Poetic Tongues/Fabu
Ode to a Fine Public School Teacher
I have a special place in my heart for teachers. The people who care for, respect and guide our young from their beginning academic lives to their graduations have a profound effect on the well-being of our nation. Most of the teachers that I have known and love work in the public-school systems where most American students learn. Public schools have not always had the support of Americans starting in the colonial era. The planter class did not support public education because of the large population of indentured servants, so they arranged for private tutors for their children or sent them to England for further education. Later common schools were established but they were not free. Families were charged tuition or “rate bills.” These were followed by private high schools, now called “prep school” which became the major feeders for Ivy League colleges in the mid-19th century and these colleges exist today.
In the South, public education proceeded slower and was non-existent for those enslaved. The Reconstruction era established the first public school systems to be supported by general taxes where both Blacks and Whites would be admitted, but legislators agreed on racially segregated schools. Education across the United States was limited by race and gender and women also struggled as well to be educated. Public education with equal access to learning was a difficult journey in America, including for women to become teachers in roles that were first filled only by men.
Over the years, I have enjoyed meeting one of the first African American teachers hired in Madison, Mrs. Geraldine Bernard gave 36 years to Madison students. I have loved hearing the stories of her beloved students from Ms. Maize Jenkins, an award winner, who retired after decades of teaching math. I’ve met numerous other teachers doing poetry in residencies before the pandemic.
Most importantly I am the mother of a Black son who attended public school and that is how I met Mrs. Stephanie Bernard as my son’s second grade teacher. I was a volunteer in his class, and I observed firsthand her special brand of love and discipline. She asked for her students’ best, in learning and in behavior and they responded whether it took a few days or the entire school year. Mrs. Bernard was a marvel to behold and some of my best days as a parent were watching my son grow stronger emotionally and academically in her class. Over the years, she would ask me about him and if I jokingly responded, “that rascal is fine.” She would reply, “he was never a rascal, that is one fine person.” I met her father before he died, and her mother, Mama Juanita was dear to me. I enrolled her daughter and son in the Academic Center for Excellence and Mrs. Bernard was a wonderfully supportive parent.
I once asked her how she become a teacher. She shared that even as a little girl, she loved teaching her dolls. When Mama Juanita saw her interest in teaching, she supported it by buying her teaching aids such as flash cards and books. Stephanie Bernard was a teacher from her childhood and was proud when she officially became a teacher and launched her career with the Madison Metropolitan School District. She was finally thinking about retirement after this school year ended but became critically ill in May. Her death was tragic.
My fondest memories of her are watching her work with the most difficult students who were sent to her room when no one else could get them to cooperate. I loved the way she taught young people and the way her classroom was a walled world where children were safe to be their own unique selves while they learned. Make no mistake, they all learned. Over the years, she would bring me in as a poet-in-residence, and I witnessed her classroom expertise again and again. While she had many friends, Michelle Belnavis, Andreal Davis and Basia Pulse were her best friends and together these four women were formidable in educating our children and standing up for the rights of all students, especially those who are underprivileged.
All good teachers deserve respect and to be honored in multiple ways. I’d love to see African American teachers honored by the Madison Metropolitan School District in a tangible way. From Mrs. Geraldine Bernard to Mrs. Stephanie Bernard, (they are not related) and all of the teachers in between who continue working, have retired and yes, died while working in their profession, need to know how much we thank them for the well-being of our children in Madison.