Nicole Lepke, a mathematics teacher at Arvada West, shares, “A lot of teacher happiness deals with the community you’re dealing with, and the support of the administration that you have.” She further explains, “I’ve been on all ends of the spectrum, and when my administration and community weren’t successful, I found joy in the kids, but it was definitely harder to get up in the morning.”
Going further, Lepke shares that, “I struggle on a daily basis with competing with social media, and I don’t blame kids. I think I blame parents a little bit honestly because it’s our responsibility to teach our kids how to manage technology.”
She adds, “My biggest challenge is to get kids to put that stuff (phones) away so that they’re mindful and not wondering what’s happening on their phones.” However, at the end of the day, she states, “I just think it’s a gift to be able to work with kids every day.”
Another A-West staff member, English teacher Kimberly Swetlic, describes how, “Being a teacher can be draining because it is like giving a school presentation all day, every day, to people that don’t really want to listen.”
Swetlic adds that, in terms of work-life balance, “It is much easier for me to have a balance now that my daughters are in their twentie. When they were students here, I felt as though I had little separation between work and home.”
She concludes that, “At one point, there would have been no way for me to survive financially if I didn’t have a partner working,” explaining, “New teachers often make a similar salary to someone starting off in a job without a degree.”
While the opinions of the individual are important, it is also necessary to analyze what the rest of the Arvada West teaching staff has to say. That’s why, in a recent survey, 59 Arvada West teachers were asked about their favorite part of teaching, as well as their least favorite part.
Favorite part of being a teacher:
Not pictured: 3.4% of teachers chose, “Other.” Specifically, 1.7% chose, “Watching students understand something that they didn’t before” and the other 1.7% chose, “I like the students, and I like my subject matter…A glorious mix.”
Least favorite part of being a teacher:
Not pictured: 13.6% of teachers chose, “Other.” Specifically, 1.7% chose, “The amount of interference from administration,” 1.7% chose, “Politics in school,” 1.7% chose, “Lots of challenges around the amount of decisions you make,” 1.7% chose, “Competition with social media,” 1.7% chose, “Difficult community,” 1.7% chose, “Takes with jobs I am not qualified to do, and not enough time,” and the other 3.4% chose, “All of the above.”
As the results show, there are many challenges teachers face on a daily basis, but also many rewarding aspects of the profession. In the end, it often comes down to the personal drive and motivation that the individual educator possesses, as well as whether the pros outweigh the cons. But then again, this is true for most of life.
