May, 2023
By Baily Tavira, Staff Reporter
In this in-depth interview, senior assistant principal Abby Minde bids farewell to her KAC years, reminisces, and shares her insight after four years with our Cardinals. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What do you remember about your first year at Collegiate?
“My first year at KAC I remember being incredibly overwhelmed with how hard teaching was. It was my first time teaching at a public school, and it was so hard. I don’t think anyone really prepares you for how hard teaching is.
The other thing I remember specifically from KAC is when I started, we were back at the old campus, and we had what we called cabanas (portables). But we had these cabanas and honestly I really miss the old campus because every time you would step outside there was sunlight. You’d get fresh air and you could walk around, and it felt like a college campus because it was outside.”
What were your first impressions of KAC?
“My first impression of KAC was that my students were very hard-working and honestly just really well behaved. I had very few issues and I taught 9th grade at the time. I started with the class of 2019 and they were an incredible class. My first impression was that they were very hard-working and I didn’t have to ask them more than one time to do something. I mean they still had their wild streak and they drove me nuts in class sometimes, but overall they really wanted to achieve and cared a lot. And also that their families were very helpful and supportive when I needed help at home. It was really a community because their families were very involved when I needed support.”
Tell us a story about your first couple of years teaching at KAC?
“My first year teaching at KAC there was this one student that I fought with almost every single day, just because they didn’t want to do any work. They hated being in class, and hated school. I couldn’t get them to do what it was that I needed them to do and if you remember, we used to be able to bring our dogs to school. And so one day I brought my dog to school, Bear, who is a massive doberman. This kid completely changed their demeanor. He loved Bear, and would play with Bear. He would look forward to coming to class and it was just really cool to see how the impact of my dog had on the student, and at another school you couldn’t do that. And some of the best memories I have are kids playing with Bear in class and just how much they really loved him and how much he loved being there and it was something that was unique to KAC/KIPP in the first couple years.”
What were your teaching years like before you became an AP ?
“They were great, I taught freshmen, I taught Composition 1, and I love teaching writing. And I actually miss teaching writing which is why I now teach at St. Edward’s. They were great. There’s not a single student that I look back at and think, ‘I can’t stand that kid.’ There are places where I have memories of them frustrating me, but there is no student I have ever had where I’m like I hate that kid, I can’t be around them. And that’s even the fact that I taught 9th graders and they are wild, so I just have very goofy, funny memories of freshmen. And even though they were wild and it was exhausting being a 9th grade teacher, every student was great.”
How were your years as an assistant principal for seniors?
“I love working with seniors. I feel like the cool thing about working with seniors is that they are adults basically— most of them, some of them don’t act like adults. But most of them are adults, and you can have very honest, straight forward conversations with them because they have a level of maturity that freshmen don’t have and it’s very cool to be a part of this moment of their life where they’re making a decision about their future. And I feel like a lot of times my work with seniors is more so, talking to them, almost like a mentorship of like what it is they’re gonna do next year and giving them advice and just asking them what their plans are. It’s very cool to be part of that process and I feel very lucky to just work with seniors and their families so closely because their families are also so grateful for their senior teachers working with them trying to get them to graduate. And I really enjoy that aspect of it because they’re about to do something that is totally different to them.”
What are some lessons you have learned during your years at KAC?
“Some lessons I’ve learned is that everyone builds relationships differently. Like I can’t expect all students to like me and I can’t expect all students to respond to me when I ask them to do something. It is all about building relationships and if you don’t have that relationship, you’re not going to have the respect from the student. I think that’s one lesson.
The second thing that working here has taught me is that kids actually want to do well if they are given the tools to do well, if you see kids that are not following directions, not doing what you want them to do, acting like they don’t want to do the work: 9 times out of 10, they don’t know what they’re doing and they need help. I think that’s another lesson that it’s taught me. The third lesson that I think has taught me is like setting boundaries. This job is incredibly hard. I think it is harder than teaching at any other school you’ll ever teach at, it is very demanding. And I’ve had to learn how to say no to things when I can’t take on extra tasks or help out. I’ve also had to understand that like I’m just not going to get everything done and that’s okay, and I need to be okay with that and so I think as a job it has taught me how to set boundaries with work.”
Why did you decide to leave KAC?
“I don’t see myself becoming a principal— I didn’t even see myself becoming an AP. Ms. Lopez presented the opportunity and at the time I made the decision because I was like, “Will I ever regret it if I don’t,” which is why I applied and because I love the idea of working with seniors who I had previously taught as freshman. And so I think where I am at right now is that I don’t see myself moving forward as a principal. It seems really stressful and a lot of stress and not enough appreciation, praise , or money. Teachers don’t get paid enough. I just don’t see myself becoming a principal and so I’m just ready to explore something out of this role to see, do I want to come back to this one day? Or do I want to do something entirely different? I also want to have time at home to be able to have a family and slow down my pace of life. I feel like right now I don’t have a lot of free time outside of school. And if I want to possibly start a family or continue painting and doing the things that I love, teaching at St. Ed’s… It’s really hard to do all of those things and this job.”
What are your plans after leaving?
“My plans after leaving are to continue teaching at St. Edward’s part time, and right now the goal is to get a remote full time job, so that I can have flexibility in my day, in order to teach at St. Edward’s and to paint. I really want to start doing the things I am passionate about and I am not really worried about what the job is, as long as it provides me with the flexibility.”
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
“In 10 years, I see myself having children by then, in fact maybe in the next couple of years. Having a family and I would love to just work in the fields of interior design or in education in some capacity, I would be happy in a role in either of those things.”
Would you ever consider returning to teaching?
“I think I would return to teaching, although being a public educator is actually really scary, like when we talk about gun violence, or violence in general or how political it’s become. That is one of the things that’s keeping me from staying in education. I should never have to be in a classroom worried about those things. And the reality is that I don’t think teachers get paid enough to go to school everyday and put their life on the line, and therefore I don’t think I could go back to a public school setting where that was a possibility. I think they would have to make some real changes in how they are paying teachers and how they are valuing them for me to go back into public school. But I would love to continue teaching college.”
When asked if there was anything else she wanted to add, Minde says:
“I would like to say thank you, first to like the kids. I have kids at school that treat me better than my own family. And it’s just so crazy how close you become with the students here and how much you come almost like family to them, and you still stay in contact with them. They just have such a power to brighten your day— and ruin your day. And I would just like to say thank you. I don’t think students understand how much impact they’ve had on me and just how much I genuinely have loved learning from them and they’ve just taught me so much, and I think the other piece is thank you to the team that I work with here. I genuinely work with some of the most talented, positive, hard working, fun individuals and I really am going to miss the people here even though it gets really stressful and it’s an incredibly hard job, and there are times that it feels like negative. I love all the people here and I’m going to miss seeing them everyday.”
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