On this episode of Inside SFPS, we welcome on the 2023 New Mexico Teacher of the Year, Ms. Tara Hughes!
We learn about how she started her career working at the Santa Fe Opera, to becoming a teacher, why early childhood education is important, and so much more!
On this episode of Inside SFPS, we welcome on the 2023 New Mexico Teacher of the Year, Ms. Tara Hughes!
We learn about how she started her career working at the Santa Fe Opera, to becoming a teacher, why early childhood education is important, and so much more!
Welcome back to another episode of Inside SFPS. My name is Cody Dynarski public information officer for Santa Fe Public Schools. And today I am joined by a very, very special guest today. It is my honor to have on Ms. Tara Hughes, who is a teacher here at Nye Early Childhood Center, and she was also named to 2023 New Mexico Teacher of the Year. Thank you for joining me, Ms. Hughes. Hi. Thanks, Cody. I'm so excited for this interview. A little backstory, a little background. I have only known you for like maybe a month or two. The first time we had ever met, I was actually asked to help you shoot one of your videos for the Teacher of the Year. You had no idea kind of where you were, and I think you had known you were a finalist. And I think you and Brittney had reached out to me to help you record your video. That was the first time I ever got to meet you. And then I think after we finished shooting the video, we spent 20 minutes talking about where we grew up because we both kind of come from the Northeast. So it's been really amazing to be a small part of your journey, to have some sort of intersect at some way throughout this journey. So I'm very excited for this interview to start. So you're not a New Mexico native. You're originally from the Northeast. What part was it again? I'm from Connecticut. Connecticut. And so that's where you grew up, your whole, whole childhood. When you graduated high school, did you know what you wanted to do? I didn't. I went into biology. I was a biology major and I wanted to go into the sciences. The labs are really early for an 18 year old to get out, but so all my labs are at like 830 and I was like, I'm not really into that. And so then I went and majored in theater, which is night's show. So what was really interesting is I didn't know that my family had a history in theater. My grandfather passed away when I before I was born, and he was a rig man and ran back stage theater. And I also had some uncles, great uncles who were in vaudeville. So it was kind of in your blood. It was in my blood. And I had no idea. My father did some. He did not go into theater, but that whole backstage was kind of there and I had no idea. So I learned a lot about my family that way. And then also theater's one of my big passions. So. So when you graduated, did you get right into the workforce? Did you have some odd jobs before you kind of broke in? Because I know theater and film can kind of be difficult to break into. My cousin, she graduated from UMass Amherst with a theater degree. So I know how difficult theater can be to get in so, you know, what was that transition like when you graduated, when you got your degree to getting your first job? What was kind of that like? So when I my undergrad, I did some work for a place called the Downtown Cabaret, and that was in Bridgeport. And and the actors were unionized. So I work backstage. I wasn't unionized, but I ran the stage crew there and I helped produce some shows there. I did lighting, I loved it, and I ran like four shows on Saturdays, one on Friday nights and on Sundays. And so I had experience in working professionally in like a small theater. And then from there I graduated and the opera had a really well-known apprentice program. So I had friends who had moved out here and I was like, I'm going to go to New Mexico, I'm going to live in Santa Fe, and I'm going to work for that apprentice program. And I was really lucky to be an apprentice for a summer. And then they hired me as a carpenter in a welder, and I stayed on and then I worked a few other seasons after that. Oh, wow. So how old were you when you moved out here? I was probably 22. Okay. So you were pretty much fresh out of college? Yep. And then so when you were at the opera, what were kind of the things that you were doing? So I love I love the opera and I love like the grandiose bigness of it. Right? It's like huge. It's so massive. And I remember when I first started there coming from, like, theater, you know, I mean, things are big, but they're it's like the walls were like 16 feet tall and, you know, you had to learn how to, like, carry them correctly and you had to learn how to carry them with your hands and put weight against each other. And here is like to, you know, college students. Like, I mean, I wasn't I wasn't exceptionally strong, but like, I learned how to carry huge 16 foot walls and then you'd have these huge sticks that people would like kind of spot you with. So you had two people back and forth and then people with sticks making sure like, you know, the wind didn't take it because we all know the wind here in New Mexico. And it's crazy. Especially with the opera up on. The Hill. Yes. So so we put sets on we did changeovers where we change them every night and then we ran the show. So it was long days. We worked like 70 hour weeks. It was crazy. You went in in the morning, you put a set on. You then took a set off the stage, then you ran the opera, then you changed, had another changeover. And at night and sometimes I get home
