Interview with Amanda Stagge

Karen Blair: Ms. Stagge, we know this is a very busy part of the semester, and we really appreciate your coming out and taking the time to sort of share your background and history with us. This will be a special part of our collective teacher education oral history project because you’re one of eight Patterson Scholars and that’s a very special group. We want to hear from you just as you begin your preparation to become a teacher. And I always say that a good place to begin is in the beginning. Will you share with us where you were born and the community in which you grew up? Amanda Stagge: Well, I was born in Sidney, Maine. It’s about 15 minutes from Augusta, so more in the central part of Maine. You had to drive everywhere. Things weren’t close enough to your house to walk. I had an elementary school that was close to my house. And then, for middle school, I went to a different school in a different town. K.B.: Wow. A.S.: And then for high school, it was a short walk from the middle school. So, I took the bus for about 45 minutes each morning and each night. K.B.: Wow. A.S.: And then, when I got my license at 16, I drove. And I got a part-time job at Dairy Queen, so that was really fun, but I did have to drive there, as well, and that was about 20-25 minutes from my house in Sidney. So, it’s definitely spread out in Maine. Not a lot of traffic on the roads. Never have to worry about rush hour . . . K.B.: Isn’t that something. A.S.: . . . which is a lot different down here. It’s a really nice place to settle down and, you know, raise kids and it has some really good school districts. I enjoyed my childhood there. K.B.: Could you tell us about the kinds of involvement you had as a child? Was there anything that you did or participated in that sort of helped you in your consideration of becoming a teacher? A.S.: I did play sports--team sports, which I think helps you get to know different personalities, which is important as a teacher. I think running drills certainly helps because you’re going to be running your own classroom. In kindergarten, we had K-1 program, so it was kindergarten and first grade, which kind of helped in moving a little bit faster right off in school. They actually discontinued it when I went to first grade, so then for the half of first grade, I already knew everything because I did it in K-1. I think that that process really helped me get the extra step that I needed to stay in honors classes, and AP [Advanced Placement] classes. But also, to be patient during that first half of the year while I was bored and wasn’t really learning anything new, which could be seen as a negative, but I think going into the profession of teaching I will know what that feels like and really be able to help those kids and make sure that they don’t feel like that in any part of the year. K.B.: Well, that was a good learning lesson then. A.S.: Yeah. K.B.: It’s nice that you can take something positive from it. No learner should be bored. Absolutely not. So, you’re in high school and everybody’s talking about what they’re going to do after high school. Were most of the students in your 12th grade looking to go to college? Was that sort of a standard thing? A.S.: Yeah. Most people were going to college. There was maybe a couple that were going to a vocational school. A couple were going to the workforce, but not many. Maybe four, with both of those combined. Most people were going to Maine schools, so the University of Maine at Orono is a big one, University of Maine at Farmington, New Hampshire, Massachusetts. A handful of kids going out-of-state, me included. Most people knew what they wanted to do, I would say, had a vision of where they saw themselves. I think that maybe was unique about my class, because I think that a lot of people don’t know what they want to do. K.B.: Sure. A.S.: Most people were staying right in Maine. Going to college was a universal thing. K.B.: So, were you already pretty certain at that point that you wanted to be a teacher? A.S.: Yeah. I’ve been pretty certain since I was probably five. Since I first walked into kindergarten. I’ve always said, “Oh, I’m going to be a teacher.” There may have been a brief day where I was like, “Oh, let’s be a nurse today.” But it never lasted. I always came back to teaching. On snow days, I would create a lesson and teach my imaginary class, which I always laugh about now because that’s actually what I’m going to be doing. I was always pretty set on teaching. I don’t have a time where a specific event occurred where I said, “This is what I want to do because of this event.” It was always just, “I want to be a teacher, and this is what I want to do.” I don’t know where that came from because no one in my family is a teacher. That just was there from the beginning. K.B.: Maybe reinforced when you went through school by teachers that you had and sort of said, “Oh, yeah.” A.S.: Definitely. K.B.: So, how is it that you found out about and chose Towson University? A.S.: Well, that’s a fun story. I also always knew that I wanted to come to Towson. My father and aunt came to Towson. One of my aunts actually lives in Towson, so I came to Maryland probably two times a year, since I was born, to visit my father’s side of the family. When I would come to my aunt’s house, we would walk around the campus. I always begged my dad to go to the store and buy Towson apparel. I have tons of Towson stuff that I don’t even fit in anymore. So, it was kind of always, I want to come to Maryland, and I want to go to Towson. When it came down to the time where I had to apply and I had to make a decision, I had to really think about my financial situation because it was out-of-state. So, when that side came into it, I really had to think, “Is this going to work? Is this dream really going to be a reality?” My parents helped me a lot with that because they knew that I wanted to come here and that I probably wouldn’t be as happy to stay in Maine or around there. So, they said, “Amanda, you’ve always wanted to go to Towson, so you should just do it.” The financial part of it worked out, so that’s why I’m