Certain opportunities arise only once in a lifetime. Meghan Geary had the once in a lifetime experience of winning Teacher of the Year, but the award was only the beginning. 

February break: a well-deserved break the school community looks forward to. While most were headed home to take a break for a few days, Geary flew out to California for her first major trip as Teacher of the Year: the Teacher of the Year Induction conference in San Francisco.

As part of Geary’s responsibilities as Teacher of the Year, she helps promote education and equity within the state. Coincidentally, “Leading with Equity” was the theme of this year’s conference. 

“We have a public education system that is by and large not really equitable, despite it being available to all students,” Geary said. “There’s a difference between equal access and equal opportunity.”

On top of helping make education equitable, Geary contributes to creating equal representation in education as well. She serves on a state committee that assembles resources and writes the curriculum for Black and Latino studies history courses, which are now mandated according to state legislation that was recently passed. According to Geary, representation is important not only in curriculums, but in schools as well.

“You can go to Region 16 schools and be here for 12 years of your education and never have a teacher of color, and whether you’re a white student [or not] I think that’s incredibly problematic,” Geary said. “Not only would students of color benefit from having teachers of color, because they need to be able to see themselves represented in all fields, [white] students and white teachers would also benefit from working with and learning from people of color, teachers of color.”

Though Geary has already started working on initiatives with the state, she still enjoys continuing to learn how to become a better teacher. According to Geary, one of the most helpful seminars at the conference was about accepting the title, and the responsibilities.

“We had a session called Who am I: Unpacking Identity, and in that workshop, we really kind of begin to unpack the many [parts of] the identity and how our experiences and those identities can help play a part in effecting change as the Teacher of the Year in our respective states,” Geary said.

   The seminar helped teachers identify their biases and narrow their focus to specific goals they wanted to accomplish. Geary’s “passion project” has always been helping young women find their voices, yet there is much more she wants to achieve.

“That’s what I’m really grappling with,” Geary continues. “I can have ten things that are important to me but I have to narrow [my] focus.”

The conference had no lack of kindred spirits, and Geary made multiple impactful connections with other teachers. One of Geary’s main role models is Shanna Peeples, the 2015 National Teacher of the Year. Geary was placed in Peeple’s homeroom during the conference, which is like a home base of about 15 people. According to Geary, Peeples was revered throughout the conference because after receiving her award at the White House, she and President Obama had a conversation over a cup of tea.

Cara Lougheed, the 2020 Michigan Teacher of the Year, was one of Geary’s strongest connections. Because Lougheed is a fellow humanities teacher, she and Geary had a lot to talk about right off the bat. 

“We did it together. I really tried to make it a point to sit at tables with different people, talk to different people, [and not stay] next to them the whole time because you’re nervous. I tried to push those insecurities [to the side and talk] to different people,” Geary said, “but Kara and I kept reconnecting and coming back to each other throughout the day….[Now] she’s one of my Twitter friends.”

Geary plans to keep in touch with the people she met at the Conference, especially for professional collaboration. 

“The purpose of the induction…[is] becoming close as a family and realizing that you can lean on each other and work together,” Geary said. “We have this sort of platform [where] people post things on Facebook: ‘I have to give this speech, I have to go here, any thoughts, any suggestions?’… [This collaboration] happening among these 55 teachers is really, it’s really powerful, it’s really inspiring.”

Geary has already begun applying what she learned at the conference to help both students and staff in Region 16. According to Geary, she has talked with English department head Michele Papa about giving professional development to humanities teachers at Woodland, and she has begun using the strategies she learned in her lessons. For example, she has been using tips from her Storytelling seminar in her 9th grade Mythology unit. 

“I was able to [have] a binder full of notes and ideas that I wrote down. Just little techniques like, ‘that’s a great strategy for opening up discussion,’” Geary explained. “We also had something planned so I was in a group of 12 other ELA teachers who all shared a signature lesson, and [exchanged] those ideas.”

Teaching has always been Geary’s talent, and being recognized for her passion has only led to more opportunities and becoming Connecticut Teacher of the Year 2020 has given her a platform to make changes not only within Region 16, but within the state.

“[I’m] fortunate to be in this position,” Geary stated, “because there’s so many wonderful teachers who would benefit from this kind of experience.”