Christine Chibbaro

I attribute my success to my upbringing, my mother and father, and my grandparents. My grandparents came from Italy and started a life here up in Harlem. My grandfather was a custom tailor and my grandmother was a seamstress, and somehow these two people built enough money to buy a house. We lived in the Bronx in a house and then got a house in Bayside. Because of that, we went to District 26 at the time, and they instilled in me to have a goal and take the steps to finish your goal, and then have another goal. My grandparents were very big on making sure I knew English and understood this country. My grandfather always said to respect this country because when they came here, Mussolini was coming into Italy and it was dangerous for people to be there. My parents were just wonderful parents, not perfect, but wonderful parents, and gave my sister and I a very nice childhood. They made sure that we were safe, we had what we needed, and they always promoted us to keep learning. If we had trouble, they used to get a tutor. Even though they didn't have a lot of money, it almost was like we had money, but we didn't. It's just that my parents made sure that we had a good life, a decent life, and I attribute who I am because of that. I took tap classes, karate classes, they made sure we were busy kids and weren't really on the street much. I was an exceptional learner, and so was my sister, because my parents used to teach us a lot during the summer. I was always one or two grades ahead and was in what they now call the Gifted and Talented Program all of my academic life. I even went to Stuyvesant High School. I had a strong academic and safe beginning, very cultured. We went to church every Sunday, the family had meals together. All of this intensity that the family was important stabilized me, so no matter what happened in my life when we didn't have that anymore, I still have it in me.

Actually, my friend Madeline Denono, who's CEO of the Gina Davis Institute, has always told me, 'You can do this.' She's always said to see yourself at the end goal in what you would like to do, even if it's not so clear. Over the years, even though she doesn't live in New York anymore and lives out in Cali, we're still so close that I could just text her and she'll come back and keep encouraging me. She's always said to drive yourself carefully, but with purpose. Stay focused, and don't let the challenges wear you out. Find your solution and keep going. Her cousin, who is also my friend and lives in the city here, has always been there to congratulate me when I've done something. It's important to have someone there to not only give you advice but to also celebrate when you do attain a goal. My dad used to say that too, and my mom was very good like that. If something happened to me physically, my mom said, 'Don't let this get you down, we're gonna get through this, just do what the doctor says, and take your steps, and if you have to walk slow to get there, you walk slow to get there.' She gave me once a card with a turtle on it because she felt like I was trying to do things so quickly, like slow down a little bit. People say all kinds of things to me: slow down, smell the flowers, still do something nice for yourself, and look to your future, even if you feel that you've accomplished something, because I never feel quite satisfied once I finish.

I would tell her, if you're looking to make a lot of money, this is not the field to go into. However, if you're looking to make a difference one child at a time, because you understand how significant that is, then this is the place for you. Especially if you enjoy watching a child learn and figure it out, that aha moment. Because when they get the aha moment, you can see it and you can feel it, and it really is a beautiful, authentic moment. I would say, then, do the work to make the journey, because it's worth it. You can make extra money tutoring and being part of after-school programs, we make extra money all the time. But in the field itself, you have a limited salary that you can make, no matter what your degree is. I think a PhD can get a max of like $110,000, or maybe just a little more. If you become a principal, you might close in at $200,000, depends on the district and what their budget is, but you're not going to make millions of dollars in the field. However, you can maybe create, which is something I'm working on, a program for kids to learn with that could make you some money. So there are opportunities, but in the initial stage, that's not what it's about. A friend just started teaching and she says, 'Oh my god, I'm not even making enough, Christine, but I love what I do, and it's so tiring.' Teaching is not what people think. It's a constant working ethic. It doesn't stop, it doesn't end at the job, you take it home. There's work to be done, a lot of work: grading, assessing, meetings, workshops, professional development. It's an ongoing curve of learning throughout your career. It's a great place to be if you love to learn, because it's ongoing, it doesn't stop. It's a love of educating and showing how to use knowledge, gain knowledge, and share knowledge.

I think that the biggest challenge is the DOE does not give students enough time to rehearse and practice for the New York State test. They waited till the month of the test to do a review, so the students were under a tremendous amount of stress, even though they were giving out stress balls and hand things for them to use so they wouldn't be so stressed out. I laughed about it and thought, well, why don't you just practice what the test is all year long, little by little? So I think in my capacity as the director, I get to see what's happening and I can find a resolve. We work on studying for a New York State test all year long, so that's part of what I teach. We take a section of it and we work on it, and I identify it, and we go over it, and we learn terminology. Our math teacher also goes over it and gives individual lessons and goes over individual math homework so the student learns what it is, because a lot of times I find they get homework that they don't even understand. A parent who's at home who does not speak English cannot possibly show the child how to do that, so then you have the disparity in the ability for that child to stay on point and keep up. They fall behind if they don't have somebody to show them. That's what I do. I make notice of those things and I make an adjustment, I get on it, and I teach directly and explicitly to that child. I have that ability, so it's almost like a personal private tutoring session. I make the time to do that for each student.

Professionally, when I work with my colleagues, utmost respect. I start with respecting whoever is around me, no matter what position they have. I had to train my assistant, and that was challenging for me because I had an assistant before who had certain kind of natural instincts, and this one doesn't. So my value with him is that he's learning, and I sometimes have to remind myself that he's a beginner and I have to slow down my pace so that I can teach him like I would my students. So, respect. Honesty. Building bridges of trust, being able to confide in them or share my warped humor in moments when the kids are not doing what they're supposed to do, which can be often. And a sense of humor. You gotta have a sense of humor.