Her Story
About Elana
I've been in education for 25 years, and I absolutely love it - otherwise I wouldn't still be doing it. My journey started with an undergraduate degree in pediatric social work from the University of Pittsburgh, but when I was in grad school at the University of Toronto, I realized that the push to find a cause and save it wasn't for me. I went to my dean and told him I wanted to keep happy, healthy, normal kids happy, healthy, and normal, and he said, 'Welcome to Elementary Ed.' That's how I got into education, and I've always done urban kids - I really stepped outside the cookie cutter. Now I teach first grade in inner-city Cleveland, where I have 25 kids with incredibly unique personalities. The majority came from our kindergarten, which is a huge bonus, and I only have 3 new kids this year to the building. I have 3 identified special needs kids and one in the process of being identified. In my room we have Spanish-speaking kids and two kids who speak Swahili, so it's never a dull moment. During the summer, I'm a camp director, which gives me the chance to be outside with a different group of kids and a different population.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Elana
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Think outside the box. Absolutely. Because there's no - yeah, you have teacher manuals and everything like that, but that doesn't count for the children sitting in front of you. And you may have a plan in mind, and that's awesome, and it looks great on paper, and your kids walk in that day, and you're like, that is so not gonna happen today. It's just not. Don't get hung up on the fact that you didn't cover something during the day. You know, you've got a group of kiddos who made it through the day due to whatever, so that's what matters.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Find something every day that makes you smile.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
We're still seeing the effects of COVID, not so much in the lower grades since they weren't born yet, but definitely still in the upper grades. If you count back 6 years, you have middle school, junior high, who were literally just starting school, and so they missed those foundation years. We're seeing a lot of delayed academic growth - if you missed all of your phonemic awareness for kindergarten, first grade, well, no wonder you're behind in reading. I think there's a lot of belief that teachers are responsible for everything, and that's true in the sense of everything that I do in a day besides teach - it's the listening, it's the first aid, it's the intervening, all of that. But bottom line, if we don't have that partnership with their home, then we're fighting an uphill battle. I would rather have a parent say to me, help me out, I don't know what to do, versus the, yeah, whatever, it's not important, it's only first grade kind of thing.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Commitment is a biggie for both. Previewing for school is definitely a biggie - letting the kids know what's going to happen before it happens, because surprises in children do not always work, and they backfire. So letting the kids know what's going on so that they have an idea of what's going on. Consistency is a biggie. And compassion.
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