Twenty-five years ago, Angela Testory took a job as a long-term substitute teacher in a second-grade classroom at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Elementary School.
After two years as a full-time second-grade teacher, the Monticello native moved to kindergarten for 15 years before moving to the district’s new pre-K program in 2017, keeping generations of students engaged with hands-on work that excites them.
I find my work important because … it is such a joy to see our youngest learners learn, grow and blossom in our play-based program.
I became a teacher because … I couldn’t imagine doing anything else! For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a teacher. I love working with children and creating an engaging learning environment for my students.
My favorite or most unique lesson that I teach is … the lesson that gets my students excited to experiment and learn in a fun way. Some of my favorite lessons this year were during our simple machines study. The children experimented with a water wheel by pouring water from a watering can into the cups surrounding the wheel. The smiles, laughter and wonderment in their eyes when the wheel started spinning were absolutely priceless. The children used a pulley system to load items into a bucket and then used the pulley to move the bucket up and down the fence outside. We created a lever with a log and plank. The children tried to balance the lever by standing on it in just the right spot. They also figured out how to catapult items off the lever by placing objects on one end of the lever and then jumping on the other end.
My most fulfilling moments on the job are … when I see the excitement and pride in a child when they learn something new.
I keep students engaged by … providing them with a variety of hands-on activities. Changing the activities and materials in the environment periodically throughout the year also helps my students with continued engagement. Especially when the children have a hand in creating their own learning opportunities. One way we do this in our pre-K program is to change up our dramatic play area to connect with our study. The children have currently helped create a subway station where they have created a subway train with boxes, subway maps, signs for the station and tickets to go along with our tubes and tunnels study.
Something else I’m passionate about is … sharing my love of reading with our 5-year-old daughter and my preschool students. I especially love introducing them to some of the classic storybooks like “Corduroy,” “Caps for Sale” and “Harry and the Dirty Dog.”
My favorite teacher was … Mrs. Baughman. She was my high school home ec teacher at Monticello High School. Her classes hold some of my favorite memories of high school. She truly cared about all of her students inside and outside of her classroom.
If I weren’t a teacher, I would … love to be a stay-at-home mom and volunteer at my daughter’s school and in our community.
— ANTHONY ZILIS