CA Pride - Danielle Terry

It is always quite special when we have an alumni join our staff. Danielle Terry graduated from CA (then The St. Christopher School) after completing 3rd grade. We all were excited for her when she graduated from JMU with a Social Work degree. I was especially happy when I found out that she was seeking an interim job for one year prior to going to grad school. She was hoping to have an opportunity to get experience working with children. Perfect! We had just the job for her as our Office Assistant along with doing some substitute teaching. This has given her quite a variety of experiences interacting with young children.

Ms. Terry has proven to be such a valuable asset to our staff. I have to commend her for being flexible and adaptable because she truly never knows what she will be doing when she arrives in the morning. Multitasking just doesn’t seem to be a problem for her which is a really good thing when you are working in a school. One of the first things I observed and appreciated about Ms. Terry is her ability to immediately put a child at ease. Whether the child is hurt, sick, or just having a difficult day, she has this warm, positive way of engaging the child in conversation and reassuring him or her. She is able help the child become calm and settled. Over the course of this year, she has gotten to know every student in the school.

During her studies at JMU, Ms. Terry worked as a counselor and mentor with foster children. I asked her to do a workshop with our 4th and 5th grade students on the topic of bullying. I sat in and I was impressed with the variety of ways she used to engage our students on this topic. The goal was to get them to think about their actions and how they treat each other as well as how to protect themselves when they are being bullied.

In addition to keeping up with all of the office activity and paperwork, Ms. Terry has lunch duty with third grade on Mondays and occasionally other days. She has probably subbed or helped out in some way or the other in every classroom this year. Teachers love having her come in as they know she is conscientious and will have a positive experience with the students.

Ms. Terry has also taught two Adventure Kids classes: Media Club and, currently, Volleyball. Her technology skills have been very helpful to administrators, teachers and students. She created a wonderful slide/video presentation for our recent auction and has begun the process of electronic storage of our records for us.

Ms. Terry will be leaving us on May 23 to begin a graduate program in Social Work at University of South Carolina. I know all of you join me in wishing her well as she continues her studies toward her goal of a career in Social Work. Having observed her working with our students (as well as our staff and parents) this year, I know she will excel in her chosen field. What a great role model she has proven to be for our young students. Now that is what I call fostering a love of learning.