The mid-morning sun was shining and children - Sto-Rox Kindergarteners - were jumping and hopping across the lawn outside Sto-Rox Primary Center.
Just a few steps away from each class of Kindergarteners were students from the Jr./Sr. High School’s Future Educators club. Their mission, on this May morning, was a little bit of structured chaos: put on a Kindergarten Field Day.
“I’m just so proud of them,” said Sherine Raymond (Sto-Rox Class of ‘77). “They have done such an amazing job from where they were in October, to where they are now.”
Raymond, a retired Sto-Rox Kindergarten teacher-turned-mentor, beamed as she saw her students facilitate games of rock, paper, scissors and tug-of-war.
“It makes me so happy,” she said.
The seeds of that happiness were planted months ago, on a cool October day at the same school.
Two weeks before Halloween, first graders could hardly contain their excitement as they received sheets of orange paper. The goal: cut out and paste together pumpkins as part of a reading lesson. Their teacher, Sto-Rox gymnast An’Jolie Edwards, passed out that paper and put together their lesson. But classroom safety topped her list of concerns.
“They didn’t cut their thumb off!” said Edwards afterward, clearly relieved. “I let them decorate the pumpkins. They cut out other things, like bows. It was really cute.”
Down the hall, Sto-Rox football player Amare Harper had his hands full with a second grade gym class.
“They were running around so much, but most of them paid attention,” said Harper. “There were a few kids running around, doing what they wanted to do, though. They were so energetic.”
“Yes!” concurred the rest of the group.
“They were running around,” said Harper, “and no one stopped.”
Harper and Edwards are two members of the Sto-Rox Jr./Sr. High School Future Educators Club. Members of the club, who are in 10th, 11th, or 12th grades, spent time at the Primary Center and Upper Elementary throughout the 2023-2024 school year as part of a Teach Plus mini grant program. Participating students watched teachers, developed their own lesson plans - and on this day - taught those lessons. The club was coordinated by Raymond and Joe Herzing, School Counselor for Grades 10-12.
LINK: Teach Plus
“Sto-Rox was working with Teach Plus for the 2022-23 school year,” said Herzing. “Through that partnership, Sto-Rox decided to enrich the students who showed an interest in teaching and coaching with a guided experience of getting in front of the classroom.”
After their experiences leading lessons, student teachers got together to have pizza and iced tea. Raymond quizzed them on everything, from how their students behaved to how each room was decorated.
As it turns out, there were loads of surprises.
“I had to keep making up new activities because I didn’t realize the class was that long,” laughed Harper. His goal was to teach second graders how to throw a football. Other classes included Kindergarten coursework, and music lessons from star brass musician Omar Greene.
Student behavior was another revelation, especially for high schoolers who hadn’t been in a Primary Center classroom for a decade.
“When I was done with my lesson, (their regular teacher, Pam Mihalov) taught hers,” said Edwards. “But she made sure the class was in control because she was like ‘we have a guest.’”
“I liked the kids, because they’re so sweet,” continued Edwards. “All of them gave me hugs"!”
Though, if she were to move forward with a career in teaching she said, “maybe I’d go (with kids who are) a little older.”
Exposure to the realities of a working classroom is the primary goal, according to Raymond.
“They’re getting an experience of teaching a class, experiencing a class, to decide if this is something they want to do in the future,” she said.
Raymond broke down the step-by-step process of immersing high school students in her world. As a teacher who spent decades working in Sto-Rox before retiring in 2023, she knows what it takes to lead a classroom.
“What we started off with was, do they know what the different types of teachers were?” said Raymond. “Preschool, day care, high school, middle school?”
After getting the basics down, it was time to plan lessons.
“They had to prepare the material. If the students were going to trace bats, they had to trace bats” said Raymond.
Over a four-week period in the fall, students developed their lesson plans with Raymond and by the time mid-October rolled around, the student teachers executed those plans.
“Then we discussed their experience. What do they think they’ll need to become a teacher?” said Raymond. “What are their future goals and what are the steps to get to those goals?”
Even if the students don’t pursue a direct career in education, they walked out of the Primary Center classrooms having learned skills that work beyond the classroom.
“Patience,” said one student.
“Patience and how to redirect,” said another student.
“Taking control of the room,” said another student.
Fast-forward two months to Christmas. Students returned to the same classrooms they were teaching in. However, this time they were playing the role of Santa’s Helpers.
They responded to nearly 300 letters written to Santa by Primary Center students in the run-up to the holiday season. Not only did the students pass out their responses; they also read a Christmas story to each class and gave out candy canes as part of an National Honor Society fundraiser.
The pride they took in their work was evident in each smile they received upon their return.
Said Raymond, when asked by a Sto-Rox security guard why the students came up to the Primary Center to teach in the first place: “It’s their community. If they can teach here, they can teach anywhere.”
Sto-Rox’s Future Educators also spent part of the year giving back to other communities. In March, seven club members volunteered at The Education Partnership’s offices in Pittsburgh’s West End. Students organized and loaded school supplies that will be given to schools across the Pittsburgh area, including Sto-Rox. They also took note of all the supplies on hand.
“I hear some of the students have a wishlist for their teachers the next time they visit the Education Partnership Center,” said Herzing with a smile.
Turning back to May, Herzing and Raymond looked on with awe and appreciation as Harper - with an assist from several Kindergarteners - defeated his high school classmates in a final game of tug-of-war. Harper reveled in cheers from the Kindergarteners as he beat his fellow Future Educators and members of the National Honor Society, who also helped organize this field day.
“I told him how amazing they are,” said Raymond, motioning toward Herzing. ““He is the man. He’s the one who put this together.”
Herzing remarked that all he really did was “drive the van.” Raymond would have none of it.
“No he didn’t! No he didn’t! He gave me children, he made the schedules, he drove the van, yes, but I would just come up with the idea, throw it at him - what do you think about this? Could you make it work?” she exclaimed.
More often than not, Herzing made it work. Not just for Raymond, but for the Future Educators, too.
“We were saying about Raymond Porter over there, who didn’t even talk,” said Sherine Raymond. “And now he’s over there giving kids directions and telling them what to do!” It’s just amazing.”
For a former educator, the Future Educators club is a tremendous way of showing off the potential of Sto-Rox students.
“We hear such negativity about Sto-Rox,” said Raymond. “Look at the positivity here! Look at what has become of these kids.”
Looking at the smiles on the faces of students - young and old - it’s hard to argue with the lessons they’ve learned. After all, when it comes to children, said Raymond:
“You’re not just teaching, you’re loving.”