at like 4:00 in the morning, but it was so exciting. Like, I just. I loved it. You were a night owl. I was a night owl. Well, did you have a production that, like, stands out in your mind that was like. This is like one of my, like, one that just stands out that you're like, this is the greatest thing that I've worked on. I really loved Falstaff. It had the best like, turntable on the stage and it would it rotated and we had a certain amount of time that we had to, like, set it up before it rotated back to the other to the audience. And it was just it was like a fun challenge. And I remember like it raining and having to like get that set on the turntable and then having to wipe everything down and being like, we did it, we made it. And then watching that turntable go and be like, Oh, okay, we're all set. You know, the show is going on. So, you know, unreal. And that anxiety of like, are we going to pull it off? Did we pull it off? We pulled it off. And then you get to see everyone's reaction and then you know that the audience is like, how did they do that? Like, it's almost like a magic trick. It is. It is. I think that's what's so amazing about theater is that it's really magical and people don't know backstage and especially at the opera, you always see people come in and they do backstage tours and people are like, Wow, like this is the set before it's on that stage. And theater definitely has a magical quality to it that makes it, you know, so unique and so such a great collaborative art form. So that's. Incredible. You have such a unique back story and one that we haven't really heard or I don't I don't think many people that we've had on the podcast so far have had essentially a full career before transitioning into a completely different career. So with that kind of how were you? How did the because obviously we're not doing this interview because you won. CARPENTER of the Year or, you know, Backstage of the year with the opera. How did the whole transition from working production and theater to education kind of come for you? So I worked I was hired on to be work in the shop and I worked in the shop
with eight guys and me at 7:00 in the morning until five. And I learned so much about like building and welding and but what I really loved was the production aspect of it. I loved the excitement of being backstage and I loved working with the college kids. I realized. And so when I was running the stage crew, I was working with 19 to 22 year olds and teaching them the ins and outs of theater and how to hold, you know, flats and how to put things on and correct terminology. And so I kind of was like, well, this is really where I want to go. And so I kind of envisioned myself going into teaching theater. And then from there I, I, we my husband and I left New Mexico and we moved and we moved numerous times. We lived in the Finger Lakes, but we also lived in upstate New York, New Lebanon, New York, which is outside Albany. And I worked in I was hired as an educational assistant. It's pretty rural up there. And it was a self-contained early childhood school and there were two classrooms. It was that little red schoolhouse, you know, with like a river running in front of it. Truly picturesque. When you get to that part of New York, kind of like that central part of New York, some of those schoolhouses are exactly how you would picture them, like from the movies. Yeah, it was. I mean, it was beautiful. I was like, this is magical. I mean, so six acres, rivers, water, their little town. Like there were goats walking in the street. One day we used to take the kids on walks. So I was hired there as an educational assistant and I fell in love with what I saw happening in early intervention. And I saw a collaborative team working together of educators, therapists and families. And I saw how these educators and therapists supported the families and what difference this difference they made with the students and families. It was some of these families first hope and seeing like how their children can be successful in in school. They were 3 to 5 year olds and they struggled before in the general education setting. And so then they found this school and I just saw the light that came with these families being supported by these educators and then watching their children thrive. And so I realized that I think this is what I want to do. I told my husband, I was like, I think I'm going to go into education. I think I'm going to go into special ed. And so we moved back to New Mexico and I got my master's at Highlands University and I did it in special education. But I knew that I wanted to do early childhood intervention. And so after I got my master's in special ed, I then sought out I to teach here. This is where I wanted to be. I knew that from the moment I heard about and I and I was really fortunate to student teacher. And then I was hired as a teacher and I haven't left. And you've been here for how long? Nine years. Nine years. So you came. So that was about, what, 12, 14. 