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NAME:
Mrs. Lia Ellen Brigid Fisher-Janosz
SCHOOL:
Overbrook School
CLASS:
First Grade
SCHOOL PHONE:
615-292-5134
Mrs. Fisher-Janosz was born in Michigan and she lived there until she was
eleven years old. (She still loves hockey, like many “Michiganders” do; go
Wings!) As she grew up, she moved to New Jersey, to New York State, back to
New Jersey, and most recently here to Tennessee. She now lives in Spring
Hill with her husband Piotr (say it like “Peter”) and a very active puppy
named Sammy.
Mrs. Fisher-Janosz’s parents were both teachers at one point, and she always
thought that she might be one, too. However, she wanted to try a few other
things out first, because she thought that exploring different areas would
make her a more well-rounded person. Since she LOVED to read (and still
does), and also loved to think and talk about books, she studied English at
SUNY Purchase, and received her bachelor’s degree from that institution.
(She also performed in some student productions there, since theatre was and
remains a great interest of hers as well.) Mrs. Fisher-Janosz went on to
work in publishing for a number of years, and continued her administrative
career by working at New York University. (Somewhere in between she became
Catholic, which is a story that is funny and solemn in turn.) While at NYU,
the lure of education became stronger, so she enrolled at NYU’s Steinhardt
School of Education. Mrs. Fisher-Janosz feels lucky to have had the chance
to study at such a wonderful school, for she gained so much knowledge about
teaching and learning there and had terrific professors and mentors. She did
a lot of studying, field work, and student teaching, and she received her
master’s degree in Elementary Education in May, 2002. She immediately
started teaching at Haworth Public School in Haworth, NJ in the fall of that
year. After moving to Tennessee, she gained her state certification while
working at Vanderbilt, and is delighted to be back in the teaching field
again. She is very excited to be working at Overbrook School.
“I’m not a teacher, I’m an awakener”---Robert Frost
As Robert Frost alludes in this line, pedagogy does not merely involve the
act of teaching, of presenting materials and ideas to children. Ideally, an
educator awakens young minds to the world around them, helping them to follow
the right path, to understand life and to experience it in all its variety
and wonder. Teaching at the elementary level is like being the sun at dawn,
beams filtering through curtains, inviting children to wake up, open their
eyes, and greet the day—encouraging them to seek, explore, discover, question
and learn.
Once the minds of children are awakened, one must allow them the freedom to
express their enthusiasm and newly-gained wisdom, encourage them to delve
deep as they can, guide and support them as they strive to establish their
identities, help them to understand themselves and each other, assist them in
making good choices, and give them the confidence to meet challenges.
One must recognize that learning is a continual and ongoing process; one
hopes that one’s students become lifelong learners, but one should be such a
learner as well, and should acknowledge that, in many ways, children too are
teachers and awakeners. Thus, learning can be seen as a cycle, a circle of
giving and receiving that grows as those who form it do…as they provide light
to one another.
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