Teacher of the Month: Cindy Chevett
Cindy Chevett has been with Head Start her entire career. She says teaching is challenging but also very rewarding.
The Teacher of the Month series, in collaboration with Berkshire Community College, will run for the next nine months and will feature distinguished teachers nominated by community members. You can nominate a teacher here.
To Chevett, the best part of being a teacher is seeing her students achieve even just the little things, such as writing the letter E or their name.
"It is the best job ever," she says with a smile and tears in her eyes as she says, "I love seeing them achieve."
She said although teaching can be challenging, the classroom environment is very fun and the job is very rewarding.
"There's children that come in and can't really speak so that you can understand them, and modeling, and when they leave the classroom, you can understand them. That was one of my best achievements with the child," Chevett said.
In Chevett's classroom, the students take control of their learning, instilling in them a love of learning.
"Her connection is amazing with the students. She's always trying to get on their level and getting an understanding of how each individual child is to be able to help them grow every day," the classroom's co-teacher Brittany DeWitt said.
"She's always had a positive impact. She's always loving and caring and making sure that they have everything that they need emotionally while they're in the classroom."
On the day of Chevett's interview, a student's drawing of a rainbow colored with white chalk on the blackboard inspired her to show her students a colorful science experiment.
"Gather around the table," she said to her students as she filled a shallow pan with milk and grabbed food dye.
Chevett asked her students what colors make the rainbow and put drops of dye into the pan as the kids excitedly said each color.
Then she poured Dawn liquid soap into the pan, expanding the colors and creating a rainbow, causing kids to "aww" in amazement.
The students then started blowing on the rainbow to watch the colors mix even more until they created a light teal color.
Whether it was a spontaneous experiment or the students showing Chevett workout or dance moves, they lead the learning.
Tyeesha Keele-Kedroe, the site manager for Berkshire County Head Start Education, said she witnessed Chevett's impact on her students during last week's celebration.
A child whom Chevett had had since he was 2 years and 9 months graduated to kindergarten. She'd had a close connection with him and his family during those two years.
The growth he made during his time with Chevett was evident in his solo karaoke performance, Keele-Kedroe said. (The children had each sung a favorite song, such "Baby Shark.")
Following the performance, seeing the family excitedly receive the student's end-of-year portfolio, hug Chevett, and shed bittersweet tears was heartwarming, she said.
Chevett also highlighted the diversity within her classroom. Her students come from a range of cultures.
Some are from different countries or their parents are, which is an eye-opening experience for everyone, she said.
"I kind of led a sheltered life, where all the kids I [was] around were the same. We maybe had a few children that were from a different culture, but everything was pretty much the same," Chevett said.
"And I like the fact that we're getting different culturals and and learning about their culture. I think it's awesome."
When talking to parents from different cultures, teachers learn what they expect, and they learn what the teachers expect.
"Learning their culture is great because we can teach the other children as well, and that way, everybody is on the same wavelength," Chevett said.
"And it teaches them, as they grow up, to respect other people's cultures, and we can have a happy life and a happy environment. It's awesome."
Chevett has been in education for 25 years and has been with Berkshire County Head Start her entire career.
It is always nice to see the archive of games and activities that Chevett has created during her career, Keele-Kedroe said.
Although Keele-Kedroe has only known Chevett since July, she is already impressed with her skill.
"She is a veteran teacher, and she has so much experience, but she's been with the agency for over 20 years, and she is so passionate about her children," she said.
"She is also very connected to her families. She likes to make sure that all of her kids are getting an excellent learning experience."
Chevett started as a bus monitor in 1999, but when a teaching position opened up in Becket the following year, Head Start supported her in taking some early childhood classes, and she was hired for that classroom.
She went on to earn her bachelor's degree in early childhood education.
In 2001, she worked for the Head Start program in Lee, where she stayed until 2021, when that location closed. She then moved to the Pittsfield location, where she currently works.
Chevett has not only taught her students but also mentored her peers, sharing the wealth of knowledge she has obtained over more than two decades.
DeWitt has only been with the Berkshire County Head Start program for the last six months, and during that time, Chevett has helped guide her and ensure that she understands everything that needs to be done in the classroom and how every child works.
"She's amazing, and I'm very blessed that I was able to have the opportunity to work in a classroom with her and obtain some of the knowledge," DeWitt said.
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