Northview — In a room lined with books at the Northview Next Career Center, students are hard at work on their next project, each of them having chosen a topic they want to learn more about. English teacher Betsy Verwys scoots around the room on a red rolling ottoman-type seat, checking in with each of them as questions come up.
At each desk, she encounters a new subject: the rising costs of healthcare. Chronic wasting disease in the local deer population. How to know what nouns to capitalize. Author Upton Sinclair’s book “The Jungle” and a related, memorable hotdog cookout.
Verwys switches easily from topic to topic, laughter to instruction, question to direction. After one lengthy back-and-forth conversation, she pats the student on the shoulder and assures him, “Don’t overthink it yet — I’ll tell you when it’s time to overthink it.”
After starting her career in 1998, Verwys taught at a handful of Michigan public high schools and Ferris State University before finding her way to teaching English at Northview High School a decade ago. And five years ago, she accepted the invitation to move to the Northview Next Career Center and help transform the school into a project-based, career readiness program.
“One of the best things about this place is that we operate outside the traditional education sandbox; it looks nothing like any job I’ve ever had,” Verwys says. “I don’t have one lesson that I teach to a group; I meet individual students where they are and I work on individual lessons with each one of them.
“I work harder in this job than any job I’ve ever done, but I would argue that this job is probably more rewarding than any job I’ve ever done, ever.”
School News Network recently sat down with Verwys to learn more about her perspective on teaching, the state of education today and what motivates her to keep returning to the classroom after 25 years.
‘We have the ability to meet kids where they are and do what’s best for them individually, and that’s because our community trusts us to do this.’
— teacher Betsy Verwys
Why do you teach? “I’m a person of faith, and my faith grounds why I do what I do. And my faith shows up in my classroom as my belief in kids, and the belief that an education is the thing that is going to shift their entire trajectory. … In this program, we tend to get kids who don’t see a future, or who have hit so many roadblocks in the system. We have kids who are reading at a second-grade level and kids who are reading at an 11th(grade)-plus level. And my job is to say to all of them, ‘What is the next step for you? I can help you get there.’ An education, a high school diploma, will make all the difference. That’s why I do it.”
What is your biggest motivator that keeps you going? Verwys immediately turns and points to the cupboard next to her desk, adorned with photos of the teacher posing with big smiles next to students draped in red graduation gowns.
“It’s that wall right there,” she says with emotion in her voice. “That’s every single kid who’s graduated from this program since my first class. On the days I am exhausted, or I’m thinking that I could be leading a regular old English class somewhere and it would be so much easier, I just think about this group of kids who have all shifted their trajectories. That’s my motivation.
“And frankly, I want my (current) kids to see them too, for it to motivate them, too. Those are real faces; they were a hot mess, too. They didn’t have a plan, either. And they made it through.”
What is the best thing about teaching at the Northview Next Career Center? “The autonomy to be able to individualize what we do for kids. It’s why I believe in this place as much as I do. This is where I choose to be. I did not get ‘sent down’ to alternative ed; this is my first choice.
“Everything we do here is an invitation. Do the work or don’t do it; it’s an invitation. That’s a pretty remarkable way to view education. As teachers here, we have the ability to meet kids where they are and do what’s best for them individually, and that’s because our community trusts us to do this.”
What is one of your biggest challenges? “Time. I could use about three more of me, although my husband says the world could not handle that.
“My challenge is teaching in an environment where there are so many irons in the fire. I am having this existential moment in my life of choosing, and learning, to live deliberately. I don’t try to do ‘all the things’ halfway — I just try to do the important things really, really well. And I want to model that for my kids as well.”
What is the most amazing or notable thing about your students? “They are extremely accepting of other people. I think it’s because they tend to be a marginalized population themselves; for all sorts of reasons, they have experienced life on the margins. I just love how inclusive they can be when new kids come in.
“I also am just constantly in awe of how incredibly smart they are. We get kids who are thinking they don’t fit anywhere, but they are crazy smart — it’s just that they didn’t fit into the (traditional education) system. Sometimes I have to just flat-out say to a student, ‘I cannot believe how smart you are!’ and it’s the first time they have ever been told that. It’s so great to be a part of that realization.”
What would you say to someone who is considering becoming a teacher? “It has to be a calling. It’s got to be the thing you feel so called to do that you would do it as a volunteer.
“There’s a reason we’re losing teachers in their first five years. There’s a systemic cultural problem in America of how we value educators. And it’s not about throwing money at the problem, it’s about how we value — or don’t — the person who’s in the (teaching) role. And so if you don’t have the deep desire to do it, don’t do it. But also, when you find the right spot, it’s so worth it. It’s so much fun. I’m not saying it’s not stressful, but I love what I do. I need to teach. I need this job, here in this place, with these students. I am thankful every day to be here.”
What else would you like to share about the role of teaching? “As a community, I think we like to say that we value teachers and education. But there are times when the cost of not valuing education impacts the entire community. So how can we support our local schools in really, really positive ways to show students that they are valued? And how can we as a community create a space for everyone to have the opportunity to learn? That, to me, is so important, no matter where you live and no matter if you work in education or not.”
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