GUSTINE – Four Gustine Unified School District educators are stepping into retirement as the school year comes to a close, opening new chapters in their lives.
Among them are three Gustine Elementary staff members, Principal Karen Azevedo, kindergarten teacher Carolyn Caporgno and reading specialist Patty Bettencourt.
Romero teacher Kathy Conrad is also retiring this year.
Karen Azevedo
Azevedo is a testament to the power of goals and determination…..or, as she would put it, planting the seeds of possibility which, nurtured with hard work and dedication, can blossom into success.
She was inspired to plant seeds of possibility in pursuing her educational career, and through the years has encouraged her students to do the same.
Azevedo, you see, didn’t take a direct route to education.
“I was a dental assistant who didn’t go to college until I was 31,” she explained.
Azevedo found herself looking for career options as the local dentist planned to close his practice, when she read a book entitled “The Seeds of Greatness” and was inspired to pursue a career in the classroom.
“I remember thinking that I would love to be a teacher because you reach so many people,” she recalled, “but it seemed (as unlikely) as becoming a brain surgeon.”
Still, motivated to pursue her goal, Azevedo plunged forward and completed a five-year program in three and one-half years.
She started her new career as a third-grade teacher at Gustine Elementary.
She took her own experiences – and her own belief in the power of possibility – into the classroom.
“I wanted to be a teacher who planted seeds of possibility for my students,” Azevedo explained. “You don’t get something other than what you plant. If we plant negative thoughts, that’s what we get.”
Azevedo traded the classroom for administration eight years ago.
She was initially hired as assistant principal at GES, but two weeks into that first school year as an administrator was reassigned to Romero. She spent six years as principal at the Santa Nella school before coming back into Gustine as principal at GES.
Azevedo has seen numerous changes during her educational career.
“We have larger responsibilities now, first with the standards and now with the Common Core,” she reflected. “The rigor of what is expected of students has increased.”
Those in education, Azevedo reflected, must always remember that what they do helps shape young lives.
“Education is very faith-based. You have faith that what you are doing makes a difference,” she pointed out. “Occasionally, as an educator, you have the gift of seeing a former student years later who tells you what a difference you made in their lives.”
Azevedo said she has loved her career and still has a passion for education.
“It has been such a blessing. There is nothing better than working with kids,” she commented. “I am going out when I still love what I do. I still love coming to work every day, but I think it is a good time to open a new chapter.”
Patty Bettencourt
Reading has been a life-long passion for Bettencourt and the focus of many of her years in education.
Bettencourt got her start in education in 1974 in Windsor. She came to Gustine in 1984, but took five years off to raise her children before returning to the classroom as a half-time Reading Recovery and multi-age classroom at Gustine Elementary.
Bettencourt became a full-time teacher about five years later, getting her own first-grade class, and for the last 12 or so years has been a reading specialist.
In that role, she has served as a reading coach for other teachers and has worked with small groups of students.
“There were years when I worked with teachers, and hopefully those positive effects (were more widespread),” she shared. “Hopefully helping make a teacher a better reading teacher had a wider impact than me pulling students out a day in small groups.”
Still, Bettencourt acknowledged, one of the greatest joys of her profession has been the moment when a student grasps a reading concept.
“They would always come up to me and say, ‘Mrs. Bettencourt, I can’t read.’ I would say ‘Yes, you can, and I am going to show you how’,” the reading specialist related. “It is very exciting when you see the kernel pop for a child.”
Bettencourt said she believes her own classroom experience prepared her well to work as a reading coach.
“I had been in the trenches for many years,” she points out.
Reading skills are essential for students to succeed, Bettencourt emphasized.
“By the third grade, students need to have the fundamental reading skills in place,” she explains. “I can tell you by the end of first grade who will struggle. That is why early intervention is so critical. You have to catch reading problems early.”
Reading and writing are at the heart of the evolution in education, added Bettencourt.
“Everything, even math, has changed. You are not going to just do a computation in math, you are going to have to understand what it means and explain it,” Bettencourt stated. “It is not just learning facts, but a much deeper understanding of the standards. Reading and writing are the foundation for all of that. Then we can go to higher-level thinking.”
Still, she said, some fundamentals of teaching have not changed through the years.
“Good teachers have always picked up on what made students learn. That’s what good teachers do,” Bettencourt remarked. “If you can pull good things from your experience along the way, you will always be a better teacher.”
Bettencourt said she wanted so badly to be a teacher that she taught for free while attending college just to get her foot in the door.
Jobs were scarce when she graduated from college, Bettencourt said, but she eventually had the opportunity to pursue the career she dreamed of.
“I’ve given back in teaching, but I also ‘get’ from teaching,” she reflected. “What I get is to watch young minds grow. I have enjoyed it. You will never be rich (as a teacher), but it is a rich profession.”
Carolyn Caporgno
Caporgno had always wanted to teach, so when the opportunity arose for her to return to school and obtain her credential, she took it. She has been teaching at Gustine Elementary for 14 years.
“This is my third career,” she explained when reflecting about her upcoming retirement.
