Balancing a Classroom and Graduate School: Amy Gasparich’s Story

Hi! I’m Amy Gasparich, a resource teacher at Paris Elementary in Taylors, SC. I’ve been at Paris since 1999, but I’ve changed jobs several times. I started in a self-contained primary class for students with emotional disabilities, moved to Resource, then to reading RtI (Response to Intervention), and finally landed in first grade, where I stayed for 15 years. I came back to Resource this school year and, while it’s been a whirlwind, I’m up for the challenge.

I graduated from Winthrop University with a bachelor’s degree in generic special education in 1999. In 2006 I graduated with a master’s degree in early childhood education from Furman. This allowed me to broaden my experience as well as my job qualifications, which I put into good use in my first grade classroom. I noticed that I enjoyed teaching my literacy block the most, so I started looking into getting my +30 in literacy. I had served as a Literacy Mentor at my school, completing many additional hours of training and practice at many schools throughout my district, so continuing my education in literacy was something I was passionate about pursuing. Furman was, once again, the perfect fit.

I had the terrible timing of starting my Literacy journey at Furman right about the time that the coronavirus sent us all home to learn and work on our computer screens. I’m the kind of student that loves to share and discuss and talk things through, so taking my first four classes online (and concurrently!) was, well, a lot. I love an in person classroom situation, so I really struggled. I also had personal things going on that needed my time and attention, so I was worried that I’d made a mistake. I took a little time off for a semester and started back the next fall. We were in person! Six feet apart, in masks, and feeling a little awkward, but we were together. It made all the difference! Plus I had my first class with Dr. Katie Kelly. Everything clicked – excellent professor, robust discussion, enthusiastic classmates – and I was so glad that I had pushed through. In an average week, I had one night of class on campus and 3-4 hours of work for class. I chose to complete this work on the weekends for the most part. I found this workload to be manageable even as I taught full time.

Since finishing my +30 in Literacy, I’ve put my new knowledge into practice in my first grade classroom, during the many hours of LETRS training the district required, and in professional development I’ve shared at school and in a summer session for district elementary teachers. Though I’m limited in what curriculum I can use in my current role, I am able to extend my teaching, especially in reading comprehension, to support my students. At the moment, I’m working with teachers of our special populations at school to hold a Parent Empowerment Workshop for our students’ families with a focus on how they can help build literacy skills at home. My future goal is a position as a Literacy Specialist in an elementary school in Greenville County.