14. 14. And so I think what's really special from from what I understand about your classes, because I've never been around any of your students, you know, I've never kind of seen your classroom how it is. I'm lucky enough to have a child in the early childhood center. So I think there's some some slight correlations between the two. We are sitting on tiny chairs right now at a tiny table. My knees are currently over the table. So but talk a little bit about what goes on in your classroom. And I think what's really unique is kind of the blend of students that you have in your classroom. You know, talk a little bit about what really makes your classroom special. I know it's hard for me, too, because because you are the teacher. So your classroom is always special. But you know what really stands out about it? So this classroom has ten students with apiece with individual educational plans and ten, as they say, typically developing are neurotypical peers. So ten diverse neurodiverse peers and ten typical peers. And what's really beautiful about this classroom community is we're all working together, we all share the same experiences, we're learning from the same questions. They all work together to help each other. And the difference is that each child has is celebrated. And so if a child might be struggling with, say, communication or social skills, other students work together to support those children in those skills. So we all have differences and they understand that we all need something different to learn. And that's kind of where we start. Some student might need a chair, some student might need a fidget, and that's okay. Another student might be working on like letter sound correspondence where another student might be learning how to take turns, and so understanding those differences is what we're doing in this classroom and supporting students. So they have those skills to carry throughout their elementary and secondary education. I think what's so beautiful from from what I've understood about your classroom is that while you do have ten students who are neurodivergent and then ten students who are typical, you're not seeing the ten typical students hanging out in one section and the ten neurodiverse students hang out. They, they blend and they work together. And there is no differences. You know, they are equal in their minds. And as someone who has a two and a half year old growing up, it is special to for her friend in my eyes, for her to grow up in and be able to look at kids of of anything, typical Neurodivergent, IEPs, anything, and view them as the same. And I think that's really why it stands out to me that these kids interact with each other. There is no differences. They're not like, Oh, this student has an IEP. So you know, oh, he does. He's not learning at the same level as me. I'm smarter than them. Those little stars don't cross their heads. It's How can I help my friend? And that's so beautiful. Yeah, and that's. Thank you, Cody. Yeah, that's exactly what we're doing in here. We're working together and building that community because really, those are the skills that we need to be successful in life. I mean, these kids are going to go out in life and they need to understand differences. And that's what makes understanding and acceptance. And that's what we all need right now in life right, is to understand and accept people. And so I'm hoping I'm I know I'm setting and I'm making that foundation for these kids to be able to go out and collaborate and problem solve and work together. And I think the story that has been told and if you can share it, because I don't want to butcher it and I don't want to get it wrong. But about the one student who came in late the one day or something like that, if you can share that story. Yeah. So I have a little student. His name is Akobo and beautiful little boy. Beautiful boy. And Akobo has Down syndrome. And we were all outside on the playground and or sorry, on the sidewalk coming in. And his they were running late and he they pulled up and mom and a kobo comes running down and another student was said, wait, a kobo. And so all the kids turned around and were like her Kobo, her Kobo. And everybody started chanting his name as he came running down and he joined the line. And then we were like, okay, now we can go. And Mom told me later that she cried. She cried when she heard all of his friends chant his name because it was the first time she felt that he was really included and that he had these friendships and that's what we're doing here. We're building those friendships. We're building those bonds that are going to last throughout life and that then, you know, they're going to move on to different grades in elementary school and go on in life and to be able to still understand that we're all the same. You know, we have differences, but we're all the same and we need to accept differences. And that bond can continue many years as they're in the district because, you know, who knows where they end up in the