Heart-Centered Motivations

Winston Churchill High School arranges a banquet to acknowledge the achievements of the top 5% of our graduating class each year. Students, recognized for their exceptionally high GPAs, select a teacher to honor for making a lasting impact on their high school experience. During the banquet, teachers and students share a meal followed by stories of praise, academic successes and gratitude. At last year’s banquet, three students honored me, and I will share each story in separate posts.

While the banquet was lovely, the event that changed me happened the next morning in my school parking lot. On the way into the building I joined Jeff Savett, an English teacher who had attended the 5% dinner with me the previous night. We briefly reflected on our amazing students and how fortunate we were to attend the dinner. Then Jeff turned to me and said something like, “Curt, you are doing soul work.” Up to that moment, I knew I was deeply committed to care for both academic and emotional needs of my students, but it took the observation of a colleague, friend, and poet to help me realize that my teaching practice had become something new, something that I had been striving to achieve, but could not see or acknowledge in myself.

The second experience happened a few days later at graduation when the senior class president, Hana Mangat, addressed her classmates and told them to “go out and be Southworth.” Hana was my student for Honors Pre-calculus in her sophomore year, and I attended an event that she sponsored, U-Nite, in response to two tragic suicides that rocked our school that year. 

With Hana’s call-out, I crumbled in my seat and wept in shock and awe and, to be honest, no small amount of embarrassment. How does one comprehend the depth of such a complement? On reflection, it turned out to be another call to action. I am no longer able to minimize the impact of my relationships with students who deserve more than mastery objectives and clear instruction. They need my care, kindness, respect, compassion, and even my love.

The third experience happened a few weeks ago during the intermission of our high school production of She Kills Monsters. Aman Shergill, the parent of one of my current students, had joined Sikh Kid 2 Kid to train staff on cultural misconceptions related to our Sikh students. Aman thanked me for providing a safe space to students and for giving her son much more than solid instruction in math. She encouraged me to reflect on what I was doing in the classroom so that I could train other teachers to do the same.

To be honest, I’m reluctant to write these stories because I’m just human and can’t pretend for a second that I handle every situation in my classroom in an ideal way. My colleagues in the math hallway know me much too well, and I acknowledge that I make mistakes every day. I realize that what works for me and my students may not work for others. That’s fine. I don’t expect everyone to find value in what I plan to share.

At the same time, it has taken me 22 years to overcome a lot of fear and give myself permission to interact with students in an authentic way. I surprise myself with the ability to navigate courageous conversations, take risks, and trust that students know I'm coming from a place of respect. 

Most of the training that we teachers receive is focused on planning instruction and assessment, relationship-building, equity, cultural proficiency, differentiated instruction, etc. I wish someone had given me a vision of a heart-centered classroom a long time ago. I’m willing to reflect on my experiences now and deepen my practice of loving-kindness to all living things.

To the teachers who saved me from myself and showed me a different way to be.

Carol Mell, West Anchorage High School, Analysis and Trig, AP AB Calculus

Roberta Hamilton McCutcheon, West Anchorage High School, History of the Middle East

Cam McCarrey Bowman, West Anchorage High School, Concert Choir

James McDonald, Brigham Young University, Econometrics and Math Econ

Susan Easton Black, Brigham Young University, Book of Mormon 
Joan Bissell, UC Irvine, Educational Psychology
Karen Nakai, UC Irvine, Teacher Education Program Director
Carol Tipper, UC Irvine, Math Methods
Lois Hoshijo, Spring View Middle School, Cooperating Teacher
Trudie Scott, Hill Middle School, Mentor Teacher

Barbara Tjernell, Loma Verde Elementary School, Teaching Partner

Lois Cohen, Winston Churchill High School, Teaching Partner