Manville students may be enjoying their last days of summer vacation, but for some teachers, it’s already time to get back to the classroom.
By:Mary Ellen Zangara, Special Writer
At Roosevelt School on Brooks Boulevard, fifth-grade teacher April (Stone) Fisher was in her classroom this week getting it ready for Sept. 6, the first day of classes.
| Honeymooning in a hurricane’s path
When you get married and plan your honeymoon, you can never predict if something will happen. Most honeymoons are very romantic, enjoyable and memorable. Roosevelt School fifth-grade teacher April (Stone) Fisher will always remember hers — she and her new husband hunkered down for their honeymoon in the Mexican resort island Cozemel as Hurricane Dean hit. The newlyweds got married on Aug. 18 and were ready for a week of happiness. "We were watching it all week and up to the point when we were ready to leave," Ms. Fisher said. "We had the insurance on the flight in case it was cancelled. It kept saying it was going south." They kept in contact with their resort operators, who said the hurricane was supposed to hit just the outer banks area. The operator told the newlyweds their room was ready if they still wanted to come. "We were the last two people that went onto the island — after that, they closed down the airport," Ms. Fisher said. "We stayed at a friend of a friend’s house so we had our own little room inside a house like a suite." The Fishers were on the southern part of the island near the Yucatan peninsula. "All the (other) tourists were evacuated. They closed the hotels, they stopped the cruise ships," Ms. Fisher said. When the couple arrived in Cozumel, everything was boarded up. They went to a local store similar to a Wal-Mart to get a few things because their luggage was late. They got their luggage three days later, so the first three days the Fishers had nothing but their carry-ons and a few toiletries. The luggage was still in Miami. The couple got to their resort and that night, the hurricane hit. "I slept through the storm" Ms. Fisher laughed. "You would think it would be this loud tremendous thing. We had power the entire time, we didn’t lose power and nothing was wrong with the water." Ms. Fisher said she and her husband stayed in contact with friends and family in the United States via text messages on their cell phones. While most of the storm damage was on the opposite side of the island, Ms. Fisher noted the response by the local residents was "interesting to see." "It was a different culture and just knowing how we prepare for rainstorms and floods it was much different from what they do," she said. "The people were absolutely wonderful down there, very helpful. Most everyone spoke English so they could direct you." Many of local tour boats were damaged by the storm, but they did find a small fishing boat to take them out into the Caribbean Sea. Ms. Fisher said they both saw some amazing fish — an angel fish 3 feet in diameter, and barracudas 5- or 6-feet long, yellow spotted rays, and seahorses. "It was really neat to see," she said. "A friend found an article that it was better to scuba dive right after a storm because the unusual animals you don’t usually see come out. We didn’t know this until we got back." They left on Saturday and returned Sunday. "It was definitely on experience," Ms. Fisher said. |
She was busy arranging things, moving around her desk, file cabinets and other necessary furniture — just getting acclimated after her honeymoon (see story below).
"OK, where do I need to start?" she asked, rhetorically. "It’s a little overwhelming at times but it will all get done."
Ms. Fisher was getting her library in the classroom ready and going through the new math books getting everything organized.
"I’m excited because there is a whole new group of students and excited to see some familiar names and some name that we don’t know," she said. "I’m excited to see what the new year will bring. I hope the students will come back just as excited."
While she has some goals for the new school year, she knows they may change over the course of the year.
"It is really hard to set a goal until you know your students," Ms. Fisher said.
Beginning her fourth year teaching fifth-grade at Roosevelt, Ms. Fisher has the task this year to get the students ready for middle school.
"It is always a daunting task it seems — they get excited," she said. "Middle school is such a fascination for them that fifth-grade is scary for them for that reason. Once they are ready to leave us, they are so excited to go."
Down the hall, Dorothy Puzio, also a fifth-grade teacher was busy in her second-floor classroom putting up her classroom decorations.
"I’m getting lessons ready, downloading flip charts, editing them, putting up new decorations and different posters to help them," she said. "Students got new math books so I have been looking through them trying to come up with great lessons for them to work on."
She has also been teaching fifth-grade for the past three years at the school. She said she’s as excited about the new class as her students are likely to be.
"I saw my class list and everyone has been telling me they are a great group of kids," she said. "I’m excited to start the new school year with new kids. My goals are that every student succeeds, does well and hopefully ends the year well and has a great year. I want to build strong relationships with my students."
In the new library at the school, Librarian Kathy Memoli was also busy setting up the room.
"It’s very exciting that we are finally going to have a library at Roosevelt School," she said. "We will be automating soon, the kids are excited and the teachers are excited."
Though it’s been a while since the school had a dedicated library, Ms. Memoli says students will find it can be a helpful resource for many of their studies.
"The kids don’t think they need a library anymore they can use the Internet but we still need to teach them how to read, how to use books, and how to use Internet resources accurately," Ms. Memoli said.
Having to be the librarian at both Roosevelt and Weston schools, Ms. Memoli has to get both libraries ready for the new year.
"I can’t wait to get all the new books on the shelves," she said. "I have boxes over there and I can’t wait to get them processed and put them on the shelves."
Mary Ellen Zangara is a freelance writer and photographer, and a lifelong resident of Manville.