next ten, 11, 12 years. But it may be another student who is in the class sees Akobo in at Santa Fe High as he's going about his day. And like that bond, that connection will still be there. I even get teary eyed thinking about that story and again, without trying to be too redundant on myself having a child in around this age and you see how they interact with kids. And you know, when we when she was first in the early childhood center, I was asking her teacher, does she have friends? Is she how is she with other kids? She was a pandemic baby. She she was born in August of the pandemic. So for the first almost two years of her life, I think she maybe interacted with a grand total of a dozen kids. And so when she got to school, I was worried and I didn't know how she was going to interact with kids and stuff like that. So I'm sure for a parent, especially with a parent who has a son with Down's syndrome, you never know how kids are going to accept your child and treat them and how they're going to treat them, you know, because they're viewed as different. So hearing that story, I think, just speaks volumes about the work that you do in this classroom and that those differences, quote unquote, different says are not are kind of erased. And if they are, they cared. You mentioned earlier they're celebrating celebrated. Thanks. It makes it makes me happy. And I wish I could just take a little bit of your magic dust that you have and sprinkle it across across not only just the district, but humanity. Because I think that is so needed right now is just acceptance of a fellow man and fellow human and kindness. Right. Just being kind to people. And the other thing that I think speaks volumes and if you've seen any of the pictures that have been taken throughout your celebration this last couple of months or whatever, is the energy that you radiate. You always have a big smile on your face. You always have a very warm presence and aura and inviting. And, you know, I think the kids feed off of that. And when we were at the round house for the acknowledgment or the what do they call it, a initiation, initiation to the kids, the minute they saw you beamed. And I know there were some older kids there who you probably had years ago, and they beamed the minute they saw you, they were waving at you and you know, you even stopped your own initiation ceremony to make sure that you said hello to one of your students. And I just think that I can't say anything. I don't know why I'm recording this podcast because too many times over the last couple of months, you've left me speechless on just how incredible you are and just seeing the way that the kids respond, especially the kids who are on the IEPs, you can tell it really makes their day when they see you, when they get to interact with you. It's really special to see. And I mean, there's there there's so much happening in this classroom, like every day and every minute, right? Like everything is so intentional that we do. And those relationships are really the foundation of this classroom is building those relationships with the students, my relationship with each of them and their relationships with one another and building that community that we have. So, you know, if we do get upset and things are a hard day, that it's it's like it's okay, you know, like we all have hard days and the next day we come in and we start over again. And then those, you know, relationships keep going and they keep building. And we are it's a really it's just a fun community, you know? I mean, it's our little classroom community and it's like a little a little bit of the big world out there is like in here. And so every day this is their world. This is where they come and they're able to be independent and they can go paint and grab paint if they want. There's Clay Doe for them to use. You know, they can go and read in the little reading center on their couch. That's the size of them. And so it's really building this world for them so they can take those skills that they have and and go out and, you know, be really strong individuals who can advocate for themselves, advocate for others and problem solving and, you know, be kind to each other. Absolutely. And I think that I was able to put together a video for you and we spoke to your current students, some former students, I think a parent or two students. And and that parent really stands out to me. She she's a teacher in the district. And she had a son who came through your class and the words that she had about what you had done to to set her son up for success. And I think that's kind of really the important thing as you're setting these kids up for the future. You're not just here to help them in the here and now you're here to help them down the road. I think he's in like fourth or fifth or sixth grade or something like that, and he's thriving. And, you know, she attributes a lot of that work to stuff that he did back in this classroom. And I think the longer I am around education, the longer I have a child in early childhood education, the more I start realizing the importance of it. Because I look at my daughter now, she's two and a half. She's been in the early childhood center