TRANSCRIPT:
Luis Hernandez: Why did you get into teaching in the first place?
Aimee Couto: So originally, I didn’t go to school for teaching. I have a BFA from the University of Rhode Island. And I went to school. And I think the only thing I knew was that I was not going to be a teacher, because everyone in my family was a teacher. My mom was a teacher, my grandmothers were teachers, my sister was a teacher. And I was going to do something different. I was going to study art, and, you know, art history and work in galleries and do something like that, that I loved. And I was very fortunate to have parents that were like, “Yeah, pursue your passion, do this. This is great.” So I went four years at University of Rhode Island, had a great time there, studied and graduated with my Bachelor’s of Fine Arts. And I was kind of like, okay, so now what am I going to do with this? And I ended up going out into the real world and working as a business manager. So not really something that I loved, but it paid the bills. … And what I realized is that all growing up, I was always involved with children. So I always, I was a camp counselor, I worked at daycares, I nannied. I always was involved with children. And I finally said one day, you know, I miss that. I miss not having that as part of my life anymore. And my husband said to me, “well, let’s get you back in school.” So I went back to school. And that’s when I got my BS in education.
Hernandez: And here you are. We know and we’ve seen, we’ve done the studies that, you know, everybody fell behind in the pandemic. And I’m wondering what you’re seeing in your kids and their parents, is how are they doing? Because we keep hearing, it’s gonna take a lot of time to catch back up, but they’re gonna grow up before you know it. I don’t know, what do you see?
Couto: We’re finding that our kids need to learn how to even just socialize a lot. And because of that, they’re not always ready to learn when they’re coming to school. So you know, they’re not all coming to the table necessarily ready to learn. We really as, I think, a community, especially in the state of Rhode Island, definitely in East Providence, have put that first, put the SEL first.
Hernandez: Remind us, too, if you could – SEL is?
Couto: Social emotional learning. So making sure that we have ways to check in with our kids, making sure that we truly know our students. So we have to, you know, across the board, we have to meet our students where they are, and that includes knowing whether they’re ready to learn or not. And being aware of those signs that your child might need a little bit more than we can give them in the classroom. It is going to take time for us to build back to where we were, and to fill those gaps.
Hernandez: This is also an issue everywhere, obviously in Rhode Island as well, but everywhere, is there’s a teacher shortage. And I wondered, you know, what would you say? How do you inspire people to want to get into teaching? How do you think we should approach this problem?
Couto: Well, I think it all starts with our colleges and universities, the programs that our future teachers are getting involved in. So I think the more that they can make sure that they’re working with schools and getting our young educators in the classroom, I think it really helps them because it really creates a good bond and a mentorship. It’s not always easy to be a teacher, but it’s always rewarding. So I have days where I leave here, and I’m like, ah, that was a hard day, for whatever reason. But I can always look back and see the amazing accomplishments my students have had. So I think we really need to give these young teachers that are in school, time to spend time in the classroom. I also think, you know, when you look at like high schools and we give them opportunities of things that they can learn about and do in high school, we have a lot of pathway programs where they’re getting exposed to college level courses and things like that, it would be great to get education as part of that. Let’s expose them to it when they’re in high school, you know, let them see what the profession is about and let it excite them then so that they want to go to college.
Hernandez: But I just wonder, you know, if you, that teacher shortage, if you see it affecting your school, or your peers?
Couto: We’re all seeing it affect all of our schools across the state. We don’t have subs all the time. That’s something that we’re all dealing with. I think that, as we can make coaching and mentoring within the state in the classroom for these young teachers, that’s what’s going to help them. We need to support them. Teachers need to be supported, wherever they are in their career.
Hernandez: Let’s say you get to sit down with the governor and then he said, “all right, I’m gonna tell you what, Aimee. You get to write the curriculum to help our kids, we can get the best out of them and help them reach their greatest potential.” Briefly, what do you think you tell him?
Couto: Well, I would definitely tell them that, one thing that I will 100% stand behind, is that in the state of Rhode Island, we can get 95% of our Rhode Island fourth graders proficient in reading. But we have to follow a couple of things, we need to teach evidence based learning. And we need to follow a structured literacy plan. We’re training our teachers in the science of reading, but that’s just the beginning. We need to give them time to develop this understanding, to understand this understanding, and then we need to support them with coaching to implement it. And finally, we need to help teachers understand how to meet their students where they are. Not everyone comes to the table with the same thing. And we need to be aware of that. And I think if we do those things, we will have 95% of our students in this state proficient in reading. And if we have proficient readers, they will be successful. Because you have to read to do anything.
Hernandez: To get this honor, what exactly does it mean?
Couto: So to me, it means that I’m representing Rhode Island teachers. So they’ve selected me, you know, you have some people that are like, “Oh, she’s the best of the best.” But we have phenomenal educators in the state of Rhode Island. I work with phenomenal educators here at Whiteknact and in East Providence. I’m merely a representation of those other colleagues that I have in the state. I’ll have some duties this year. I’ll actually work at Rhode Island Department of Ed, and hopefully be able to get my voice heard. I’m a big pusher for literacy. I’m very much behind the Right to Read Act, and learning about the science of reading, how our brain learns to read. So that’s a big, big thing for me. And so I’m hoping that I get to put my voice forward on that and speak for my students and all the students in the state.
Hernandez: Aimee, it’s been such a pleasure talking with you. And again, congratulations.
Couto: Thank you so much.
