by Louise Hindle, Program Manager
At a point in the past, in the middle of an unusually busy year of educational change as a high school teacher and administrator, I recall hearing (and being motivated by) this phrase: “Without teachers there are no other professions.” Ah, I thought – that’s why I must keep doing what I’m doing. Teaching is, without a doubt, about improving life chances.
Now, as Program Manager at IEA, where I help shape the Academy program, I think similarly and differently. Today, as we mark National Teacher Appreciation Day, we honor our faculty of teachers who improve the life-chances of our students, but who also:
- Inspire our students, by creating incredible classes; classes not found in a traditional school environment. Moreover, Academy classes emerge from each teacher’s interests, expertise and current research. Where else would you get: Paleozoology? Marine Biodiversity? Logic Detectives? Brain Science? Microbial Ecology? Debating on a Global Stage: International Relations & Justice? Literary Ladies of Americana: A Paean to the Female Pen? Microbiology for Kindergartners? The Study of Star Wars: A Hero’s Journey? Mindfulness for Gifted Tweens & Teens?
- Mentor by sharing their stories, their journeys, by listening and being a friend. Academy classes are not just about the content or the process but about where these interests might take you and why and how.
- Lead by example: our teachers are patient, curious and share the thrill of learning, just as they enable Academy students to imagine a future self. Our teachers also acknowledge their younger selves in our students. They lead by example and they have the magical ability to connect with our youngsters
- LOVE what they do –so much so, they find time as researchers, students, teachers, parents, computer scientists, consultants, N4P workers, actors, artists, film-makers, volunteers, animal curators, professors, administrators – to come to Academy and work with us – and then, THEY thank us!
And, so, a roll call to all of our Academy faculty, who teach, who teach and then sub, who offer mini-lectures, who sub some more, who provide expertise for Genius Days, who source and bring in extra learning resources to ignite their curriculum, who travel long distances each week, who accept all children with all of their needs (and always with a smile on their face), who return time after time with new classes and new reflections on how to improve and who work with IEA, with the resources we have, to offer your families the best service we can.
As Mark Twain said, “It is noble to teach oneself, but still nobler to teach others.”
Today, we thank IEA’s Academy teachers and friends for engaging in the most noble of professions and for helping shape future professions – whatever they might be.
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A British import, Louise Hindle graduated from the University of Manchester with a B.A. Honors Degree in English Literature and Language, completed her post-graduate teacher training at The University of Cambridge, and has recently completed her dissertation in Educational Leadership and Innovation with the University of Warwick. Louise has 20 years of experience in education as a high school literature teacher, lead teacher, administrator, adviser, and consultant. She is also the parent of three fun and active school-aged children. She loves working at IEA because she is constantly learning and reflecting in order to meet the varied and complex needs of these children, who she finds to be confident and vulnerable in equal measure but always ready to learn and thirsty for more. In her free time, she likes to read with her children, hike, walk, and jog with her badly behaved dog.