Three Connecticut educators will be featured on Channel 3 this Friday on the 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00 evening news sharing their experiences from the past school year and their hopes for 2021-22.
CEA Secretary and CES teacher Stephanie Wanzer, Suffield teacher and local president Mark Janick, and Wallingford teacher Gianna Gurga took part in an interview with anchor Wendell Edwards (second from right) earlier this month, excerpts of which will be shown during the newscasts.
The teachers agreed that the combined efforts of educators working together was what helped get them and their students through one of the most challenging years they’ve ever face.
“What I’ve learned is that social emotional needs are the biggest focus we must have going forward—for students as well as for staff. Staff need that focus just as much,” said Wanzer, a special education teacher. “Educators have been exhausted, tired, scared, unsure what was going to happen. We need to make sure those needs are met so we can move forward.”
“I think middle schoolers get a bad reputation,” said Gurga, a family and consumer science teacher, “but I learned how resilient my students are.”
Janick said he learned that good things can come out of an event even as terrible as a world-wide pandemic.
“I learned there are other ways to teach. I made more videos this year of myself, and I learned that different styles of teaching and learning help the kids,” the high school math teacher said. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and yes I change things up, but this year, in a short period of time, I learned Google classroom, I’m using alternate assessments. That’s the good that came out of this. I learned a lot of different ways to better engage students, even next year and long after this.”
Tune in for more this Friday.
