter internship in college, I was teaching at a uh public school. And my supervising teacher actually said to me, I think you would do better at a private school. It took me many years to finally take her advice and um come to private school. Um and I felt at home from the very beginning.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

That's really sweet. How did your faith shape the way you handled the tough days? Like you said in the beginning, the first tough week.

SPEAKER_03 15:17

Oh gosh. Um I I would just call on um our Lord for his strength. Um exact uh especially when I was just exhausted. And um I asked for humor um because there are just days that all you can do is laugh. Um and I started singing. And it it seemed like it caught my kids' attention in school because they heard me sing and then they were like, oh, and my singing was like a message like, you know, tidy up your desk or meet me on the rug, that sort of thing. And I like the way so-and-so was doing this, and I would sing those songs, and all of a sudden everybody was listening. And I thought, this works. So I started singing. Um maybe not my first year, because my first year class would probably say, I don't ever remember Mrs. Eve singing, but my um substantive qu my uh following classes, I guess, would remember that I sang.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

I remember when you would sing to us in first grade. That was so sweet. I just loved like your pretty voice in the background. So was there a pick particular class or year that kind of changed you and gave you like a new mindset coming here at Christ the King?

unknown 16:28

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

You know, our COVID year was pretty raw. I had to do COVID year. Yeah, that was raw. Um and we worked really hard during COVID, harder than we did on a typical school day because we would teach uh the online lessons and then we would record the lessons that the kids could watch, and then we would call and check in on the students, and so you had office hours. It was a very long day teaching COVID. Um I liked it a lot, but it was exhausting, and it was really a nice way to um touch base with families, moms and dads, you know, how's it going? And students alike, and everybody got personal attention, but it was um very uh difficult to reach everybody in one day. So we we would do like a you know, over a few days just touch base with everybody. And um I think everybody got what they wanted because and needed, because when we came back to school, we really had not slipped academically at all. And it was all the effort of all the teachers that did that hard work.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

And it may be a hard time, but it was really important. You know, I feel like you guys put a lot of effort in, which is very important.

SPEAKER_03 17:41

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

You taught like the youngest students what do kindergartners teach adults about life?

SPEAKER_03 17:47

Gosh. You know, uh kindergartners can teach a lot. Um they can teach that everything can be fun, like a spoonful of sugar, you know, helps that medicine go down. And the kindergartners taught me that that you can make anything fun. Um and the more fun we had, the more we learned.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

So when did you begin? I know you're a first grade teacher now. So when did you start moving and teaching to first grade?

SPEAKER_03 18:16

Um, so Mr. Carrier was our principal at the time. I had moved from kindergarten to second grade, and then he asked if I would consider moving to first, and I welcomed the opportunity, and I found my um my home in first grade. Really love first grade.

unknown 18:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

So how many years in total have you taught first grade?

SPEAKER_03 18:36

Uh 13. This is my 13th year in first.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Oh wow. So I always remember when I was in first grade when you would always do those cheers for us. Did that come from like the kindergartners teach you how to have fun and make something fun out of everything?

SPEAKER_03 18:50

So I went to a workshop.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

And um there was someone that was a specialist in teaching preschool in young, you know, primary grades, and she taught us uh the cheers, which I thought was so much fun. You know, because I was a cheerleader growing up, and you know, this is like a nice brain break, and it's fun, and we move around and we still do those cheers today.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

I love this. It's always like a fun little way to end it. Um, so I always know All Saints Day is a big year for your day for you. We always dress up the first graders if you don't know. Where did that idea come from and uh when did you start doing it?

SPEAKER_03 19:25

So I can't take credit for that. Okay. That was something that was already happening in first grade. I think though, before I started teaching first grade, like one A would do it one year and one B would do it the next year. So they didn't all have a chance to do it. So I think when I came to first grade, and I might be wrong about that, but I think I'm right, that we said all first grade is gonna do all saints. And that and then it's been that way ever since.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

And I love the tradition how the seventh graders can come in and help teach them. Like I had a first grade buddy, and it was really special to see um her learn all about her saint, and almost like she learned a lot. Both of my buddies learned a lot, even though they were just in first grade. It's special to like have a mentor and all they know they have some saint to look to until for a while.

SPEAKER_03 20:14

It's true. We really have to thank those seventh grade mentors for helping our first graders uh put together their research project and their saints.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

So we know you're a solution cooperator. What does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_03 20:26

It means finding joy and having fun. And the reason I joined Solutions Cooperators is because I wanted to make school fun. And I wanted to find a way to make it fun. Yeah, I was singing and I was trying to make games out of things that we were learning at school. But I thought I just wanted to bring joy because uh time flies when you're having fun. And you know, uh just learning when you're having fun, it sticks. So I joined Silesian Copper Cooperators in hopes of finding ways to make learning more joyful.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

So for the viewers or listeners that don't know what Salesian Cooperators, could you give a brief little summary of what that means?