since August. She can count to 20. She knows her ABCs. She is singing songs at the end of the night. She's telling me about her day. Oh, my friends, this and oh, this kid did that and whatever. And she's so excited to talk about her day next year, she'll go into the three day class and then she'll go to pre-K. Yes. And so by that point, she will have already had two years of I don't want to call it school. We call it school for her. But I know Dr. Savoie doesn't like it being viewed as school because it's not they're not sitting there raising their hand and answering questions like that. But she will have been exposed to so much more than she ever would have anywhere else. And and I think it's so important. I think early childhood education is becoming more of a forefront of why we need it. And I think, again, looking at your classroom is, you know, a main reason why seeing how these kids thrive in early childhood education and then how that sets them up for success when they finally get to kindergarten. Yeah, I think that early childhood education has been really misunderstood for a really long time, which is why you see the scrap and see is like in pay, right? Because it has been misunderstood and right now things are really changing in early child education. So the government stakeholders, they're really realizing the importance of high quality early childhood education programs. And so that's really where the playing field gets leveled, being able to provide all families and all students with the same with equalize like opportunities so we can all kids have the opportunity to flourish and go in to elementary schools with those skills. I mean, you don't just go into school and like know what to do. You know, it's it's learned you yeah. Kids learn. And I've mentioned this story before on the podcast, but Deputy Superintendent Romero, when she was a kindergarten teacher at Salazar, if I'm butchering that, I'm sorry, Vanessa. She it was I think she normally taught first or second grade. And this year, whatever year it was, she was doing kindergarten and she was lining the kids up to go outside or go to lunch or something. And the kids weren't lining up and she was very confused. And so she went to now principal Georgia Baca, who was a fellow kindergarten teacher at the time, and was like, What do I do? The kids aren't lining up. And Georgia's like, you have to teach them how to line up. And it's those things that you almost take for granted. You're like, Oh, kids know how to line up. No, they don't. But I look at the early childhood center. Those kids get in a line, they walk in a line to the lunchroom, they sit down, they eat their meal, they throw their food out, they empty their trays, they dump out their milk, they put it away. Those skills are invaluable. And while they seem simple to adults, those are huge milestones for kids. And I think too often early childhood education gets viewed as daycare, glorified daycare. But it's not these kids, especially the kids that are in Santa Fe public schools are learning and it's not textbooks. It's skills inquiry, and it's inquiry based exploratory hands on learning. So they're learning skills that they're going to use in elementary and secondary. They're already going to have those skills. So then they're going to be able to get the academics that they need. But yeah, I mean, what we're doing is, you know, questioning and social skills and teaching play and how to, you know, work with one another and cooperate all those skills that they kids need to then go work in small groups in kindergarten. So they're they're all set, right, with all of these skills. And they're going to go into kindergarten, you know, Rocket and be able be ready to, you know, tackle those academics. And and we do we learn through play and because we learn through play and because that's so important, you know, early child education can be misunderstood. And but what we do as early child education teachers is really intentional. Every play that happens in my classroom is intentional. I set up questions, you know, how can you manipulate the clay? You know, what can you what pieces can you put together to create? So everything is guided with the question so it, you know, makes them think more and provides that inquiry. And then even when we go into our learning centers, we talk about ways that we can problem solve solutions before it happens. So if someone's having a hard time taking a turn, like, what can we do so we can all play together? Do we need to trade? Do we need to take turns and we need to ask nicely things like that. And so all those skills are being built on and that's, you know, what they're going to use when they get to kindergarten. Yeah, they're not necessarily the hard skills of like can you build a set, can you weld, can you fix a toilet? It's, you know, can you share? Do you know how to wait your turn? You know, maybe some of those soft personal skills that, you know, might not be at the forefront because it's like, oh, can my kid draw? Can my kid write their name? It's can they cooperate? Are they good with others? Do they know how to take turns, things like that. And all those skills, all that turn taking? I