Mellissa Alonso's love of teaching is affirmed every day by the bright-eyed welcome she receives from her students.
It has also been affirmed by the school district, which named Alonso the Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year last week. The Title I reading specialist at Valrico Elementary - my sons' school - can hardly contain her awe about receiving the award. Her prizes included $2,500, round-trip tickets on Southwest Airlines and a two-night stay at the Hyatt.
Over chicken wings and grilled chicken salads at the Valrico Beef O' Brady's, we talked about the alluring sounds of chalk, the advantages of being a bilingual teacher and the sisterhood at Valrico Elementary.
Pull up a chair and join us.
ERNEST: Where does your passion from reading come from?
MELLISSA: For me, I started to read before kindergarten. My mom would buy me books all the time and I would lock myself up in my room and read. I was fascinated by the pictures, I was fascinated by the words and I started to pick up on the stories. My dad told me that when they would drive, I would read billboards. My dad didn't believe I was a reader yet. He just thought I had memorized certain billboards. They started to go different places and point out different things and they started picking up that I could really read. I think it was just, from the first four years of my life, my mother was always reading to me.
So you were gifted before they had that word?
I was gifted with reading, but math didn't come easy for me. I would have difficulty understanding what the math problem was that they wanted me to do. As I started teaching, watching kids struggle with reading became fascinating to me because I didn't struggle with reading. I try to unlock why, why is it harder for some than others. It's like a question and it still is. I don't have all the answers but I keep looking.
When did you realize you were going to take your gift and try to give it to others?
At one time, I thought I would be a psychologist. I had talked about that a little bit, but once I was old enough to play school, I played school. I would bring home my textbooks and write problems on closet doors. When the teacher left the room, I got to stand at the board and write their names and put checks by their names. The sounds of chalk on the board fascinated me. It was pretty scary. If I didn't get to go to school, I would cry and have a tantrum. I think I was born to teach.
Your family has Spanish and Cuban roots and you speak Spanish. How does that help you?
I have a lot of children that are Spanish speaking, and being bilingual definitely helps to communicate. I get very frustrated for children who have to take on the role of a parent at a parent-teacher conference, to translate for the teacher or to tell the parent I'm not doing so well. That's a huge responsibility to put on a child.
What's the most rewarding thing about teaching?
How many people can say they walk into their office and someone grabs on to your waist and holds it tight? You get that every single day. Does somebody look at you with total admiration and honest respect and trust you, trust that what you tell them is important? I get that every day. It's children's innocence. It's what they bring to the table every day. They are willing, they are open-minded, they're motivated, they're inspired, but I get concerned that as they get older, some of that magic is lost.
Is that frustrating?
You start to wonder why? What makes you lose the magic? Again, questions keep me coming back for more, unlocking mysteries of children. Why can I reach that one but not this one? The reality is I don't reach everybody all the time, as much as I want to. It's very frustrating because you have a method that works with one child, but yet it's not working with another. You measure your success through the success of your children. You can have 20 that are doing awesome, but if you're a conscientious teacher, it only takes one for you to completely reflect on what you're doing and ask yourself, Am I doing a good enough job?
Are you overwhelmed by the award?
Absolutely yes, because you go from a profession where rewards and recognition are done day to day with children - they're your epiphanies that you have every day - but this much attention, it's exciting but it's almost uncomfortable at times because as teachers your kids are always first. And so it's exciting and it's an honor, but it's not just Mellissa Alonso; it's a victory for Valrico because we have such excellence in our school.
What did it mean to you to have 31 teachers from Valrico attend the awards ceremony?
It's like a sisterhood. They told me that they felt they had won the award. Once I was nominated, they never wavered. You're going all the way, you're going to be Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year. It's been constant cards and kudos. During the holidays, I had a giant stocking outside my door, and that last week before the break, I was trying to open my door and I could not open the door. The teachers had gotten together and filled it with stocking stuffers to congratulate me for being a finalist. I am indebted to them forever. It's a friendship and a family that touches my heart.
How do you juggle your job, training, state conferences, national conferences and working on your master's with having a husband and three kids?
My husband, Hector, is my rock. He's the reason why I can do it. And I have to balance it. I have to be careful I'm not going too much one way and not the other.
DESSERT: A postscript from Ernest
Alonso, 34, met her "rock" while in 10th grade at Jefferson High. She initially told him she wouldn't go out with him, and a teacher told Hector he had no chance. Hector told the teacher, I'm going to marry that girl. Alonso is working on a master's degree in education and may someday seek an administration job, but one of her goals is to finish college before her son starts. Tony, 16, graduates from Durant next year. Her two daughters, Brianna, 8, and Miranda, 18 months, still have a way to go. Alonso will compete for State Teacher of the Year in July.
- Ernest Hooper also writes a column for the Tampa & State section of the St. Petersburg Times. Lunch With Ernest is edited for brevity and clarity. To suggest lunch partners, call Ernest at 226-3406 or e-mail hooper@sptimes.com