SPEAKER_03 21:04

So when the Silesian sisters left us, they were so joyful. Uh all of them. Um growing up I wanted to be a religious sister for a very long time, but I didn't go to school at a Salesian school. And those sisters had a different mindset. When I came to Christ the King and the Silesian sisters were here, they were so fun. And I thought, if I had known them when I was going to school, I might be a religious sister today. Um but they I forgot your question. What was your question? They just brought joy, but what was your question?

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Could you give like a little summary of what a s a Silesian cooperator is?

SPEAKER_03 21:43

Bringing joy to children, teaching with joy. Um and it's you know, have fun, but just don't sin while you're having fun and love the Lord with all your heart. Play hard, pray hard. Work hard.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

So we heard about like the cheers, we talked about shoot, sorry, I already asked that. Oh yeah, okay. So people describe you as having like a calming like presence. Like I've always think thought of you as like a very just like kind um servant of the Lord. How did you bring that into the classroom?

SPEAKER_03 22:24

Personally, I don't know that I did. Everybody says, Oh, you're so patient. Am I? I don't know. You're so calming. I am? Your voice is so soft. It is? Yeah, you know, I don't see that in me, but others see it.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

And I guess that's important. It's a really good thing, I promise. So what we miss most when you walk out of the building building for the last time.

unknown 22:50

Oh God.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

Everything. My colleagues, the kids, the fun, the smell. Everything. I will miss everything. But I am very much at peace with my decision. But these have been the happiest years of my life. And when I look back, I will treasure these moments that I have spent at Christ the King.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

So how is Sekish? Okay, sorry, I was like, I can't. I was like, okay, I'm sorry. My bad, okay.

unknown 23:49

It's even worse. I'm gonna listen to it.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

I know.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

I can't hear anything else. Try asking the question, it's harder than you think. So looking back, how has Tikish shaped you who you are today as a teacher and as a person both?

SPEAKER_03 24:04

I think I have learned to be much more flexible because my job demands it. Um and I hope I remain flexible once I leave Christ the King because I can be very regimented. You know, this day I do this, and this day I do this, and this time I do I go here. I'm hoping that I can be very flexible and um happy, stay happy.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

I always remember when we always in first grade, you would tell us to be like a cooked cook of pasta. That's right. Flexible, not uncooked. Yep. May I tell you some stories?

SPEAKER_03 24:39

Um the first of all, our Michael came here for his eighth grade year, um, and he loved it here, and they loved him. And then Sister Karen was the principal at the time, and she heard that I was a kindergarten teacher. Um, so she called me and asked me if I would consider teaching at Christ the King. I was teaching in public school and um I was getting calls from different schools asking if I would be interested in going there to teach kindergarten, and not unbeknownst to me, our Michael would screen those calls and never give me the messages of the other schools so that I would accept Christ the King. And I was like, Michael, you can't do that, because I did I wanted you to teach at Christ the King. I said, Yeah, but you can't do that. I want to teach at Christ the King too, but you can't do that. Um, and then the day I came in to sign my contract, um, we had a dog at the time, and I took her to the dog beach in my neighborhood, and there were two moms talking, and one mom had just finished kindergarten with the teacher I replaced, and she was talking to the other mom, and they were talking about what a loss Christ the King would be without this teacher that was leaving first grade and I was or Kinder and that I was taking her place, and they said, Oh, whoever they hire is going to have really big shoes to fill. And I was like, I I don't know if I should go and sign this contract because I'm really nervous right now. And I came in and I talked to um Mrs. Yates, was the school secretary at the time, and I told her the story of what had happened at the dog beach that morning, and she said, It's time you go ahead and sign that contract. And I did, and I have never regretted it.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

I think you filled the shoes even made the shoes even bigger. Well, thank you. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_03 26:32

That sounded really, really wrong. I've been blessed.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

I've been blessed. So if you could leave one message behind for the school, what would it be?

SPEAKER_03 26:42

Continue what you're doing, strive for excellence, and I know that you will.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

And then just as our final question, what is the legacy you're hoping you'll leave behind?

SPEAKER_03 26:59

I taught um a lot of lessons and stories of um when I was growing up and how I messed up. I'm hoping that those stories will stick with kids and realize that we all make mistakes. Learning from our mistakes is the key, is important. Um so hopefully those stories will stick with people and they won't make the same mistakes that I made.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Well, thank you so much for time. We really enjoyed and we'll miss you so much here.

SPEAKER_03 27:30

Thank you. I really enjoy this. Thank you.