By Tom Ganser
Last Friday is a day Diana Callope, a teacher at Whitewater Middle School, won’t soon forget, if ever, as she was named the Wisconsin Middle School Teacher of the Year in a surprise ceremony at the school.
State Superintendent Tony Evers announced the honor the morning of Sept. 5 during an all-school assembly. Callope will receive $3,000 from the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation and is in the running to represent Wisconsin in the National Teacher of the Year program along with three other teachers from the state.
After having a couple of days to let the honor sink in, Callope – who has been in the Whitewater Unified School District since 1992 and currently teaches eighth-grade pre-algebra, algebra and geometry – shared what she believes attributes to her success and what she enjoys about teaching pre-teens.
“Middle school students are way more awesome than people think… I’ve never wanted to do anything else,” she said. “I like that mix of being somehow mature and independent… and still having that bit of innocence and that bit of need for your guidance and your help.
“Maybe that’s why I like them… Trying to figure them out at any given moment is interesting. And they’re fun, they’re quirky, they’re not afraid to be silly or weird,” Callope said.
One thing that has lead to her success as a teacher is desire. “You cannot go into this profession being someone who wants their summers off because the reality is, you really don’t get them off anyway. You have to go into it because you want to spend a lot of time with kids.”
Meaningful mentors
Having good mentors along the way has also played a role in Callope’s success, including Bill Kuster, a current, fellow teacher at WMS who was Callope’s cooperating teacher for a Franklin Field Study.
“He was just a good person for me to watch to get creative ideas from and he really encouraged me to think outside the box,” Callope said of Kuster. She recalled his response when she would run an idea by him.
“He would say ‘you’re not going to kill the kids. Try it… what’s the worst that’s going to happen? Just take the leap and if it’s a disaster, you fix it the next day,’” Callope recalled.
Asked if she would still choose teaching as a career today, Callope said it’s viewed differently today than when she began and the negativity attached to teachers would be a factor to consider.
“It’s hard to say, ‘Yeah. I want to jump into a career that a lot of people don’t really respect’… I think it would be a lie to say that it wouldn’t at least have an influence on my thought process,” Callope said.
Connecting with the kids
Callope, who, in her application materials wrote that the key to being a successful teacher is connecting with kids, reverted to that when asked if she had any advice for teachers beginning their careers.
“You have to connect to kids. It does not matter what the curriculum is, it does not matter how many times it changes, it doesn’t matter how you’re going to be evaluated… If you don’t make connections with the kids that are in your room, they’re not going to get what they need from you,” Callope said.
“Make them feel like you care about them, not just about how they’re doing in your subject. To me that’s huge,” she added.
Callope also said teachers have to be flexible. “Don’t get too rigid in thinking, ‘OK, I have everything set this year and I’m going to be teaching this way for the next 20 years because it just doesn’t work that way.”
The ever-changing curriculum can be a challenge, Callope said, but the reality is, “it’s going to change, things are going to be different. And if you’re not willing to try to change and try to grow yourself, as a learner, then you’re going to be lost.”
Another challenge is the advances in technology and the role it plays in the classroom, Callope said.
“It changes so fast. That’s an area where I really need to work, to grow and to keep up and try to be able to do things… if I can make myself comfortable with it and be willing to learn, then it’s not going to be so scary,” she said.
The right reasons
The final bit of advice for new teachers, according to Callope, is not to go into it for the money, “because the reality is, you’re just going to job-hop… I think you need to go into it saying, ‘I have to be flexible about the fact that things are going to be happening all around me, but my reason for being here is this student in front of me.’”
Callope said there are distractions sometimes that can be stressful, but “when all is said and done you can close your door when the kids are in there and love your job.
“I’m not saying close the door and do whatever you want, but if you’re able to step into your classroom and still really want to be teaching the kids, regardless of what standards you have to follow… you can make a career out of it,” she said.
Kudos from district
District Administrator Eric Runez, said Callope’s recognition “is a wonderful acknowledgement of her work and dedication to students. Due to her efforts, almost half of all incoming ninth-graders over the past eight years are enrolling, and more importantly, succeeding in either Geometry or Algebra II as a freshman.”
Callope being the second WUSD teacher to be honored in four years – in 2010, Washington Elementary School’s Peggy Wuenstel was honored as Wisconsin Special Services Teacher of the Year – Runez said, “is a testament of the outstanding quality of teaching staff we have in the district… our community is fortunate to have Diana Callope and the rest of our strong teaching staff serving our children.”
A couple of school board members weighed in on Callope’s honor as well.
“Diana Callope is an outstanding educator who inspires and supports her students in a subject area, math, that can be difficult for many,” Dan McCrea said. “(She) passionately pursues innovation in the classroom, improving her instructional techniques to meet the changing needs of her students. The district is fortunate to have a professional such as Diana.”
Board member Casey Judd said Callope deserves to be congratulated for “a well deserved honor… thank you for your years of service to the children of Whitewater.”
“The first thing Diana said upon receiving the award was to point out that the award would not be possible without the support of colleagues, support staff and administrators. In light of her comments I would like to thank all the district teachers for their dedication and hard work on behalf of the children of our school district,” Judd said.
But perhaps the most telling story about Callope comes from a new teacher at the middle school, Sara Pratt, who had Callope as a teacher herself several years ago.
“I was one of Diana’s middle school students when she taught Language Arts. I will always remember the calm and warming nature of her classroom. We always had time to sit in a circle and just talk. I felt like I could take risks and be safe in her classroom. I knew she cared about our class because it showed in her daily actions and routines with us,” Pratt said.
Pratt then recalled a personal story about Callope and the lesson found within.
“The year that I had her as a teacher, her family went through a tragedy when they had a house fire that would require rebuilding. Even through the chaos that that would so obviously bring, her students never knew if she was having a bad day. She still somehow was able to focus on her students through it all,” Pratt said.
“At the end of the year, she had us over to her new home for a end of the school year party… well, that’s what we thought it was for. Later on I learned that she felt so horrible for the stress of the school year that she had us over to make up for it. From my memory, she has had to be one of the best influential teachers in my educational path. Thank you, Diana, for also helping me build my dreams,” Pratt added.
Callope said she was overwhelmed and humbled by the honor she received Friday.
“There are thousands and thousands of teachers in this state who do great things and to be singled out as one is just incredibly humbling,” Callope said.
“I don’t think it’s a job you can do in isolation and I really do believe that this isn’t something that I got just because of me. There are a lot of influencing factors, people that helped me to be doing what I’m doing and the way I’m doing it,” she added.
Editor Heather Ruenz contributed to this story.
