Celebrating Nixon's Teachers

from a series of Nixon News articles

Beryl Deremigio - 5th Grade Teacher
by Marci Reichelstein

What happens when a business executive gets tired of working "24 x 7" and feels a new profession calling? This one went back to school, gained her teaching credential, and now works "24 x 8" - if she can find the time!!

So it went with Beryl Deremigio. With an English degree in her back pocket and many years of being a CFO for several mid-sized Silicon Valley firms, she took a fork in the road that led her to education. Beryl is one of Nixon's newest teachers this year and joins us after having taught 3rd grade for four years in the Sunnyvale school district.

Beryl's corporate and parental experiences have translated into a wise perspective on what children should gain from school. Beryl realizes that our children are living in the "Pressure Generation", the densest segment of baby boomers having lived through the longest stretch of economic prosperity. Success and self-actualization will come at the cost of competition.

As such, she encourages her students to think about what excites them and to give learning their "personal best" effort. "Don't go off and just do the assignment" she cajoles, "Your work is an investment in yourself ... how strong you are ... what you want to know ... who you want to be." "Think of ways to expand something and take it further." "Tell us what you think." Ask "why?"

People and life skills are also vital to achievement. "Students need to work with a sense of purpose, involvement and responsibility . . . be in charge of getting stuff done, be on time, and develop satisfying relationships."

Parents are a vital part of helping kids find what they connect with. She encourages us as parents to give our children experiences, not things. It could be woodworking in the garage, sewing, gardening, as well as trips to the local sewage plant, Bay Estuary, symphony, or travel to other countries/cultures. Think about it this way, "Children can't write or think about things they've never experienced."

Beryl's passions include skiing, geology, art, art history, great books, and math as an elegant process. She has a husband who cooks, a marvelous daughter in college, the cutest dog you ever saw, and three cats. She lives in a 106-year-old house on the "other end" of Fulton Street.

Attesting to Beryl's busy life, one room parent was organizing an "end of the year" present and thought about a director's chair. Her daughter, when consulted, said, "Mom, why would you get Mrs. Deremigio a chair? She never sits down."

Kerrie Edmonds - Fourth Grade Teacher

How did you get into teaching and end up at Nixon?
In college Kerrie studied international business-in particular economics and Japanese. In her junior year she decided she wasn't quite sure if this was going to be an ideal fit with her career interests, so her Mom encouraged her to be a teaching aide while she evaluated her options. As luck would have it, Deb Lipari at Nixon had a need, so Kerrie worked for her as an aide for two years. During this time, Kerrie became convinced that teaching was the place for her, so she obtained her teaching credential, and started as a fulltime 3rd grade teacher. Even though she was a "new" teacher, through her interactions with the kids over the previous two years, she already had worked with two-thirds of her "new" students! She spent six years at the 3rd grade level, two years teaching 5th grade, and is now in her third year teaching 4th grade.

What do you like best about fourth grade?
Kerrie loves teaching this age! She says that they are really becoming independent. They want to learn for the sake of learning, and they ask "Why?" a lot. This lends itself to many great discussions about why the world works (or is supposed to work) in a certain way. She is also very touched by their sweetness, although they are also so capable. Kerrie also pointed out her enjoyment of teaching the 4th grade social studies curriculum, which focuses on California history. (Hmmmm...perhaps a field trip to Sacramento to see the world famous Governator?)

What do you like best about Nixon?
This was a very easy question for Kerrie to answer: she loves the community! She feels very lucky to be working with an outstanding group of professionals who truly care for each other and are friends inside and outside of work. She feels that the community at Nixon is very unique and special. She credits the environment, which allows the teachers to be their own teachers, while also creating a wonderful community. She says that it is hard to beat coming to work when you have such high personal and professional regard for your colleagues.

What advice do you have for parents about how to raise happy and successful children?
Kerrie encouraged us parents to relax and let our kids be kids. Allow them to make mistakes, and learn together with them. She also encouraged us to laugh a lot. (She is a new parent, herself, and hopes to remember this advice in the fun and magical years to come!)

Martha Waterhouse - 4th Grade Teacher
by Marci Reichelstein

Just ask Martha what is on her mind these days and you'll soon learn that she's expecting her first child - due July 8th! To break the news to her class she created a mystery word search that, when completed, said "Your teacher is having a baby". When the first little whiz kid in her class solved the puzzle, he looked at her (still flat tummy) and said "Nah" ... and she said "Yeah!" then after several repetitions of this, he started jumping up and down and couldn't stop! Another asked "So when are you going to get fat?"

Martha's baby will come just after she has completed teaching seven years here at Nixon. As a result, she has earned a sabbatical wherein she will work part time and research teaching techniques for writing. At first she will be conducting research at home, then later in the year, hold workshops for teachers at Nixon in how to best impart these writing techniques to our students. Every seven years teachers in PAUSD earn this type of sabbatical. Martha feels that the focus our district has on the professional development of its staff sets it apart-as no other school district in the region offers this opportunity.

One of Martha's most joyous experiences at Nixon was seeing the first group of students she had taught as first graders come full circle to proudly take part in the graduation ceremonies. "Nixon has been such a closely knit, warm and welcoming community," says Martha. She even told her class, "It's because of how wonderful you are that I want to have one of you!"

