I am quite proud to have been a teacher for thirty-eight years…
I came to teaching quite by accident… I always had an interest in the arts; perhaps becoming a fashion designer…
Happy Life Moment…Dream Maker…My family together at Aunt’s wedding… I was the flower girl…
However, overcoming my own challenging childhood… Parents divorcing early in my life…I was called upon to take care of myself…Due to my mother’s work… I had to get myself to school each morning…I was a latchkey child…In addition to that responsibility, I had a sister who was six years older, with mental health issues… I felt my mother was relying on me to look after her…
My early life, definitely lead me to the realization….I had a tremendous need to helping others….
So, in my senior year of high school, I made the decision to become a social worker, and attend Florida State University, in Tallahassee…In sharing my decision with an uncle…It was he who suggested, becoming a teacher, because it would better suit me… He believed it was….
A more stable career for a young woman...
Following this insight; One particular day that I will never forget, in my senior English class at Miami High School…My favorite, pretty, young teacher, Ms. Kempler, commented that she liked my dress!… She said that it reminded her of the University of Florida… It was the University’s colors of “orange and blue“…
Wow, I so appreciated her comment!.. Back then because of my personal life, I never felt noticed … Ms. Kempler did notice me!
Ms. Kempler had gone to the University of Florida; in a town called Gainesville… I had never even heard of, until this very moment…Well… my decision becoming a teacher, was made that day in 1966 my senior year, and go to the University of Florida, just like Ms. Kemper!
Thank you,
Dear Ms Kempler
Soon after, that February in 1967…my mother died unexpectedly, but before she passed…
I shared with her the news, in the hospital, that I was just accepted to the University of Florida, and made her a promise that day, I would go to college!
The road was definitely not easy…Living with friends until this challenging high school year ended… Graduation, and then working that summer in New York where my father was living…Monies earned would help with college expenses… College funds were minimal…
I would be beginning my college career alone … My best friend’s mother saw me off at the Miami Seaboard Train Station August,1967…I Arrived on campus in a taxi… alone … Watching everyone with their families , and I by myself and determination…
My early college school years were quite difficult… I was even told by a college advisor…I did not belong because of my test scores…Yet, I was determined to prove them wrong …And I feel so blessed…I was determined…I succeeded… Even getting married young, while attending college; and having my daughter,…
March of 1972 I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education…
Doing it with self- determination and blessed with college grants and loans, and food stamps…
Then immediately, getting my first teaching job…April 1, 1972…Traveling 90 miles a day just to teach…
Now as I reflect on my thirty-eight years; I am quite proud of all accomplished…
I have taught so many children from grades ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade; dating back from “1972”, up to my last year, retiring in “2015” …And spending more than twenty-five years in first grade…
I also went on to get a Masters of Science in Administration from an accelerated program from Nova University…an opportunity I felt would enrich my teaching journey …
And then later, I even had a wonderful opportunity teaching a college seminar for beginning teachers back at the University of Florida, while on a paid sabbatical working on an advanced course work in counseling education…I felt like I was living dream my mother had for me…
And I have never looked back… Becoming a teacher was the most important decision I made to channel my passion for helping…
Thanks to my mother, and those that believed in my determination... I was teaching our young precious children!!…
“How I hope my students can still remember back to the time they spent in my class so many years ago, and remember that love I have for them, smile warmly at some of the memories, and definitely have the confidence in themselves that they can amount to everything they put their minds”…
And…now more than ever…I will always advocate for our children…
Janis Sexton...Teacher...Advocate 