Photo courtesy of Mary Anderson.
Mary Anderson, principal at Chelsea Park Elementary.
Q: Who inspired you to become an educator?
A: I was inspired to become an educator by three women who taught me in elementary school. They were amazing teachers. They went out of their way and above and beyond to make an impact on my life and be there for me when I was young. And I knew from the time I was a little girl that I always wanted to be a school teacher.
Q: How long have you been working in education?
A: I taught elementary school for seven years prior to becoming a school administrator. During those seven years, I taught second, third, fourth and fifth grades. Then I became a school administrator, and I have been serving in the administrative role for 14 years.
Q: Who was your favorite teacher when you were in school?
A: As previously mentioned, there were three teachers that really inspired me to become an educator and they were all very special in their own way. But I guess if I had to narrow it down just to one teacher that was my favorite, I would say that would be my second grade teacher, Mary Klein. She just was so loving and gentle and patient. She took time to get to know each student. In her classroom, she even had special lunch dates with us.
Q: What’s the most rewarding part of being an educator for you?
A: The most rewarding part of being an educator is seeing children grow and learn from year to year, seeing where they come to us, where they start at and where they are academically, behaviorally and socially when they leave us. So that, to me, is the most rewarding is knowing that we’ve made a difference in their lives when they were here with us.
