Her students say Melinda Gowdey makes them feel like they're in a 'warm, fuzzy blanket.'
HINSDALE, Mass. — Kittredge Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Melinda Gowdey has been selected as the May Teacher of the Month.
The Teacher of the Month series, in collaboration with Berkshire Community College, will feature distinguished teachers nominated by community members. You can nominate a teacher here.
For the last 21 years, Gowdey has been inspiring students and making them excited to learn by creating a calm, peaceful, inclusive, and safe classroom environment.
In addition to being a fourth-grade teacher, she was an adjunct professor at Elms College, teaching technology and early childhood education from 2017 through 2021.
She has taught everything from third grade through eighth grade, but loves working with the fourth-graders, which she has been doing for the last 10 years.
"I love the age. I love the curriculum. I like a lot of what I get to teach, from long division to multiplying with larger numbers, to the social studies curriculum. It's been one of my favorite grades to teach," she said.
Gowdey is fair and consistent, so students know what to expect, and integrates humor in her teaching to ensure students are having fun while learning.
"I think they have to be exposed to and learn from everybody. Everybody's different. Everybody in this class brings their own set of skills and their own strengths, and everybody comes in with areas that they can work on," she said.
Students can learn from each other by seeing how their peers navigate and tackle the challenging things around them, Gowdey said.
"We're all learning from each other every day. I'm learning from them just as much as they're learning from me and from each other," she said.
Her goal is to create a space where students feel safe, to help students feel supported and welcome.
This environment helps students build confidence and makes them willing to try new things without the fear of making mistakes.
"She's inspiring me by not giving up, even if something's hard," said fourth-grader Brenden Reed.
She emphasized the importance of making sure students know that making mistakes contributes to their brain's growth and that learning from these mistakes is essential for personal and academic development.
"Gowdey works really hard to cultivate deep and meaningful relationships with her kids. She's also an incredible advocate for every kid in her room," said Principal Howard Marshall.
"She is tireless in her advocacy for what students need and building the relationships, [which] is really a crucial point to being able to leverage those partnerships that you've created and have kids do things that even they don't think they can do."
Gowdey comes from a family of educators, with her mother and three aunts all being teachers.
She chose to follow her family's path because of her passion for working with children and valued the chance to share her knowledge and assist students in their growth and learning.
"I think [the students] bring such happiness and joy to the classroom, and just being surrounded by them every day is amazing. And I just couldn't imagine doing anything different," she said.
There have been several moments in her career that have had a significant impact on her. However, the most meaningful are when she witnesses her students build their confidence over the course of the year.
Gowdey has inspired many of her students, with several expressing an interest in becoming teachers, professors, or therapists.
One of her former students, Madelyn Wendling, is teaching fifth grade in the classroom right next door to Gowdey.
Even after they have left her classroom, she has helped guide those former students who came back to visit her.
Wendling shadowed Gowdey in high school, which reinforced her desire to become a teacher. Afterward, Gowdey continued to provide her with advice and support. Now that Wendling is a teacher, Gowdey still mentors her.
In Gowdey's classroom, students feel cared for academically and personally,
"I think that's her big skill, that she's always kind of in your corner once you've had her as a student. If you think about today, a lot of kids aren't receiving relationships like that at home, or people who are constantly there for them," Wendling said.
"I think school can be overwhelming, and just having a safe person, having somebody who you can trust, is really important."
During the school visit, dozens of her students volunteered to praise Gowdey, many specifically highlighting her ability to provide multiple strategies for learning.
"When I'm stuck, she'll come over and she'll give me a little clue, and she'll say, you got this, and that really helps," said student Zoe Grady.
"I think she deserves the teacher of the month because she always makes us laugh and when we do math and nobody answers [her question], she's like, yes, no, and then we all say, 'maybe so,' sometimes," said Emily McCool, another fourth-grader.
"She always makes it feel like you're in a warm, fuzzy blanket, kind of, it just feels so nice."
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