As a young adult she was employed as a personnel assistant until she switched careers to become a stay-at-home mom and what she described as a professional volunteer as her second career. “I always wanted to teach,” Caporgno reflected, so when the timing was right for she and her family, she returned to school, earned her credential and embarked upon her third career.
The new educator taught first and second grade in Ceres for two years and earned a reading specialist credential and masters degree in education before joining the GES staff over a decade ago. She taught first grade for one year and has taught kindergarten every year since.
“I like this grade level,” she told Mattos Newspapers. She has enjoyed introducing her young students to school and preparing them for first grade.
The children arrive the first day of school not knowing where to go or how to act like a student, she described, bringing different backgrounds and experiences and skill levels. It is her responsibility to find that one connection with them that opens their eyes and minds to the world of education and the opportunities before them.
“I have a responsibility to each child in my class. I do all I can to reach out to each one as I can,” the dedicated teacher explained.
Some years have been more challenging than others, she recalled, with class sizes ranging from 20 to 29 students. However, at the end of the day, no matter the situation, she knows she has done everything she could to reach all of her students. “You have to learn how to manage your class, no matter the size,” she simply stated. And regardless of how many students she taught each year, she enjoyed what she was doing.
Kindergarten students are filled with energy and almost everything they do is new to them, which means they make numerous advances throughout the year.
One of the most intriguing aspects of her young students learning process, Caporgno shared, is their inquisitive side.
Once they get comfortable with the classroom scene and routine, learn their letters and their sounds and start putting them together to make a word, they want to know more, as demonstrated by one particular student in this year’s class. “I get excited when he asks a question, the whole class reached a point where they anticipated him raising his hand to ask,” Caporgno described. “He’s been a role model for his classmates asking why something happened or what the meaning of a word is in a story.
“I don’t want the students to just be fed information. I want them to think for themselves and wonder, be curious, listen and seek answers,” she added. “More kids began asking questions because of his example.”
That’s where learning begins, the teacher happily emphasized.
The last days of each school year are also a highlight for Caporgno. “It’s always exciting to see how far the kids have come since they first arrived in the fall,” she expressed. “Most are reading by the end of the year and that is exciting to see happen.”
Caporgno said she sets a goal, puts a line up high, and finds most students reach it. A bulletin board displays stars declaring success of individual students and is a rewarding tangible sign of the class’s progress as a whole for the proud educator at the end of the year.
This year that board also serves as a reflection of the difference her career choice has made in the lives of young students. Caporgno will say farewell to her students Friday as they head out for their summer break taking with her fond memories of her years teaching at GES.
Kathy Conrad
Conrad is retiring from the Gustine Unified School District with 24 years of service; 16 years as an instructional aide and the last eight years as an elementary school teacher.
“I love working with kids,” she recently told Mattos Newspapers.
As a parent volunteer in Strathmore, a principal recognized her talents and skills and suggested she apply for a job as an instructional aide. And so began her career in education.
Conrad joined the GUSD staff in 1989 when she and her husband bought a home in Gustine. She was assigned to Gustine Elementary the first year, and then worked at Romero for seven years before coming back to GES for many years. She will finish her career teaching at Romero the past two years.
“I have enjoyed every year with the schools, both as an aide and a teacher,” Conrad expressed.
As an aide, she said, many great teachers encouraged her to go back to school to get her degree. “I looked forward to having my own classroom someday,” she recalled.
Her responsibilities as an aide included working with small groups of students, testing, offering individual instruction and interacting with the students in ways similar to the teacher.
She found the work to be rewarding. “Teachers touch the lives of children and make a difference,” she shared. She decided it was time for her to pursue her own teaching career.
Conrad received her credential while continuing to work full-time as an aide. She completed an accelerated program in two and one-half years.
Her first teaching position was at Gustine Elementary in a first grade classroom. “It was a challenging year but a good year,” she remembered. The most difficult part for her was making the transition from aide to teacher in the eyes of the students that year. But that familiarity also turned out to be a plus for both the students and the first time teacher, she said. “I had a lot of wonderful support from the staff and it turned out to be a good year,” she reiterated. “I love teaching!”
Conrad has taught kindergarten, first grade and 1/2 combination classes through the years. She is currently teaching a kindergarten/transitional kindergarten combination class at Romero Elementary.
Classroom management is key to success, she pointed out.
For Conrad, keeping things simple and sticking to a plan has been most effective – with clearly defined rules and consequences.
“I believe kids thrive and develop with routine so I stay calm and try to keep everything as normal as possible each day for them. The kids know they can count on me,” she explained.
Her greatest love in teaching is seeing students blossom throughout the year.
“The kids come into kindergarten not knowing their sounds, some their letters, and they end up reading,” the proud educator described.
The relationships that develop because of her choice are a great benefit as well, she emphasized.
Every day, the kids have the opportunity to talk-share, show-share or read-share. Through the process, students get to know one another as individuals while sharing stories about their family, their interests, their worries and their joys.
By the end of the year, the class is like a family. “The connections that have been made are precious!” she expressed.