here. I was really happy and appreciative that this idea that I had all my life actually came true, and I’m actually going to Towson now. That was really cool. K.B.: That is. Very special. Do you have any sense yet . . . We offer many different education programs at different grade levels and do you already have a sense of what age students you’d want to work with? A.S.: I want to work with younger students, kindergarten, first grade, maybe even at a pre-K level. I think that that time is really essential for those kids. It’s important to have a good teacher especially in those years, and I really want to take on that responsibility. Also, at that age, they soak everything up. The world is new to them, and they can use their hands to experiment with stuff. They can go outside and play. They still have that innocence or exploration about the world to them, and I think that that’s really cool. I love to see that. So, I really think that around that age would be very rewarding to teach. K.B.: Indeed. So, you’ve been here now for a semester and a half, and have you been able to take any education courses yet, or are you still doing your general university requirements? A.S.: Well, I have taken some. I’m in Intro. to Special Education and Intro. to Early Childhood, and I also took a TSEM, a Towson seminar, last semester that was titled Extreme Teaching, which was really cool because I got to write my paper about how socioeconomic factors can really affect a child before they even go into school, and how that is really affecting our achievement gap. That’s something that I really feel passionate about, so I loved that I really took a whole semester and researched that and then put all my thoughts into a paper, which I think is important regardless of where you’re going to teach. That’s going to be an issue you have to deal with and overcome, so I think it’s really important to have some background on that and some ways to think about it and overcome it and help your students. I think that that was really cool, and I’m really glad that I got to take that class. K.B.: For either of your other courses, or any of your courses, have you had an opportunity yet to go into schools? A.S.: In my Intro. to Early Childhood class, we have to observe an early childhood classroom and I actually got to observe at the child care center here on campus, which is really cool. And so, I was in two-year-old classrooms, three-year-olds, and four-year-olds. I kind of got a mix. It’s really amazing to me that they, even at two-years-old, know their routine and know to line up at the door. A two-year-old will line up at the door. I thought that was really cool. Also, I didn’t go to preschool. I just went right into kindergarten. So, for me, I think it was important to see that kind of aspect and how that can be beneficial to a student. I definitely think that it helps create less of a barrier when the children get into kindergarten because then that kindergarten teacher can go right in and dive right into the curriculum and teaching ABC’s, your numbers instead of learning how to line up at the door. I do think that was really cool to see and interesting to see how those kids interact in a school setting that young. K.B.: It is amazing, isn’t it? A.S.: Yeah. K.B.: For Special Ed., did you say that this might influence your major? That you might be Early Childhood/Special Ed.? A.S.: Well, I am Early Childhood/Special Ed., so I really want to focus on special education more at the younger age. I think that that will be really cool, and so, in my Intro. to Special Ed. class, it really helps me learn more the basics of each disability I may be dealing with, which is basically the starting point, and you really need to be fluent and know about the types of aid and that kind of thing. So, that class is really beneficial to me when I am teaching kids with a disability. K.B.: So all of this experience, to date, all of your coursework and your observations at the daycare center here on campus, are you still feeling as though this is what you want to be? A.S.: Yeah. They say that you change your major like three or five times or something. I don’t think I’m going to change mine at all. I think that these classes and this first semester and a half here have just reaffirmed everything that I already knew, and I think it’s just going to continue to solidify my choice as I go on. I think that Towson is a huge part of that because they kind of, you know your classes dive you right into it. I’m in second semester here, but I’m already observing classrooms. So they don’t wait until you kind of lost your excitement and drive for it. They put you right in and it just makes you more excited. I think that that is really cool that maybe is unique to Towson and Towson’s education program. K.B.: Is there anything that we haven’t talked about that you want to share with us about your experience, to date, or anything else? A.S.: Well, when I was in the K-1 program, I had a teacher, Miss Cora, and I think that if there’s going to be a time where I decided to be a teacher it was going to be then because she, even in kindergarten, I knew that she was a really good fundamental teacher because I wanted to go to school all the time. Just because of the way she taught, it was more interactive and fun and not really like you’re learning, but you’re playing or experiencing new things. We would go outside all the time. And I think that that is really important as a kindergartner to stage the rest of their academic career. Because if you have a bad kindergarten year, you’re not going to want to go first grade, and then you’re not going to want to go second grade, and then by the time you’re in high school, you hate school. I think that she was really influential in not only me wanting to be a teacher, but teaching at that age, and really getting those kids excited to be in school and to learn. So, I think that was really cool, and I’m thankful to her for influencing me in that way. K.B.: Well, we’re thankful that you chose Towson and we’re really appreciative that you came and spoke to us this morning. Thank you. A.S.: You’re welcome.