Photo by Ash Daniel
Rebecca Berlin Field
A visual art teacher, she moved to Richmond’s John Marshall High School this fall after 18 years at Freeman High School in Henrico County
One of the things I never really got to do at Henrico was to get into social justice teaching and anti-racist teaching. It wasn’t something that I felt comfortable doing in the Henrico environment, and the administration at John Marshall was very excited that I wanted to teach with the kids in mind. As an art teacher, the curriculum that I have to teach is concept-based, not subject-matter-based. So I have certain things I have to teach in terms of, say, composition, but the artists I’m choosing, I get to choose.
So that makes my classroom a really great place to talk about difficult things and to really talk about change. I think that the John Marshall community is really optimistic about change, and I think that’s what drew me to that place. My main goal is to introduce students to young African American artists who are working to increase the representation in the art world of African Americans. It’s really important to start with artists that are talking to the students and then move from there into other things, older artists.
My classroom at John Marshall is old, and my budgets are going to be small. The thing is, we can get around not having air conditioning all the time. If a student is entranced by what they’re learning and thinks it’s important, and the community trusts the teachers and administration to do what’s best for their kids, then they can have hope and can be learning what they need to feel empowered.
Photo by Ash Daniel
Allen Lewis
An English teacher at Richmond’s George Wythe High School for five years, he went into teaching after a career as a corporate recruiter
When recruiting jobs started drying up, I decided to make a change, and teaching was what I’d always thought I’d be doing. Since I already had the degree and necessary credits, I contacted the recruiter at Richmond Public Schools and managed to get an interview. We talked, and she sent me right down to George Wythe. It was 2014, and Reva Green was the principal. We hit it off, and she took me up to the classroom.
School was already in session, and she said, “Here are your kids.” I was overwhelmed. I’d missed the first week of school already, and that first week of school is crucial. Not only was I green, but I was coming in late. It was hard, and managing a classroom with no teaching experience was a whole other thing. On top of all of that, I didn’t know RPS. I didn’t know what it was like to teach in an inner-city school. I grew up in inner-city Philadelphia, but by high school, we’d moved to suburbia. So I really had no idea what I was getting into.
After that first year, I stopped doing English the moment they walk in the classroom. I want them to see there’s more to life outside of Richmond. I want them to see what the world looks like so they have a reason to be in that classroom, something that’s relevant to them. So now they come to me with questions and ideas. Of course, we do grammar and all of the regular English work, but I make sure that’s not the only thing they get.
Photo by Jay Paul
Afreen Gootee
She retired in June after teaching elementary, middle and high school in Hanover County for more than three decades
I was hired my senior year at Randolph-Macon Woman's College by Hanover County. I started out teaching fifth and sixth grade and moved up to Liberty Middle School, where I taught for 15 years. To be closer to where my kids were, I transferred to Cool Spring Elementary for five years. Around that time, my first principal got in touch with me. He was starting The Georgetown School and wanted me to join him.
I remained there for 12 years, and I think I learned as much from those kids as they learned from me. I was not prepared for the background, the family lives, the behaviors, the baggage that they were bringing in. I enjoyed it, but it became difficult. The thing is that Georgetown has changed over the years. It started out as a place for students who are on long-term suspensions. It was not meant to be school for students who have learning disabilities, but probably 40% of the kids now have IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) and 504s (plans for students with disabilities).
I went to the county administration when things went wrong, but when we as a staff had suggestions to better the school for the sake of the students, I felt like we were not taken seriously. And after 12 years, I was done. My health was more important.
I’ve maintained relationships with my students over the years. In fact, at my retirement party, I had students there from my very first year. Those relationships are certainly one thing I’ll carry with me.
Photo by Ash Daniel
Gene Matthews
A history and government teacher at Patrick Henry High School in Hanover County, he is also president of the Hanover Education Association
I just proudly completed my 27th year as an educator. After I left the Marines in 1992, my wife and I returned to Illinois, where I started my career. I taught five years there, and then we decided we wanted to relocate to Virginia, since we had enjoyed it there when I was stationed at Quantico.
At first we lived in Northern Virginia, where I had joined the [state] Department of Correctional Education. I spent two years there teaching incarcerated individuals, and it was a very interesting experience. After about two years of that, though, I decided I wanted to move back into teaching the general population, and I was offered a position at Patrick Henry High School.
As a teacher of World History and United States Government, one thing I have found is that, too often, students just don’t understand the purpose of government and often don’t know why they should care about civics and what it means to be a good citizen of the United States. In particular, I find that I am struggling more in recent years to have them understand the Constitution and its relevance to them.
I always knew I wanted to be an educator, and you could say it was a kind of calling. In fact, my father was a teacher who retired with 33 years under his belt. I have stayed where I am so long, I guess, because I really do love Patrick Henry High School. I just feel really fortunate, you know, to be where I am.
