Celebrating Nixon's Teachers

from a series of Nixon News articles

Alison Curtis - Third Grade Teacher
by Anita Baldwin

It would be difficult to get more local than Alison Curtis, who was born at Stanford and grew up in Menlo Park, where her parents still live. She received her schooling down south, at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UCSB, and returned to finish her credentials here this semester.

This fall, she has been filling in for Martha Waterhouse, on maternity leave, who plans to return at the beginning of next semester. What’s it been like to fill in? "Filling in for Martha was both hard and easy. I was nervous, naturally, but also relieved because she was such an amazing resource. I feel very lucky to be in a place where I get so much support," she says. And she has enjoyed her third graders. "I really liked first grade when I student taught, but I also like the independence of the third graders; they’re excited to try new things. They learn cursive and multiplication, and for them to be excited about the curriculum makes them so much more fun to teach." She proudly showed me a box on a table in the classroom labelled "Recognition Area." During the day, students are invited to write positive remarks about their classmates and put them in the box to be read later. (Good idea! Where else could we try this?)

Alison has enjoyed working for the Palo Alto School District; for one thing, she has been able to take advantage of the Professional Development days this fall. It’s been busy, though; she commutes from San Francisco and is finishing those pesky final classes at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont after the school day is over. Mindless fun, therefore, is in short supply. She does enjoy running for exercise. But the good news is that Alison will be taking over for Kandi Lott when Kandi leaves us at the end of January. So Alison gets to go back to first grade, and we get to keep her!

Nancy Kaye - Third Grade Teacher: Music to our Ears!
by Amy Cell

Nancy took a very interesting road to Nixon. Unlike some teachers, she claims that she didn’t grow up always knowing that she would be a teacher. In fact, she was a voice major at USC! But as fate would have it, while a college student she took a special education class taught by the famous Dr. Leo Buscaglia, someone that Nancy credits with making a significant impact on her life. He thus changed her career aspirations towards the teaching profession.

Nancy’s first teaching foray was in the inner city of Los Angeles. She was a team teacher in a kindergarten/first grade combination. She enjoyed this diverse experience and then moved on to get her special education credential, again due to the lasting influence of Dr. Buscaglia. She focused her program on physically handicapped students, visually impaired children in particular.

Her next assignment was as a middle school resource teacher for the visually impaired. She traveled all over to help children in different school settings, yet after the birth of her second child sought out a position closer to home. As luck would have it, a nearby school was launching a Fine and Performing Arts Magnet. This was an incredible opportunity for Nancy to combine her musical talents with teaching, and she relished having a budget and institutional support for numerous instruments and programs.

The next change was when a career opportunity arose for her husband in northern California. Although Nancy grew up in southern California, she thought that the change would be exciting, and she looked forward to moving her family north. She soon found a new teaching home in Burlingame, where she spent 13 years in grades 5, 4, and finally 3. She confesses that 3^rd grade is her favorite grade to teach, because the children “blossom” at this age as their reading gets up to speed and they develop outside interests, such as sports or other activities. She feels that their personalities are really coming together, but that they are still sweet and willing to nestle at their teacher’s feet during lessons.

She thought coming to Nixon five years ago to teach 3^rd grade would be her final change. She loved everything and thought that she was done with any more transitions! Fortunately, her ability to embrace change was tapped during this year’s relocation to the Garland site, which she handled with great enthusiasm.

When not in school, Nancy enjoys spending time with her family. Her daughters, Debbie and Lisa, are now 22 and 26 and still manage to have wonderful times together. She’s been married almost 30 years and loves to attend concerts and operas with her husband, Ken.

Nixon has benefited immensely from Nancy’s tremendous talents. Nancy started the Spring Festival three years ago (I remember being SO impressed with the choral group – now I know the rest of the story!), and has received grants for Orff musical instruments for many classes at Nixon. Because of her efforts, Nixon has an outstanding musical program. The Nixon family is so fortunate to have Nancy as a teacher!

Jan Krinsley - Second Grade Teacher
by Amy Cell

I had a wonderful chat with Jan recently, and wanted to pass along a few things that I learned about her and her teaching philosophy to the rest of the Nixon community.

How did Jan become a teacher at Nixon?
Jan followed a unique path to her present position as a 2nd grade teacher. Since high school she had been drawn to education and working with children. She even volunteered her time to help abused and neglected children, one example of her compassionate personality. She knew that she would be comfortable in a field of public service, but before coming around to elementary education she took a little detour to law school and a career as a public interest attorney working with seniors.

After refocusing on her desire to be with children, she completed her teaching credential, worked as a kindergarten teacher back east and then, upon returning to California, directed a co-op preschool at Escondido Village. Later an opportunity came up at Nixon for her to be a long-term sub in the 2nd grade, after which she was hired fulltime to be part of the kindergarten team, which at the time was Joan Phelan, Barbara Heneveld, and Lisa Lichtenstern. She fondly recalls her time spent with Joan, Barbara, and Lisa, another indication of the excellent comraderie that exists at Nixon. After working with the kinders for two years, she moved up to 2nd grade, where she has been for four years. She currently shares a classroom with Rachel Perlmutter. Jan is also very fond of her family life and is the very proud mother of Danny (11) and Anna (almost 17).

