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07/05/2023 07:26 AMStephanie McKee Gorske of Deer Run Elementary School was “absolutely shocked” to learn she was the recipient of East Haven Public School’s overall Teacher of the Year award, not the least of which because of the other notable educators in the district. But she was ultimately “humbled and honored” to be considered alongside them.
“It’s crazy because I’ve worked with so many people that I feel also deserve this award. So to get it, it was kind of like a double-edged sword…I love being recognized, but [I thought], ‘Wow, this person deserved it, and this person deserved it, and that person deserved it.’”
But that also says something about Stephanie’s commitment to the East Haven school district, having taught in it for 23 years. For her, it comes down to the people around here.
“When I had to give a little speech at the ceremony, I just said, ‘It takes a village,’ and I know that’s like such a commonly used, silly phrase, but it’s so true. I couldn’t run my classroom without my paraprofessional, Cindy Brown. She’s been with me for 22 of my 23 years, and I could not run my room as effectively as a well-oiled machine without Cindy…she’s my other arm.”
Stephanie also gave a shout-out to Deer Run’s school psychologist Amanda Gamble who has been “there for everything,” and has supported Stephanie in what was a transition from being “the guru in preschool special ed[ucation] to being a complete novice” in regular education.
Stephanie is a first-grade teacher at the elementary school, and the recently concluded academic year was her first time teaching a curriculum in regular education. During her 23 years in the district, 22 were in a preschool special education program called Little Sea Stars. The transition to an entirely different kind of curriculum for her to teach was a challenge, but what came with that was the opportunity to grow as an educator.
“I wanted to do something to challenge myself, so I’d have to follow a completely different curriculum, and I’d have to have 20 kids in my room of [a] mix of special education and regular ed kids,” said Stephanie. “When you’re in the same grade for so long, I was excellent at it, and I loved it, and I was passionate about it, but I wasn’t growing professionally. I wasn’t really challenging myself, and that’s where I was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna make the move.’ And I love it.”
While it was quite the transition with new challenges to meet, nevertheless, Stephanie says working in special education for a significant period equipped her for the “many behavioral challenges” that still come with working with very young learners as part of the regular education curriculum.
“That’s definitely helped me with my successes in first grade,” she said.
Stephanie says one of the best parts of that transition was the ability to form bonds and meaningful relationships with students. She looks to achieve connections through a holistic approach of understanding everything that needs to be understood about young learners and meeting them where they are. She ponders various questions to begin establishing those connections.
“What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? Are they good at music? Are they great athletes? Are they great at math…[It’s about] focusing on that child and not just [asking] are they meeting the standards with following the curriculum,” she says. “When they first walk into my room, I’m not even thinking about academics. I’m thinking, how am I going to connect with this kid so they want to learn, so they want to be here.”
Luckily for Stephanie, her students are “like little sponges” that absorb plentiful amounts of information about her life at home, like with her family and their dogs. That only boosts their confidence to be successful students early on.
“They know my loves and likes,” says Stephanie. “And in turn, I know how each and every single one of them tick, and forming a relationship with them makes them want to be successful.”
And what makes a student successful comes with the lessons Stephanie wants to instill in her first-graders all the time. It comes down to honesty and kindness, she says.
“I always tell them: Mrs. Gorski does not care how smart you are, I don’t care if you get hundreds, I don’t care if you draw the best picture or the worst picture. It’s your heart and how kind you are to the people around you, and that’s what’s going to get you far in life.”