If you are planning for a lifetime ... educate people

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — “If you are planning for a year, sow rice; If you are planning for a decade, plant trees; If you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.” (attributed to a Chinese philosopher/ thinker)

Last week Friday, SamoaNews kicked off its celebration of the Territory’s Teacher’s Appreciation Week by featuring a Manu’a High school teacher, and for today’s issue, we are highlighting a teacher of Pava’ia’i Elementary.

Mrs. Cathlyn Custodio Su’a, an important member of her Faleniu community and a proud member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, graduated from Leone High school, and the American Samoa Community College, and acquired her Teacher Leadership degree from Walden University.

She is one of the 47 teachers nominated for the National History Day Teacher of the Year award. Mrs. Su’a has taught at Pava’ia’i Elementary for seven years and a half years to date.

Mrs. Su’a responded to written questions posed by Samoa News.

Asked what it’s like being a teacher at Pava’ia’i Elementary?, Su’a replied, “As a teacher, you nurture, inspire, teach, and mold students to become good citizens and become useful to society.

“Many assume that teaching is simply a walk in the park, however, it is much more difficult than most people realize. Teachers are more than just teaching. A teacher plays multiple roles simultaneously; as a parent or friend, planner, counselor, nurse, leader, role model and more.

“You impart knowledge and help with character development in students.

“You are to be early before students walk in and leave late after they exit the classroom.

“You create and follow instructional plans (engaging activities) that coincide with a specific curriculum and ensure that children understand what is being taught. You teach students how to use and apply knowledge in their lives. Creating clear behavioral plans, routines and procedures are other important responsibilities.

“As teachers, we help to set children on the right path and encourage them to be the best version of themselves.

“There will be times when you encounter terrible practices, and that is when we learn to ‘jump hurdles’. We self reflect and find what is best fitting for our students and their individual needs.”

Samoa News next asked, “How satisfactory, or unsatisfactory has it been educating the future of American Samoa?”

Mrs. Su’a replied, “I always love the feeling of being able to help my students learn a challenging concept and then turn into a lightbulb moment. Such experience gives me joy and keeps me going in this profession.”

In addition, Su’a says that she “loves that children are never boring and always makes her see things differently.” She is blessed to teach at Pava’ia’i Elementary school for seven and a half years now, and has learned many important lessons from her students.

“It is rewarding to watch your former students grow and excel at college level and gain entry into good careers today. My only hope is that my students, current and previous, will continue to look for opportunities to acquire new knowledge, skills, and learning experiences and feel an urge to give back to our community.”

Asked what her hardest challenge, as well as best challenge, as a teacher working for the Department of Education, Mrs. Su’a explained that “the hardest challenge of being a teacher is feeling I could do more.”

She pointed out that “to have the desire to do the best you can for your students and your school community, often comes with the price tag of working outside your school hours grading assignments, writing instructional plans, updating materials for online learning programs, and more.

“Oftentimes, I find myself struggling with disconnecting after the work day is done, I still struggle with finding a balance today. Despite those challenges, being part of a great team of teachers and administrators working together helps make it happen.”

However, “the best part [of teaching] is seeing children getting those ‘Ah ha!’ moments and realize they are talented and bright individuals.

“I love helping them become young social activists and historians.

“I love that teachers have the ability to reach out, inspire, and be a role model for their students. I always marvel at the priceless joy of seeing my students progress and grow to their full potential.

“It makes me happy and more fulfilled to see them discover their interests, passion, strengths, and experience success in learning,” stated Su’a, adding that “you’ll see the fruits of your labor everyday as you use your skills, values, and knowledge to motivate your students to become enthusiastically engaged and eager with learning”.

 Su’a, in response to our question about what improvements DOE could work on to better conditions in regards to teaching, said, “One improvement could be to allow teachers a fair opportunity to share their teacher voice and to make more choices or decisions on what to teach, the programs utilized in the schools, and more.

“I hope they reconsider some of the programs implemented in the schools.

“Every year, there are a slew of new print-based and online learning programs and other technology tools carried out to improve student learning in the classroom.

“And there has been a lot of pressure on teachers to constantly stay up to date with these new programs and it’s constantly changing features.

“But there is often a lack of resources and time to implement every new program as it’s introduced.”

Samoa News will continue to highlight teachers throughout the week as they respond to the set of questions we sent out. There has been no specific