mean, that makes that makes us successful, right? I mean, as we as kids go, as you grow up into adult and you're going into the workforce, you have to be able to work with one another. You have to be able to wait and listen to one another. You have to be able to hear somebody else's point of view and understand their point of view. So that's what, you know, we're working on now. Yes, I love it. Yeah. Before I get to my final two questions, I just have to ask you, what is the story behind the hat? Oh, my. Dino. Yes. Oh, it's so fun. I, I so we were doing dinosaurs and it's like right there in the closet over there. And I have it. And I, so when I taught a small, a smaller, highly structured classroom, one way that I engage children was to wear hats and through puppets, right? That's how the kids are. They're like, Oh, it's a show going on. This is so great and it's so fun because I get to use my theater background. So who would have thought those two would have crossed theater and early childhood education? Yeah, especially when we went virtual. I was like, Oh, I have my own, like, background with my virtual green screen here. Like, this is amazing. So I was wearing the dinosaur hat to read a book and it became my kids loved it. And so then I was just wearing it. They were like, Put your dino hat on, your dinosaur hat on. And so I was just wearing it around the day and reading books in it, and we would like doing The Dinosaur, the T-Rex dance. And we were like, you know, walking around like Tyrannosaurus Rex. And I had the hat on. And so then we went virtual and I was wearing the hat on when we are virtually doing it and parents loved it and the kids loved it. And so it's a really good hat. It's funny that you bring that up because now that you say that, I think I remember posting, I remember during the pandemic I was posting videos of what our teachers were doing to help keep kids engaged. And I think I remember now that it's like coming back to my head. Were you like sitting in a chair, like with on a green screen, like. Yes. Well, they. Had on my. Yes. Okay, this makes total sense. Oh, wow. This is coming like full circle, like almost three years now. Yeah, that's funny. So I am going to you were going to be my first guest that I introduced this new kind of segment. I call it a segment. But it's really just a simple question from a game called We Are Not Strangers. And this is a game. It's got it's got cards and they ask personal questions. But some of them seem a little more high level, some of them are kind of just scratching the surface, but they can really kind of dig deep. So I'm excited. The question that I've pulled for today is what have the past few weeks taught you? So they really taught me to be confident in myself, and that's not to question double question myself, and that I am not just a teacher, that I am an educator, and that I am shaping lives and supporting kids and changing the world one student at a time. And sometimes as a teacher, I feel like I hear teachers say all the time, Oh, I'm just a teacher, or I just teach math and that I feel like we need to throw away that word just because we're not just teachers, we're world changers where impacting kids every day and sending them out to then change the world. So that's really what I've been working on and also just having the confidence in myself as being a educator who knows how the development of children and can support other educators. That's really beautiful. And just in my last question for you, the question that I've asked all of my guests to end the episode, what is the best piece of advice that you have received from a teacher and maybe not even a school teacher, maybe even like a mentor when you were working on set or something like that? So it was it was I the best advice that I ever got was from a fellow colleague who worked at night and she said to me, Just give them time. They need time. And that really impacted me because I realized that we're always rushing kids, right? And they have to go on our time. We're always like, okay, you got to do this. Let's go. We have to go here. We have to go here. You have to get up. You have to do this. This unit ends at the end of the week. We got to move on to the next thing. Yeah, you know, like, I need you to do this, and. And sometimes we just need to give them time to slow down, to complete what they're doing and not rush them. And I was this was told to me and I was like, oh, my goodness, yeah. Like, sometimes I just need to be in the moment. So it was like two lessons. Give them time. And for me to really slow down and to give them time. So I'm in the moment with kids and I can actually listen because sometimes as a educator, we're going and we're going and we're moving and we're not necessarily listening. And I that advice made me stop. Give those children time and then listen to them, which is so important, right? Because we all just want to be heard and so that was really that changed the way I do transitions, the way I structure my classroom and the way I manage my classroom was to be able to say, okay, you need time. If you're mad, you need time. You're not ready yet. And, you know, I was able to listen to them.