The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘You have to have a heart’
Longtime teachers focus on alternative education for youths
NEW HAVEN» When Pamela Monk-Kelley, Barbara Puglisi and Pat DeLucia started teaching, there was no internet, smart phones or social media.
During that time, a gallon of milk cost $1.75, a dozen eggs cost 77 cents and Sony corporation introduced the Betamax video tape system.
“From the phone on down, I’ve learned a lot more from the students,” said DeLucia, who started his teaching career in 1975. “If I was in the classroom now, I would be struggling with smart boards and all the other technology out here.”
Much like DeLucia, Monk-Kelley and Puglisi have similar struggles, yet they have learned to adapt with the changing times.
The three educators are teachers at Riverside Education Academy and discussed with the Register the changes in education from their perspectives, reasons for choosing to teach in the alternative school setting and their painful experiences of losing students to the tide of gun violence.
Combined, they have more than 100 years of teaching experience in the district.
“When I started, we were held to instruction and it was a set curriculum, it wasn’t that much flexibility nor the need for it at that time,” said Puglisi, who started teaching in 1973 at August Lewis Troup School.
But now she said, “the difference is the behavioral deficiencies and the things you need to address in the classroom; when I first began you didn’t have to, kids weren’t exposed (to the things youths are today),” said Puglisi, an English teacher at the school.
Puglisi said part of the challenge with education is that students have more emotional, social and behavioral issues.
“So teaching has become more creative, you have to differentiate instruction and individualize more than ever before,” she said. “You have to know the back story of the students, where years ago that wasn’t an issue.”
For Monk-Kelly, the biggest change is mental health.
“Mental illness is a big factor, we didn’t have a lot of that earlier on,” said Monk-Kelley, a special education teacher who started teaching 40 years ago at the former Lee High School.
“A lot of the students are medicated, and some are self-medicated as well,” she said.
In classrooms around the nation, 20 percent of youth ages 13 to 18 live with a mental health condition, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health.
Approximately 50 percent of students age 14 and older with a mental illness drop out of high school. While 70 percent of youth in state and local juvenile justice systems have a mental illness, the website said.
A teacher’s choice
Monk-Kelley, who has been at the school for 22 years, said her first two months with students are for building bonds.
“I’m getting to know the students and developing trust, because a lot of them have trust issues,” she said. “They believe everyone is out to get them and most of them have always been pushed to the side; they’ve always been told they will be nothing and will do nothing.”
While the educators had many options to teach at any of the district’s comprehensive schools, they chose the alternative path.
They credit the schools former Principal Wanda Gibbs with changing the culture of the program.
“Ms. Gibbs begged me to get my credentials back in order, because I was happy working part-time with a homebound program and the braille,” said Puglisi.
But “I’ve always liked the small setting and kids who I can really help; I always had a heart for that,” she said. “You’re not a faculty number or a student number here.”
DeLucia, who has been at the school since 1992, said for him, the challenge is the reward.
“I love the challenge and I don’t think we can get that anywhere else,” said DeLucia.
He said Gibbs put her heart and soul into the school.
“Ms. Gibbs brought this school into the next level and she brought us along with her,” he said.
Monk-Kelley also noted Gibbs played a large roll in the educational foundation at the school.
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Ms. Gibbs. She encouraged us to go back to get our credentials; I went back and got a few more degrees under her leadership,” said Monk-Kelley. “This school is a hidden secret.”
Gibbs retired from the school last year.
In New Haven, about 300 students attend one of the district’s alternative programs: Riverside Education Academy, or New Light and New Horizons High schools. The schools are now part of Mayor Toni Harp’s Youth Stat initiative, a data-sharing plan to identify and engage with at-risk youth.
The need for improvements in the schools is often met with resource and funding challenges, although the district continues to explore ways to better serve its most vulnerable students.
Against those challenges, Monk-Kelley said the school is a family environment. I
“I love this school, we’re family here,” said Monk Kelley.
For most people, “when they hear Riverside, they frown but have never been here,” she said.
Principal Larry Conaway, who just finished his first year in the role, said the teachers have been instrumental to the school’s growing success.
“They were immediately placed on my leadership team and a part of our leadership structure since the beginning of school,” said Conaway.
“They all have been invaluable when I’m not in the building,” he said.
Conaway said DeLucia and Kelly are second in command in the school.
As for Puglisi, Conaway said her years of experience and knowledge and her approach to education is extraordinary.
“They have over 100 years in the building and they are great teachers; they’re the heart and soul of Riverside,” he said. “I’m honored and humble to be working with them and having them being a part of the school’s community.”
According to school officials, Riverside serves overage students who do not have the appropriate number of credits. There are more than 110 students enrolled at the school.
Interim Superintendent of Schools Reginald Mayo said teaching in an urban district is much more than a career.
“It is a calling and a passion. Teachers like Pamela Kelley, Barbara Puglisi and Pat DeLucia exhibit the dayto-day dedication and professionalism that proves to be an inspiration to all around them,” said Mayo, who officially retired from the distinct in 2013 but returned last year in the interim role
“They have literally touched the lives of a generation of students and helped many thousands of kids tap into their potential,” he said. “As a district and a community, we owe these professionals many thanks for a job very well done.”
More than education
In many urban districts, teachers contend with the weighty challenges that emerge when supporting students who live in communities plagued with gun violence and trauma.
The three teachers also are marked by the deaths of students.
“We’ve been to so many funerals over the course of our experiences. You never get over it; sometimes, you cry at work,” said Puglisi.
At one point during her career, Puglisi said the killings came back-to-back.
“It was like when (you) hear about one, you’re taken back,” she said. “And for a while, it was one right after the other, you didn’t have chance to grieve; it was like the norm.”
DeLucia said for him, it’s a wake up call to the daily reality of their lives.
“You see all of their faces all the time in your minds, because there is a student here that reminds you of a student that we’ve lost,” said DeLucia.
“It’s painful. How can we talk about English or science when they’re dealing with daily trauma?” he asked. “It’s still hard for us to have normal days.”
In spite of having to cope with their own personal trauma, they all said the teachers get up everyone morning with the focus of putting kids first.
“The easy part about teaching is passing the Praxis (academic skills) test — that doesn’t make you a teacher,” said Puglisi. “You have to have a heart — every day is a new day and understand these are children that need guidance and structure.”