By LISA CAPOBIANCO
STAFF WRITER
Julia Darcy knew what kind of teacher she wanted to be just by watching her parents.
Her father, Mike Audette, served as principal for many years at the former O’Connell School as well as West Bristol School. Her mother, Jeanine Audette, is the district coordinator of the Mentor and School Business Partnership Program.
Darcy, who is Bristol’s 2017 Teacher of the Year, learned firsthand that being a teacher means an act of service.
The fifth grade teacher at South Side School said she learned this firsthand through her parents, who organized turkey drives on their street, taught CCD classes and bought gifts for students at O’Connell School who were not going to have a good holiday.
“For their whole lives, they’ve been models of giving back,” said Darcy surrounded by her family and colleagues at the Teacher of the Year reception last Thursday. “I look at teaching not just as a job, but as a way to give back to the community, and as an act of service. This outlook has shaped the way I treat my students.”
For the past four years, Darcy has taught at South Side, where she turned a problem into a significant step in her own learning.
Darcy noticed that her students were able to perform well on their math lessons in the classroom, but not at home independently. With the help of her colleagues, Darcy learned to record math instruction and to post the lessons on YouTube. When students went home, they watched the lessons for reinforcement while their parents watched the lessons to better understand how to offer support. The result was improvement in the students’ independent work, which Darcy noticed immediately.
“She looked inward. She exercised the type of reflection that the modern teacher does,” said Director of Teaching & Learning Dr. Pam Brisson during the reception.
Darcy emerged as the top candidate from among a dozen staff members nominated by colleagues, and will represent the district in a state wide Teacher-of-the-Year competition.
“Setting high expectations while providing support, coupled with genuine caring relationships seems to be where my philosophy of successful teaching comes from,” said Darcy, who thanked her colleagues and school administrators.
Other dignitaries who recognized Darcy during the reception included Board of Education Chairman Chris Wilson; David Hayes, president of the Bristol Federation of Teachers; Peter Kelley of First Bristol Federal Credit Union; Bristol Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ellen Solek; and Dr. David Huber, principal of South Side School.
“She exemplifies what it means to teach and learn with passion and purpose, and she’s willing to do whatever is necessary to connect with and impact every child around her,” said Huber. “There’s not a task too small or a challenge too great that she is not willing to take on.”
“What a gift it is that we have someone in our midst, whose entire family has really propagated the art and science of education, and what it means to be an educator,” said Solek.
Another special guest was Jillian Kovitch, a former South Side student who had Darcy as a teacher.
“She gave us…different types of opportunities to learn, and pushed me to be the best I could be,” said Kovitch. “She’s one of the best teachers I ever had.”
This year marks Darcy’s tenth year of teaching. Before moving to Bristol where she worked in special education at Chippens Hill Middle School, Darcy began her career in the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx, New York. Although it had a “phenomenal” attendance rate, Darcy said the school was surrounded by a barbed wire fence, with gangs lined up outside to recruit fifth graders.
“I’m so thankful I started there because it taught me the importance of high expectations. Despite the challenges and obstacles…we held them to the same expectations as we would if we taught at Westchester County or Long Island,” said Darcy, who received a proclamation from Mayor Ken Cockayne during the reception. “My expectation was that all students…would meet grade level by the end of the year, and if they’re not, they’re going to have strategies.”
Darcy said the core of her teaching stemmed from teaching students who experienced curveballs that life threw at them.
“I never reduced my expectations because I knew I couldn’t send the message that negative influence can be an excuse to do poorly,” said Darcy, later adding how her behavioral management style changed when she started teaching in Bristol. “We need to send the message…‘you need to succeed despite and because of the negative influences in your life, and I’m here to help you.’”
Julia Darcy