Kindergarten is a place
to get the basics
Kindergarten can be a scary place, so when students come into
Carole Lewis’ kindergarten class at R.O. Hardin School for the
first time they are greeted with warm smiles and a bubbly
personality that puts them at ease.
Kindergarten is a place
to get the basics
Kindergarten can be a scary place, so when students come into Carole Lewis’ kindergarten class at R.O. Hardin School for the first time they are greeted with warm smiles and a bubbly personality that puts them at ease.
For the past 14 years Lewis has been educating kindergartners and getting kids excited about learning.
“It doesn’t really take much,” Lewis said. “The kids get excited about learning and I get excited for them, especially when I see it click for the first time. When the pieces all finally come together.”
Lewis started her career as an elementary education teacher at Tres Pinos School and later taught at the Methodist Church Preschool for 11 years. She has a passion for early education and enjoys working with young children.
She took some time off after she became a mother and when she returned to work, she took a job at R.O. Hardin teaching kindergarten.
“Carole has been very active during the time that I’ve worked with her,” said R.O. Hardin principal Linda Smith. “She’s helped mentor new kindergarten teachers and has taken an active role on the leadership team and the school site committee.”
Perhaps it is because of her dedication to her job that earlier this year Lewis was recognized as one of San Benito County’s Teachers of the Year.
Most of the students in Lewis’ kindergarten classes come to kindergarten integrated with some level of English, but some of her students don’t. Fortunately there is an aide in her classroom that does speak Spanish; otherwise Lewis is dependent on the students who are bilingual to help her communicate with those students.
“Really though, a lot of kindergarten is so basic that the kids can just pick it up even if they don’t speak English well.”
Lewis is part of Hardin’s leadership team, which meets once per week and spent a good number of years on the Hollister School District’s language arts committee. She keeps herself and her peers up to date with the latest information on kindergarten through classes and workshops she takes outside of school.
It’s not always easy.
“Some of the kids come to kindergarten with limited advantages,” Lewis said. “They have a difficult time getting to the point where the other students are at, but some of those [kids] are the ones that make you feel great at the end of the year.”
The nice thing about kindergarten is that there is a lot of parental support. At the beginning of the year Lewis gives her students bags of books to read at home and parents read with their children. The parents are a big part of their children’s success.
“Kids at that age like homework, they get excited about it. So the kids don’t mind reading,” Lewis said. “Then every month we hold assemblies and recognize the reading achievements of the kids.”