What is Jan’s approach to teaching?
It is easy to sense Jan’s enthusiasm about her young charges and teaching. She thinks that 2nd graders are at a wonderful age: “ They are sweet, loving, have lots of energy, and are more capable and independent than earlier grades.” In addition to teaching the academics, she feels that there is a strong need to focus on social skills with children. She feels that encouraging kindness and learning how to treat others is as important as learning basic addition. She has also found a special way to integrate her public sector background into the classroom through the Ecumenical Hunger Program in East Palo Alto. There has been a great response to visiting this program 3-4 times per year, where the children help sort and pack food items for those less fortunate. In fact, one of her former students was so touched by the experience that for her birthday parties, she requests that in lieu of gifts, guests bring donations for the program. Wow!

Jan also enjoys creating a number of diverse ways for children to enjoy learning. Coming up in December, children get to create gingerbread houses. The children practice their math skills by “purchasing” different supplies/candy for the homes. The homes are later donated to the Ecumenical Hunger Program to create holiday spirit.

Jan’s commitment to children and their development is obvious. She takes the responsibility of being a teacher very seriously. She discussed that as a teacher, sometimes she may not see the immediate results of her efforts, but at a later time, something that she said or did may be very significant to a child. Thus, she tries to incorporate a wide variety of positive experiences for the children, knowing that different things appeal to different children, and you don’t necessarily know what will “stick” with each child.

Thanks to Jan for her creative and compassionate approach to education that will help our children grow and thrive in school and beyond. We are all lucky to have her for a teacher!

Lisa Lichtenstern - Second Grade Teacher
by Amy Cell

I had a great chat with Lisa recently and wanted to share what I learned with the rest of the Nixon family. Lisa is part of a teaching team with Rachel Perlmutter and teaches second grade.

How did Lisa end up a teacher at Nixon? Lisa was born in Oakland and grew up in Fremont. She went to UC Davis and received a degree in Economics. She then took an exciting job as an underwriting analyst at an insurance company. After working for a few years and getting a bit bored, she reflected on the fact that she loved to train or teach others. She also always loved kids, so connecting the two passions into a career in teaching seemed very logical. She got classroom experience as an aide in a special education class, to confirm her desire for a career change. She quickly obtained her teaching certificate and joined Nixon as a kindergarten teacher, switching to second grade five years ago. She loves teaching at Nixon, and especially enjoys the special and unique camaraderie of the Nixon teaching staff. She feels lucky to be teaching with a collaborative and helpful team that works very well together and shares ideas freely.

What is special about second grade? Lisa enjoys the sweetness (they still love their teacher!), honesty, and innocence of second grade, and the ability to get further into writing than in the younger grades. She also likes the maturing sense of humor in these kids, which allows her self-described silly side to be fully appreciated. Some of her goals for the class are to help the children to love learning and to want to come to school every day.

What can parents do to help their children succeed in school and beyond? Never passing up an opportunity to learn how to be a better parent, I asked Lisa what were some good tips for us parents. She suggested that plenty of free and unstructured time for the children is very beneficial, and she encouraged as many experiences as possible, such as museums and other trips instead of watching TV, which can be quite violent these days. She also thought that the practice of setting limits and boundaries with children is helpful in preparing them for the structured school setting. Finally, she mentioned that reading at home is still very important. Reading to children after they can read themselves and letting your kids see you reading are excellent ways to foster a positive reading attitude.

What do you do for fun? Lisa quickly described gardening as a favorite passion and hobby. Her home and backyard are filled with flowers and cuttings. Lisa was able to bring this talent into the classroom by getting a grant funded for a growing lab/miniature greenhouse for the school that is used for various horticulture projects. In the past, she has helped create a "giving garden" where Nixon students tend the garden and then donate the produce to the Ecumenical Hunger Program in East Palo Alto. Lisa also enjoys hiking and traveling.

Thanks to Lisa for all of her enthusiasm and unique contributions to Nixon and our children. We are all lucky to have her for a teacher!

Amanda Gantley - 3rd Grade Teacher
by Anita Baldwin
When your father’s a teacher, you can take long summer vacations. That’s what Amanda Gantley, Nixon’s other new fifth-grade teacher, recalls most fondly about her childhood spent growing up here in the Bay Area: long camping trips to parts of the Northwest, Alaska and Mt. McKinley, and one, 50 days long, to the east coast and back.

Her father also influenced her choice of careers, because here she is, after getting her credential at National University, teaching fifth grade and obviously enjoying it. She student taught in the McKinley School District in San Jose. Part way through, she was asked to take over for a teacher who’d fallen ill, and found herself working alongside her former sixth-grade teacher (fortunately, they got along well). She taught in the Cupertino School District before coming here.

Amanda’s class has been working on conflict resolution, and she couldn’t resist telling this story. "Yesterday, after our ‘talk it out’ lesson, we opened our books to read about early hunters and their activities. The book presented a scenario where the hunter, trying to bring down a woolly mammoth, is confronted by a saber-tooth tiger. The book asked, ‘what should the hunter do?’ and immediately the class had all sorts of good suggestions... ‘uh, say to the saber tooth tiger, I feel threatened when you try to take away my woolly mammoth...’ It was funny, but I also liked how they tied one lesson to another and applied the somewhat abstract concepts to a concrete situation."

Amanda’s own response to stress and conflict, she confessed, is to visit the golf range and hit a bucket of balls (probably the "take time to cool off" phase). And go to the movies; she just saw Tuck Everlasting with her class and will be glad to give a testimonial.

Amanda’s family lives here still, and they have a little cabin on Tomales Bay, which she likes to visit on weekends. There’s fishing, crabbing, and hiking on Point Reyes, and everyone’s invited ... just kidding. You’d better talk to her first.