Teachers reflect on rewarding careers at Newfield

Throughout her 38 years at Newfield Central School District, Lori White has always collaborated with her fellow teachers for the benefit of her students.

When White, an eighth-grade English teacher, started her career, Newfield’s middle school was known as a junior high school, and White recalled that she was the only teacher in the room most of the time.

“At first, it was really kind of out of my element because I was only used to being that single teacher in the classroom,” White said. “But I would never go back to that.”

White said she enjoys collaborating with her colleagues and believes it helps her students connect what they learn in her classes to other subjects.

Amanda Birch has co-taught eighth-grade English and math with White since Birch started teaching at Newfield 19 years ago. Birch supports White by planning, teaching and grading with her, as well as helping students who need additional help. According to Birch,

White’s caring personality and appreciation for her students’ individuality made cooperating easier.

“She’s very detail-oriented, and she wants to make lessons engaging and make them fun,” Birch said. “And she wants to make sure that she reaches all students, and I love that.”

White said co-teaching has become more difficult during the pandemic without all her students present in the classroom.

White submitted her letter of resignation March 31 and said that while she had multiple personal reasons to resign, it was a difficult decision for her because of how long she has taught at Newfield. She said her first students are now in their 50s.

“I call them my kids, even though some of them are in their 50s,” White said. “They’ve had a significant impact on my life, and I hope I’ve had a small impact on theirs, too, because they’ve definitely been one of the greatest blessings of my life.”

Birch, whose son was in White’s class seven years ago, said she is sad to see White go. She will co-teach with another teacher after White leaves.

“As her friend, I’m very happy for her, but as her colleague, I’m going to miss having her here,” Birch said.

White said she will still help direct Newfield’s high school musicals after retiring and serve as a substitute teacher.
Birch said White will leave behind a positive legacy for Newfield Central School District.

“I just think that Newfield’s been very lucky to have Lori White here,” Birch said. “Even after she retires, I think there’s going to be a lot of positivity that is going to last.”

Another retiring teacher, Charley Githler, shared his experience. Githler has not always been a teacher, but he feels the career was the best fit for him. Githler first became a teacher in September 1994 after working as a lawyer for 10 years. He said that he considers his teachers a great influence on him.

“I think I always wanted to be a teacher,” Githler said. “My father was a lawyer, though, and I think I sort of did that because that’s what was expected — I thought was expected — of me.”

Githler likes using class discussions and said establishing personal relationships with students helps them engage with the material. To him, being in a classroom is his favorite part of the job, but he also enjoys planning lessons.

“You have to like your subject, and you have to like dealing with kids,” Githler said. “It’s a job that I wouldn’t have enjoyed that sort of excitement about going to work almost every day if I stayed being a lawyer, for example.”

Githler said he chose to teach in Newfield because he likes the Ithaca area, having graduated from Cornell University, and Newfield was hiring. While initially unsure of whether he would stay at a small district like Newfield for his whole career, he is glad he did.

“In a small district, it’s very difficult to be anonymous for students,” Githler said. “You can’t fall through the cracks as easily. Everyone knows what’s going on with you.”

According to Githler, in his 27 years at Newfield, he has taught members of the same families, including his former students’ children.

“A personal relationship is, really, the most important component, to me, of teaching,” Githler said.

Despite Newfield’s small size, Githler said teaching during the pandemic was more difficult and less fun. Under Newfield’s hybrid model of learning, only half of the student body is attending in-person classes at any one time, and a third of his students are participating in entirely remote learning, which he said poses challenges.

“It’s hard as a teacher to remember that you’ve got three, four or five kids who are watching on the computer while you’re teaching kids in the classroom,” Githler said.

Peter Pfarrer, an English teacher at Newfield High School, said he met Githler while they were picketing over the teacher’s union’s contracts. He said Githler, as a former lawyer, was an asset to the teacher’s union during negotiations.

“He’s a steady person. He keeps his cool. He’s calm even when things are tricky, as they get in life,” Pfarrer said. “I’d like to think I’ve learned a little bit from watching that, both as a teacher and just as a person.”

White taught with Githler when he was teaching for the middle school during the first decade of his career at Newfield. She said they learned much from each other and that he taught her a great deal about how to most effectively collaborate with other teachers.

“It made me a better teacher to teach with him because we were able to complement each other as far as what my strengths were, what his were, and kind of bring them all together,” White said.

Githler said that teaching was physically demanding, especially after summer vacation, and while he considered teaching for another year, the retirement incentives convinced him to retire. He plans to do freelance writing for The Ithaca Times during his retirement, as well as stay involved with Newfield’s drama department.

Pfarrer said Githler’s retirement is bittersweet because it means that Githler will no longer be able to teach but will have more time for his family and interests.

“I’m going to miss him, and it’ll definitely be a loss for the school, but I’m really happy for him as well,” Pfarrer said.

In Brief:

Newfield BOE election results

On May 18, Newfield voters passed the district’s proposed $21,779,140 budget and the accompanying 4% increase to the tax levy. The budget passed with 243 yes votes and 82 no votes, exceeding the 60% supermajority required to pass the budget.

Voters also approved a resolution authorizing the district to purchase two 60-passenger buses at a maximum cost of $141,000 each and a 30-passenger school bus at a maximum cost of $68,000. The resolution passed with 258 yes votes and 67 no votes.

Of the Board candidates seeking election, Tim Payne and Austin Kuczek took first and second place, respectively, and were elected to three-year terms beginning July 1. Jack “Brad” Nelson and Christina Ward took third and fourth place, respectively, and were elected to one-year terms beginning May 19.