For the love of education

[Photo provided by Abby Cary]

Being a teacher is a career that may not always be the easiest, but when done right, can be extremely rewarding. There are some people that are just simply born to teach, Abby Cary is one of those people. Abby is a 5th grade teacher at Cougar Run Elementary School in Highlands Ranch, part of the Douglas County School District. 

It is not hard to figure out that the public school system in the United States is not always the easiest to work for, and does not pay the best either. It can be especially challenging for young teachers. But for Cary, age 26, she was able to reflect passion and love for her job.

Cary, originally from western Massachusetts, moved out to Colorado to attend Colorado College in Colorado Springs. She graduated in 2011 with a degree in History and a concentration in Education Elementary courses. She then went on to work for Teach for America teaching 2nd grade in Colorado Springs for 2 years. After Teach for America, she taught 1st grade in Denver for a year.

“While I enjoy teaching younger students, I’ve always known the upper elementary grades would allow for more rigorous content and student led inquiry,” said Cary.

According to the United States Department of Labor, the median pay for an elementary school teacher is $53,400. But the the lowest 10 percent earn less than around $32,450 and the top 10 percent earn more than around $78,230. These numbers are not incredibly high for someone who is responsible for 10 plus children and for teaching them. Teaching is one of the most important jobs, without teachers there would be no education, and what would a world be without education? We simply need education to function.

In order to be an elementary school teacher, the basic requirements one must obtain is a bachelors degree, preferably in education. For a young teacher starting out, it can be more difficult to find work in schools because typically schools have teachers who have been there for 10 plus years. When you become a teacher at a young age, it is typical for teachers to either stay in the same position for their entire career, or work their way up the school system by obtaining larger leadership positions.

[Photo: Natalie Hillman] Abby Cary and her 5th grade class with guest speaker

While Cary is focused on what she is doing in the classroom right now, she hopes to continue being a teacher for as long as possible. When sitting down with Cary, she was smiling the whole time while talking about her students. She is filled with more stories about her students than a children’s storybook. When I asked her about Teach for America, she had only great things to say. But when I asked her why she did not continue working for a charter school, her answer shifted.

“It wasn’t as much the fact that it was a charter school but instead the administration was so dysfunctional. We provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the students. Most of my students were living with either 1 parent or a grandparent. I became more of a life coach than anything which I didn’t not like, it was just extremely stressful especially when trying to work with the school administration.”

Teaching can be a stressful job, especially when the administration is not on your side. That is why Cary decided to start looking for new schools in 2014. She expressed that it was an extremely long process. She applied, interviewed, guest taught, and arranged lesson plans for 4 different schools before she got the job at Cougar Run Elementary School this past June.

Cary expressed that being an elementary school teacher is a challenging job. It takes patience, passion, creativity, leadership, compassion, care, and time. Not everybody is cut out to teach a bunch of wild 5th graders running around like zoo animals. But it is well worth it.

“I think that I was born to work with kids. I grew up being the queen of babysitting in my town. I know I remember some of my elementary school teachers and some of them changed my life. I hope that I have that impact on my students. And I think that it is pretty cool that I get them before they head to middle school because middle school can be a cruel and hard place for a kid.”

Just from talking to Cary, it is clear she will be doing this for a long time, and that she has already made a huge impact on her students.