Before giving out any assignments to new students each school year, Christina Landry works toward an assignment of her own.
“Before I can teach them, they need to trust me,” Landry said.
Landry has been a teacher in St. Charles Parish for the past 10 years, eight of those spent at the public school district’s Head Start program – first at Carver Early Learning Center and then Bethune Early Learning Center (previously known as East Bank Head Start). She made the move to the east bank three years ago.
She looks to establish a strong foundation for learning at the outset of her time with students, making every child feel safe, loved and valued. Likewise, she wants to build connection with their families so they can work together to maximize the student’s learning experience, and ultimately their potential.
“I get to watch these kids grow,” Landry said. “I don’t just count myself as a teacher – I count them as family, and I’ve been fortunate to be able to stay in contact with some of the families I’ve worked with over the years, which gives me the chance to see them evolve not only as children but as adults.
“I think it’s so important to start by establishing a relationship with them and building a community with their family. That leads to a lot of teamwork and meetings where we talk about how we can help each other and help our children.”
Landry believes there’s a lot of negativity in the world that can serve to tear down students and make them feel less than.
“We have to build them up,” Landry said. “A lot of people tear children down, and we have to build them up to be strong people … I want to instill in them that they can be anything that they want to be in this world, and that they can do hard things, incredible things.
“I want to help them understand that they are somebody, and they’re going to grow up to be somebody.”
When she hears from a former student or parent and they let her know she’s made a positive impact for them, it’s “an incredible blessing,” Landry said.
“Just that they’ve allowed me to be part of that child’s life,” said Landry.
Landry said she knew early on that she wanted to go into education.
“I have always loved children,” she said. “And I just feel like it was God’s calling for my life. I’m in children’s ministry for my church … I’ve been working with 3-year-olds for the majority of my career. I love just talking to them.”
She began working in a preschool right after graduating high school, while attending college full-time.
The feeling of seeing the joyful students arrive has never faded.
“When they run in and hug me and smile because they’re happy to see me and they just love being here, it lets me know they feel loved and nurtured, and that it’s a job well done,” Landry said.
