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Diane Bresson’s journey to the classroom may have taken a few detours, but the Teacher of the Year for Bethlehem Elementary found her way there eventually -- and helped a few others along the way.
The daughter and granddaughter of teachers, Bresson spent her childhood in her father’s high school science classroom, pretending to teach and begging for the chance to help grade papers. Her future as a teacher seemed certain, until her first semester at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. She and the elementary teacher she was assigned to observe did not see eye-to-eye, and in frustration and discouragement, Bresson changed her major.
"I often wonder if my life would have stayed on the same path towards becoming a teacher if I would have had a different experience during my first semester of college," Bresson recalled in her TOTY application. "What if she had supported me in my endeavor to be a teacher? What if she would have taken the time to mentor me?"
After finishing her degree in 1987, Bresson went into the banking business and for a while stayed home to raise three girls with her husband.
It wasn’t until her youngest daughter began kindergarten that Bresson returned to the classroom as a substitute teacher. Despite some setbacks, Bresson’s co-workers encouraged her and substituting led to a job as a paraprofessional. Eventually, Bresson decided to earn her Master’s in Early Childhood Education at Piedmont College.
"It was not easy because I truly believed that I was too old to start a new career," Bresson remembered. "I had been out of school for over 14 years when I started my graduate program at Piedmont College... Again, some of the teachers I worked with encouraged me and gave me the confidence I needed to take on this new challenge. I often wonder what I would have done if I wasn’t surrounded by teachers who cared enough about me to urge me to go back to school. What if they were so caught up in their own life that they didn’t take the time to push me?"
Bresson completed her master’s degree in 2006, the same year she became a second-grade teacher at Bethlehem.
At Bethlehem, Bresson became well-known for forging relationships with her students and their families, organizing family "field trips" on weekends. She also served on the county’s tutor list, acted as Grade Chair, and began a Math Moments program in which students competed to solve a grade-wide math problem every week.
In the classroom, Bresson adopted an environment of respect, trying to show the same encouragement to her students that others had shown her when she began teaching.
"I believe my biggest contributions to education are how I relate to those around me and to my students. I try to make myself available to the teachers around me to help and support them. I also feel I help each of my students to see his or her potential inside and outside of the classroom," she said.
"I remember one particular child I had the privilege of teaching. I confess that at first I did not consider it a privilege as he had some major behavior issues. The other children tended to avoid him in class and on the playground. After hoping for a few days that I would come to school the next morning and find that he had moved back to his old school, I was convicted for my poor attitude. No two children were alike and he should have been afforded that same respect I show my other children.
"The next day I went to school knowing what I needed to do. It seemed almost instantaneous that when I showed him respect, he responded positively. The biggest lesson I learned through this was the change in the attitude of the other students toward him. When they saw that I cared about this lesson I learned through this was the change in the attitude of the other students toward him. When they saw that I cared about this student, they started to care. When I showed respect, they showed respect. During the rest of the year, that class helped this student to gain self-esteem, feel secure, and thus able to learn to the best of his ability."The same story was told by one of Bresson’s former room parents in a recommendation letter for TOTY.
"A master teacher not only has a well-managed classroom and a student body with strong academic knowledge," parent Cynthia Dowis concluded. "A master teacher is able to teach life lessons and influence a child to want to be a better citizen in this world. I believe Mrs. Bresson is this type of teacher, and that’s why I think she should be Teacher of the Year."
Recently, the encouragement Bresson received early in her career has inspired her to take on a new role at Bethlehem. She is currently serving as an Instructional Coach, and among her other duties, a major part of her job description is mentoring newer teachers.
"I feel strongly about the importance of supporting new teachers as they begin their teaching careers," she wrote in her application. "When no formal induction program exists new teachers can feel that they are left to ‘sink or swim.’...It is not always easy [to act as a mentor] when you have a to-do list that is a mile long. However, when I think back to my first year as a teacher, which wasn’t that long ago, I remember how I felt and how I desperately needed guidance and encouragement to get through many days."
Bresson also teaches special math and science units to each class at Bethlehem, and is continuing her own education as an Educational Specialist Candidate in Education Administration and Policy program at the University of Georgia.
Although Bresson feels strongly about mentoring, she still maintains her dedication to the classroom.
"I would like to be remembered as a teacher who cared about [the students] individually and showed a passion for what I was doing," she said.
