Christine Sousa was nominated by Lynnae and Robert Badal for Class Acts. The Badals said their son has severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but under the instruction of Sousa, he loved going to school, loved learning and felt wonderful about himself.
Name: Christine K. Sousa
Age: 60
City of residence: Denair
Occupation: Third-grade teacher at Julien Elementary in Turlock
Family: Husband, David J.; sisters, Joni K. Gehlke and Kathy Henley
Background: Born in New Castle, Pa., raised in Los Angeles; went to Los Angeles Valley College and California State University, Stanislaus
Teaching experience: This is my 37th year of teaching elementary school in Turlock.
Why did you go into teaching? Because of my love for children, and my mother thought I would be a good teacher.
What is your favorite thing about being a teacher? Watching the children grow and develop throughout the year and how quickly they can learn.
What is the most challenging part of your job? All the paperwork, correcting, evaluating, and assessing. Right now we are required to test a lot more than we ever have, our report cards are more time-consuming, and the pacing calendar doesn't give us any wiggle room.
Favorite teaching tool or activity in the classroom: I have a monetary system. The children learn the value of money, how to count it, earn it and save it, and they can buy things in the classroom store. They are learning very valuable life lessons.
What's next in your classroom? The next months are jam-packed with academics and learning. In addition, we will be going on field trips, performing at a reading assembly, and putting our writing projects together.
Advice for new teachers: Find a good mentor. It's not an easy job and requires an excessive amount of your free time.
Advice for students: Listen to your parents, teachers and elders.
If there's something you don't understand, ask!
It's important to put effort into your education.
Advice for parents: Get more involved with your child's learning. Look at their finished schoolwork, homework, reports, and listen to them read. Ask the teacher how you can help. And set a good example.
Future plans: I'll retire at the end of 2010. I'll miss the teaching part and the contact with the children.
How do you reach students not interested in school? This is really the hardest thing to do in education. One way that has worked for me is to find out more about the students and what interests them.
What would surprise people about your job? That teachers spend so much of their (after-school hours) time at school and at home doing school work. And that teachers don't get any paid holidays or vacations. We work about 180 days a year and that's what we get paid for.
COMPILED BY JILLIAN HANKS, BEE NEWSROOM ASSISTANT
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