“Work Friends”

Erin Greene is in her third year teaching Kindergarten at Jefferson Somerset
“It’s amazing how ‘work friends’ can turn into people you genuinely can’t get through life without.”
I am a Kindergarten teacher at Jefferson Somerset. This is my third year with Somerset and my third year on the Kindergarten team. I’ve been on teams in the past, but nothing ever like this one. My two teammates are Cayco Brooks and Joy Fender. These two have truly helped shape me into the teacher that I am today.

My first year at Somerset was a big one for me. I had never taught Kindergarten and was super nervous. These two took me in and showed me the ropes of everything that I needed to know. I also missed a lot of work due to being so sick during pregnancy. These two held it down in Kindergarten and would teach not only their class but mine as well. They are superstars! This past year was the hardest. In January, my doctor called me at work to inform me that I had cancer and would need to have surgery. The first two people I told were Joy and Cayco. I was absolutely terrified. I was hysterically crying and couldn’t breathe. Both of them wrapped their arms around me and told me that everything was going to be okay. In February, while I was out for three weeks for surgery, they split my class and taught theirs and mine. Like I said earlier, superstars! They would both call/text me to check to see how I was doing, always telling me not to worry about anything at school and to just rest and get better. Then the pandemic hit right when I got back to school. This was new to all three of us, but we worked together and got everything situated the best way we knew how.

This current year has definitely been a new one. All three of us are learning how to adapt to this new “normal.” Let me tell you, there is absolutely no way that I would be able to make it through without either one of these ladies in my life. They both keep me strong. They both keep me sane. Joy reminds me to have fun with teaching. She brings me back to the reality that even though we are teachers, it’s okay to have fun with it. She is always coming up with new activities for us to do. I can’t even begin to explain how many totes she has of teaching resources. She also reminds me to speak my mind. She is never shy to tell someone how she really feels. Cayco reminds me to keep it simple. I am an overthinker and tend to overdo things a lot of the time. She reminds me to work smarter, not harder, and still accomplish what I am going for without breaking my back to get there. She also reminds me to laugh. She is always coming into my room to tell me something funny that happened or something she saw that she had to share. It brightens my day, even for just that moment.

These two lovely ladies are not only my amazing teammates, but they are some of my closest friends. They get me through the day. They get me through this crazy world of teaching that we are all experiencing right now. Without them, I don’t know how I’d make it. I never expected to have co-workers that turned into such great friends, but I sure am glad that I did.