The daughter of two schoolteachers, Martha switched into teaching only after having rebelled by majoring in journalism and advertising at San Diego State. It took two years of working in advertising and for several Bay Area newspapers before she realized that something was missing. Luckily for us, Martha brought her passion for writing directly to our students.

Martha's husband has most recently been a chef/owner and opened two new restaurants in this area over the last two years: Milagros (Redwood City) and KingFish (San Mateo). With the baby due, he will take some time off to be with Martha and their new baby. In Martha's free moments, she is creating a room for "baby" with an ocean theme - celebrating their past lives in San Diego and their love for the beach. What do you think? In about a year or so, will Martha be wondering what that sound is coming from the Ocean Room... a wave breaking on the beach... or her baby crashing the crib against the wall? Stay tuned...

A light moment to share
For weeks, a 6-year old lad kept telling his teacher about the baby brother that was expected at his house. One day the mother allowed the boy to feel the movements of the unborn child. Soon after, the boy stopped telling his teacher about the impending event. The teacher finally asked, "Tommy, whatever became of that baby brother you were expecting at home?" Tommy burst into tears and confessed, "I think Mommy ate it!" Baby-place.com

Nikole Manou - 5th Grade Teacher
by Anita Baldwin
If Nikole Manou transfers even a tenth of her infectious enthusiasm for life and learning to her fifth graders, they will be well served. Fifth grade is, at the moment, her favorite grade. "They're still so excited about school. And the curriculum is fun."

But Nikole didn't always know she'd be a teacher. It was only after inspiration from a mentor that she received her MA in education with a focus on children with learning disablities at Fresno State, where she grew up. First, though, she was part of a special two-year program, Teachers in Inclusive Educational Settings (TIES), which brought her and the other student teachers to the actual schools for their classes. Then it was simply a matter of walking to the classroom for the hands-on experience, where the children were grouped in fours: one English learner, one disabled, one bilingual, and one GATE. Imagine the kinds of learning that must have taken place between children of such diverse backgrounds.

With a background in children with special needs, it's not surprising that she has taught in a variety of classroom setups. Before coming to Nixon this year, Nikole taught in the Cupertino School District, first in a class for learning disabled children, then in the regular classroom, where she asked for as many learning disabled children as could be mainstreamed.

She also taught a special needs class that allowed "reverse mainstreaming": children in the regular classroom were brought into hers. "It makes the learning disabled class much less secretive to the others, and it makes the LD children proud to show off their classroom. It takes the stigma away. These are kids that simply need a little more attention."

Nikole is a runner and has recently taken up the cello, perhaps in self-defense; her husband is a musician, playing the violin and viola. She loves to travel-I'm waiting for the day when someone tells me they hate it-but perhaps most tellingly, she loves to read, and reads everything she can. ("So much to read, so little time," we both agreed.)

She's delighted to be in the "progressive" PAUSD and says she has felt welcome since the minute she got here. We're definitely glad to have her.

Donna Rumwell - 5th Grade Teacher
by Marci Reichelstein
(written when Donna taught 4th grade)

Donna Rumwell has been teaching at Nixon for 18 years - the second longest of any teacher at the school! And before this, she taught around the Palo Alto School District for 10 years - making her tenure with PAUSD 28 years! Donna reports that many classes of her students are now through college and already working in the "real" world.

Donna has seen several major trends in education over her years at Nixon. Originally in reading, educators stressed literature groups in which the basic skills of comprehension and story dissection were stressed. Then in the 90's, "whole language" and a focus on the "big picture" were important. "Now the pendulum has swung back to literature groups," reports Donna. In math it has been similar with the study of basic algorithms being popular when she began teaching, then swinging to a more conceptual approach, and now back again. "A seasoned educator can temper these "themes" and create a balanced approach in the classroom," comments Donna. "Teachers need to reach kids with different learning styles by concurrently pulling across these different approaches."

Through the years Donna feels children of 4th grade age have not really changed much. "They are sweet, innocent, and yet very capable of analysis." Kids should have input into the class structure so they buy into how the classroom is run. For example, Donna's class is organized into teams, each with a team name and mascot. "The teacher is just a facilitator, helping kids discover their skills and to foster an environment where students are excited by learning and doing," says Donna.

A few years ago Donna was diagnosed with cancer. She not only successfully fought it but also changed her outlook on life as a result. She is living a more full life now and wants to make every day the best! Landscaping is one of Donna's passions that she gained from her Italian grandfather. She views the garden as an exciting, dynamic canvas of changing color, texture, and seasons. In fact, Donna's educational background was in fine arts. In the early 70's when she was ready to become a teacher, there were no positions, so she started a jewelry business. Donna is also famous (around Nixon) for the courage to race her blazing red Ferrari. In fact she was one of only 3 women to complete the treacherous "Hill Climb" racing 5 miles to 2000 feet!

Donna feels so lucky to be alive and to be here at Nixon. "I have learned so much from these children - they have their own vantage point that keeps me young. Ultimately, attitude and energy are more important than anything in being a good teacher," reflects Donna.