While teachers work to lead and teach students everyday at school, paraprofessionals often help provide instructional support and services in the classroom that make the day-to-day activities possible. School faculty at districts, some more than others, are also like large families, offering aid and encouragement even on the most difficult of days.
Such is the case for Therese Rosinski, who has been working as a school aide at Glen Lake Community School for the past six years. Rosinski is a 1994 Glen Lake alumnus, and her children, Alex and Drew, now follow in her and their father’s footsteps as students in the district. She said she’s always loved working with youth, so when the opportunity arose years ago to apply for the position where she could also be around her own kids, she knew Glen Lake would be a great place for her to work.
“When we first bought our house, we knew someday we would hopefully have children and we live a mile away from the school. I said ‘we are in the best area and community for me to have a job at Glen Lake, it’s close, we have children there,’” Rosinski said. “That was a big reason behind it, I wanted to be on my kids schedule, and I love kids and I love working with them. I love building relationships with those kids… That’s what we’re trying to build and raise — good, little humans.”
Rosinski previously worked as a massage therapist for 17 years at Great Wolf Lodge. After she had her son, Drew, who is now nine-years-old, she focused on being a staying-at-home mom, until she eventually branched out and began working and doing massage out of the house. Soon after branching out, she found herself wanting to get more involved and back into the community.
“I thought being with kids would be really rewarding and being on my kids schedule would really help out,” she said. “So I kind of first got my feet in the door when my daughter was in kindergarten. I was kind of one of those helper moms.”
School districts are often in need of more paraprofessionals, which Rosinski explains as something that she feels is essential and makes a huge difference for student learning especially in lower elementary grades.
“I wish every classroom from preschool through fifth grade in the elementary would each have their own aide, but we just don’t have the staff to do it,” she said. “It would be so beneficial just to make those connections — more one-on-one, and the staff and the children especially get to know you.”
Besides working closely with the lead teacher, Rosinski’s daily duties include everything from assisting with classroom activities, creating safe environments, and providing individual attention to the children during their learning stages. She will be heading back to the classroom next week to start in-service training with other paraprofessionals before school officially begins, adding that she needs to complete 16 hours worth of online training to be able to work in a preschool setting.
“Pretty much what the teacher needs me to do, that’s what I do… Seeing the results is very fulfilling and seeing their (the kids) growth,” she said. “It’s all one strong family community at Glen Lake, so of course the number one thing is working with the kids and seeing their growth and the gains they make throughout the year, but the staff is amazing.”
That strong and understanding community is what helped Rosinski get through some of her most difficult and recent years. A few years ago, Rosinski had to have a double mastectomy after discovering she had breast cancer. Doctors also had to remove a lymph node from her neck that was cancerous. Since being faced with these health issues and procedures, she has been undergoing chemotherapy for almost three years now.
“As of now, I have no cancer, no signs of anything, but because they did find it in the lymph node, I do have to have this treatment just to make sure that whatever that was, stays away,” she said. “After I was diagnosed, the community of Glen Lake has been just amazing and very understanding… They understand if I have to miss a day because of my treatment, they’re fine with it. Glen Lake to me, even since I went to school there, it has always been a family base for the community where they stand behind everyone.”
This coming academic year, duties will look just a bit different for Rosinski. In addition to working as a paraprofessional, she will be taking on an assistant girls volleyball coaching position. Both of Rosinski’s children are involved in athletics, with her youngest, Drew, who is going into the fourth grade this year, making the all-star baseball team for Traverse City Little League, and her daughter, Alex, who is going into the seventh grade, playing middle school volleyball.
“Now that I worked with the teacher I did this last year, her son and my son play baseball. They’re going to the all-stars together, so we have a close-knit friendship because you’re with them all the time and you become like family,” she said. “I will probably be in the lower elementary working this coming year, too. I’m so excited.”
