THERAPY
“This is requiring a lot more. And I think [with] my connection and love to the community, my connection and love to these kids, I'm prepared to do that. Not everyone is prepared to do that. Not everyone has the capacity. I don't judge teachers because they might not. I went through therapy for ten years. I still go through therapy. That's also a reason why I stay. I need therapy. I need to talk through these things sometimes and the therapy helps a lot for me to be able to be the person that they need me to be.”
IN-SCHOOL SUPPORT
“I just accept it and I welcome it, because I know again that in order for my students to be successful ten years from now I need to get them through this. And I'm just a little peg in the whole wheel. In my building there's a whole team of people. [Today one student had a major crisis.] It wasn't just me sitting with that child today, right? I took her in. I had the nurse. I had [someone else] who's like my dial-dash whenever someone has an emotional breakdown. The counselor came in for a minute. The dean came in for a minute. So all these people are just surrounding this kid. So I'm not the only one having to deal with it, right? Someone took over for me. And I think that when teachers don't have that support, it is horrible. I have that support in this building. I've always sought out that support—and you have to seek it out.”
“[My principal] has made it a point that teachers take care of their mental health. She's modeled it. She's brought people in to highlight mental well-being (…) I've gone into her office ready to fight somebody and she's like, ‘Go take a breath. We'll take a break.’ She didn't say we need to deal with this right now. She didn't say, ‘Sit down. We're gonna have a meeting with you.’ [She said] ‘Go to your room. You need a minute. I need you to go be by yourself for a second.’”
“So if you know as a teacher that you have other people understanding what you're going through, and you build that support system where you can knock next door to your neighbor and say, ‘I need a minute. I'm about to go off on this kid.’”
“More than one person in this building tries to build relationships with students, so you're not alone (…) I've just always had people here that I can go to.”