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She has attached a name to every desk. She has put down pillows in the corner for a reading nook. She has taped a sign to the door welcoming MRS. SPANGLER'S SUPER STARS.
She is waking up in the middle of the night, panicked, just knowing she's supposed to be somewhere else.
Holly Spangler is a brand new teacher.
She is 46 years old. She got the job less than two weeks ago. On Tuesday morning – the first day of school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg – 21 third-graders will arrive in her classroom at Beverly Woods Elementary.
“They're depending on me for everything they need to know at school,” she says. “That's a really big deal. I believe I'm up to it. I've been hoping for this a long time.”
For Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers, these past few months have been like riding downhill on a bike with no brakes. The school system laid off 665 teachers because of budget cuts. Then CMS added back 286 because state cuts weren't as bad as they thought.
All this in a recession.
Spangler was born in Indiana, grew up in Pennsylvania, moved to Charlotte with her husband 19 years ago. As a kid, she would take a red pen and grade her friends' papers. But her dad wouldn't pay for her to study education in college – he said there was no money in it. She majored in psychology.
She supervised at a temp agency, worked in electronics, taught aerobics. Eventually, with two kids, she became a full-time mom. Still, she volunteered for the PTA, and noticed she was spending a lot of time in schoolhouses. So six years ago she became an assistant at Providence Spring Elementary. A couple years later she went to Queens University to study education, at last. She earned her teaching certificate.
At the end of last school year, she taught three months at Hawk Ridge Elementary to fill a vacancy. But that was the end of her contract. She spent the summer applying for permanent jobs.
Caroline Horne, principal at Beverly Woods, liked Spangler right away. In midsummer, Spangler thought she had a spot teaching second grade there. The job fell through at the last minute. Spangler sat at her desk and cried.
But then a third-grade teacher resigned. There were 406 applicants. Two Tuesdays ago, Horne called Spangler and said the spot was hers.
Now she's memorizing the green cards that give basic information for each of her students. She's reading the textbooks for every subject. She's calling every student's home. Thursday night, at open house, 17 of the 21 kids showed up.
She has a new laptop (a gift from her husband) and a lanyard with a heart on it (a gift from her mom). She has reminded her dad about their conversation all those years ago. “He doesn't seem to remember it,” she says, laughing. “He's very supportive now.”
A big-city school system can be a box of cherry bombs. Politicians and parents spend years arguing about the best way to teach our children. But in the end so much of it comes down to that one person at the front of the room.
The other day, Holly Spangler noticed her CMS ID card. It's the one she got when she started as an assistant. So she drove down to headquarters and walked out with a new card. She could not possibly be more proud.
The card says: Teacher.
Tommy: 704-358-5227; ttomlinson@charlotte observer.com ; facebook.com/tommytomlinson; Twitter @tommytomlinson; blogging at http://ttomlinson.blogspot.com
