STEPHANIE NAFSO
Fourth grade teacher at Scotch Elementary
“I am looking forward to a full classroom of smiling students ready to tackle the essential skills of fourth grade. I want to continue to build relationships and successfully implement the 4Cs, which are critical thinking, communication, collaboration and contribution, so students can be a valuable asset to our community and the world. I am excited to be teaching my whole class at the same time and spending more time with each of my students.
I am also looking forward to a normal, full-day schedule where students can participate in lunch, recess and specials (in person)! The hybrid model worked to ensure social distancing and safety, but it put a heavy toll on teachers and students. For teachers, we had to be the in-class teacher (for the students in school) and the online teacher (for the students doing school at home)— simultaneously. It was tough, but we got it done because teaching students, whether face-to-face or remotely, is our business!
Let’s bring on the new school year and pray that we all continue to practice preventative strategies, so that we are in-person the whole school year!”
CRYSTAL KASSAB JABIRO
Seventh and eighth grade history teacher at West Bloomfield Middle School
“I am anticipating a fresh start. So much has changed in the past year and a half that I am not sure I want to go back to ‘normal.’ Sure, some things will remain, but some things will have to evolve. That is because we as a people have been transformed by so much— by technology, by fear, by politics and by social justice. We have to do better for our kids and for our society, and it starts with us. It starts within us.
Nonetheless, I am truly looking forward to the hustle and bustle of a school day… greeting kids at the door with a smile or a fist bump or a hug, jumping into the their TikToks, hearing those confident voices and encouraging the shy ones, sharing hearty laughs and just teaching the kids grammar and writing and history with every fiber in my being. And selling donuts and bagels in the morning, dressing up for spirit days, cheering at pep assemblies, skipping lunch to help students, sprinting to the bathroom during five minutes of passing time, and jamming the copier early in the morning— all of it.”
