Local teacher a finalist for Texas honor
Spring Lake Park Elementary teacher Christy McCarter has garnered a bevvy of recognitions as of late, first being named Texarkana Independent School District Elementary Teacher of the year, before recently being selected as Region VIII Education Service Center Elementary Teacher of the year.
She now will move forward as one of 20 finalists for Texas Teacher of the Year.
McCarter is a fifthgrade English Language Arts and Reading Teacher at Spring Lake. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas A&M University-Texarkana.
While excelling at her job for over 20 years now has brought accolades and recognition, McCarter says she has actually grown weary of seeing her picture posted all over social media and the newspapers, because she isn’t in it for the spotlight, but only to have a positive influence on her students’ lives.
To get a look behind the scenes of what it’s like to be a State Teacher of the Year candidate, and how one gets to that point, The Gazette caught up with McCarter for an exclusive interview:
1. Tell me a bit about your background — where you’re from, where you went to school — stuff like that.
I was born and raised in New Boston, and graduated in 1995 from New Boston High. And I did my college here at Texarkana, graduating in 2000. I’ve taught mostly in New Boston. This is actually my 21st year to teach and my fourth year at TISD and Spring Lake Elementary. I taught for three years at Leary (Elementary) — I taught 1st grade — not for me. Then I taught seventh grade in New Boston for nine years. I taught some fifth and fourth at New Boston, and then I came here, where I’ve been fifth grade for the last several years.
2. Did you always want to teach English/ Language Arts?
Actually, no. Originally, my plan was, “Oh, I’m going to be a math teacher when I grow up.” Then I got to college at A&M-Texarkana, and I
had a professor by the name of Dr. Nutter. He taught a reading class, and I fell in love with it. He was a very tough professor, and I just loved it. He would bring in books and read, and show us how you would teach youngsters with books. So I changed my specialization to reading.
3. Who were some other mentors of yours in becoming a teacher?
The reason I wanted to be a teacher to begin with was my teachers growing up. There were teachers along the way who you look at, and you’re like, “I want to be like them.” One was my first grade teacher. I don’t remember learning to read, or a lot of little things, but I remember we always tried to figure out her middle name. She would give us hints, and we never could guess it. To this day, I don’t know her middle name, but that was something that always stuck with me. It was a personal thing, not a school thing. And I get personal with my kids. We have fun, because it’s not just about academics. You’re teaching them to want to be a lifelong learner.
4. In your opinion, what do you think separates you and makes you a great teacher? Is it that hands-on approach and being able to get personal with your students?
I think so many teachers are great teachers. But yes, I think building that relationship with students is the foundation of it all. Rita Pierson said kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. That has always stuck with me. We have fun, and reading lends itself to being able to have a lot of fun — from stories and humor and songs and movements and dance — we’re not just sitting in our desks. I think that’s part of it, and I just love what I do. If you don’t love it, the kids are going to know you don’t love it.
5. Do you think allowing students to have fun opens them up more to the academic part?
Absolutely. It takes a little while to have fun, because sometimes they just stare at you like you’re crazy, so you have to be willing to be crazy. And you have to be willing for them to laugh at you, and to see you get up and dance, and be silly to model to them that it’s okay to let loose. We do a lesson every year — figurative language — and I use music for poetry and songs. And one of them is a Bruno Mars song. I’ll tell them, “y’all know they wrote this song about me.” And they just love it, and they feed off of it all year. I even had a girl two years ago bring me a bracelet she had made with little Bruno Mars trinkets on it. It was so sweet. So just that personal connection. And obviously he didn’t write the song about me, but I like to make it fun. And they remember that kind of stuff.
6. Do you find it hard at all to have fun with them, but at the same time keep them focused?
Yes, so we have call-backs. Like this is the fun time, and now it’s time to learn. So I’ll say, “Listen, Linda!” and they’ll say, “Linda, listen!” and then they get quiet. Or I’ll say, “Class, class!” and they say, “Yes,yes!” and they get quiet. And they know after that call-back, it’s time to get serious, still and quiet.
7. You were quoted as saying, “If you ever want to know what kind of teacher you are, allow your students to take over and be the teacher of the day.” Where did that originate?
I’ll probably cry telling this story. So, one of my things is we have rewards. We don’t get a piece of candy for everything we do, but we have this reward that if you read enough books you get to be Teacher of the Day. And we had a kid who was my top reader, so he got to be Teacher of the Day. We planned out his lesson, and he came in and everything he did was what I did. I was laughing, I was crying. He went through the lesson, and he basically just mocked me. It was just kind of touching, because they’re not just listening to what I’m teaching. They’re watching everything I do. So that was a moment for me that kind of hit me, like this is important.
8. How much does it mean to you when a former student comes back and reaches out to you somewhere down the road?
Well, you’re really just trying to make me cry now. This summer, I had a kid come up to me while I was running at the park and said, “Mrs. McCarter! Thank you!” And I said, “Thank you for what?” And he said, “for believing in me and not giving up on me.” He had just graduated and was going to boot camp for the Army. That got my heart. I had a girl one time at Walmart checking me out, who told me I used to call her “Ruby Lue,” and she still went by that to this day. Her name was Ruby. Just little things like that. That was something that was special to her. You don’t get that a lot being an elementary teacher, just because kids grow up and, not that they forget about you, but they have other things they’re interested in.
9. Do you think teaching is one of the most rewarding professions, and if so, why?
I absolutely do. It’s just a great job to have, because you get to do what you love every day, knowing that every day, you’re making an impact on kids. It’s my job, and I pray every morning, that I’m a positive impact on students each day. There are bad days in teaching — you have bad days and good days — but the best thing about it is starting over every day, and then you get to start over every August. Some years are harder than others, and you reach more kids some years than you do others. But just knowing that seven, eight, nine years down the road, that kid that might’ve struggled in class is going off to boot camp or college, and being successful. We don’t know where our kids come from, what kids go through at home when they go home from school. We get to be that safe place for them, for just a little while, and teach them, not just academics, but how to handle life situations. That’s our future. We may not ever see what they become, because we are elementary, and they have many years left in school. But I just hope, and know, that I and many others are making an impact on kids every day.