 By: Lynne Hobbs, Teacher Member of the Steering Committee
I have been asked this question numerous times over my 25 years as a teacher at D'Evelyn. For many years, the question came from other teachers at other schools, wondering why I would choose to work here over all the other possibilities in the Denver area. Most recently, I was asked this question on an application to become a member of the Steering Committee. But most often over the past eleven years, I have been asked that question as a parent. As some of you know, but I assume many of you do not, I am not just a D’Evelyn teacher, I am a D’Evelyn parent. My older son graduated with the class of 2017 (and then from college this past spring), and my younger son is currently a senior (class of 2022!). The decision to place my children here was actually an easy one to make. I firmly believe in the D’Evelyn curriculum. The path has not always been easy. We have had our share of late nights with tests to study for, essays and research papers to write, and English novels to read. I have resurrected my long forgotten Spanish to help study the imperfect and the preterite, I tracked due dates for long-term assignments, and I even helped build a plant cell out of a cantaloupe by making labels for the mitochondria and cell wall. I do not know if all they have studied will be applied in their daily lives, but I know the skills and the experience gained from D’Evelyn will pay dividends. I had heard before from graduates how much the rigors of D’Evelyn helped them in college, but I have now seen it first hand from my own child. From content, to study skills, to time management, my older son has repeatedly told me of the ways that D’Evelyn prepared him for college. And as I prepare to send my younger son off as well, the one thing of which I am absolutely certain, is that he has the foundation to succeed in college. Finally, my kids have had great teachers who taught and inspired them. When my older son needed to write a paper for his literature class freshman year in college, he went to Mr. Haller’s website to check out his exemplars before beginning to write. He chose his degree because Mr. Ryckman and Ms. Weber made math interesting and appealing. A semester in Mr. Baker’s economics class provided the foundation that allowed him to be the point person for his friends and teammates when school went remote his junior year and everyone struggled with the economics class they were trying to take online. My younger one thinks he might want to be a social studies teacher, inspired by Ms. Holland, Mr. Carson, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Beams. Thanks to Sra. Bender, Sra. Schott and Sr. Beams (again), he has discovered a love and talent for Spanish that I hope to see him pursue in the future as well. I could go on ad nauseum about what D’Evelyn has done for my kids, but I will settle for telling you that if I had the decision to make over, I would do it all again. |
