EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

MRS. HOUGHTON: Years from now, they’re not going to remember the specifics of the math that I teach them, and the reading that I teach them, and the writing that I teach them, but they are going to remember how I make them feel. And my hope is that I’m sending them off into the world feeling good about themselves. And my ultimate goal is to help them to see themselves the way I see them, as capable, brave, strong humans who can go off and leave a mark in the world.

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Hello everybody, and welcome back to Inspiring Teachers: The Honored Podcast, where we shine a spotlight on life-changing teachers across the country. I’m Hannah, your podcast host, and our podcast is brought to you by Honored, which is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring and elevating great teachers nationwide. Our mission is to inspire and retain great teachers, keeping them in the classroom as long as possible. Every month of the school year at Honored, we select an exceptional educator in the United States to be the recipient of the Honored National Teaching Award. Each Honoree, as we call them, receives a $5,000 cash reward, and we then tell the story on our website and our social media platforms of how that teacher has impacted their students’ lives. To learn more about our organization, you can go to our website at honored.org. While you’re there, if you have a teacher you would like to recognize, you can nominate them at honored.org/nominate.

We are so excited to have you listening in on another Honoree podcast episode. Today, we are joined by Mrs. Houghton, a 4th-grade teacher at Beatrice H Wood Elementary School in Plainville, Massachusetts. She was nominated for this award by her former student, Sammy. To help share the impact of Mrs. Houghton’s teaching, we are joined today by Sammy and Sammy’s mom, Erin.

Before we dive into Mrs. Houghton’s story, we are excited to kick off our Honoree episode with our special segment, ‘Teachers Who Inspired,’ which is featured at the beginning of each episode. Here, we invite well-known individuals to share a story about a teacher who had a lasting impact on their lives. These stories remind us that behind every great achievement, there’s often an inspiring teacher who believed in their potential.

Today, we’re thrilled to have our guest on our special segment, Angela Wunderlich, the Senior Regional Partnerships Manager at TEACH.org Minnesota. With a deep background in education and community development, Angela leads statewide efforts to diversify the teaching workforce and remove barriers to entry for aspiring educators.

Angela brings years of experience in inclusion strategy, program leadership, and cross-sector collaboration to this mission. Before joining TeachMN, Angela taught high school Spanish at the Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester, MA, and served as the Director of Community Development and Inclusion for the YMCA of the North.

ANGELA WUNDERLICH: It feels like I have been so blessed with so many really incredible teachers and mentors from my education past, but one that really sticks out to me was Dr. Margaret McCarney. She was my high school English, Lit, and various sorts of electives as I went up in high school, teacher, and it felt like she really had this knack. She was so smart, she was so brilliant, but she could find a way to connect to every student in the classroom with her work and how she taught.

But not only did she really bring people in in the way that she taught, and really make everybody feel like they had a stake in their learning. But I think she also really could understand you outside of the classroom, and really brought that care and intention to how she worked with you every day, and it felt like she saw me as a whole person, and that really made me even more invested in her class and the work I was doing.  

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Throughout the rest of the episode, we’ll share Mrs. Houghton’s story and the incredible impact she has on her students. To start us off, you’ll hear from Mrs. Houghton, who reflects on what led her to teaching as she followed her calling from a young age. 

MRS. HOUGHTON: I feel like I never chose this profession. I was really called to it. Honestly, I knew from my first days in preschool that I was going to be a teacher. I was that kid who was playing school with my cousins and always wanted to be the teacher. I come from a long line of educators. I’m the 10th in my family. My mom taught forever, and I have an aunt who actually taught in my district for 36 years. And I spent so much of my childhood in my mom’s classroom.

She taught second grade, actually coming into the district where I teach, my aunt taught first grade here, so I spent so many days exploring their classrooms. And as I grew up and got into middle school and high school, I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to actually work with kids and really be immersed in their classroom and have really wonderful opportunities to work with kids at a very early age. And so that was kind of how my journey began. But as I said, I was called to this. It was never a choice.

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: As a now 7th grader, Sammy looks back on 4th-grade as the year that changed everything. She expresses how Mrs. Houghton’s dedication, creativity, and intentional lessons made learning fun and led her to feel excited to show up to school every day.

SAMMY LEUCHTE: Out of all the teachers I’ve had through seventh grade, because I’m in seventh grade now, I’ve never seen a teacher who had so much dedication to what she did. Every day that we went in, the lessons that we did were so prepared and so fun. Before we did math, she’d put on a song, and we’d dance around the whole classroom. And fourth grade was the first year I was genuinely excited to come to school, like I just wanted to go to school, to see her and enjoy the day, because that was the best part of the whole year, just going to school and seeing all my friends and her.

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Mrs. Houghton’s teaching philosophies are guided by the quote, “Children need to think that you care before they care what you think.” For her, relationships are the foundation of her classroom. When students feel supported and safe, she finds that their capacity for learning and their willingness to push themselves outside their comfort zone increase.   

MRS. HOUGHTON: This idea that children need to think that I care before they care what I think really sums up the philosophy of what I bring to the classroom. And I think relationships are at the foundation of everything. And yes, I’m teaching these little people math and science and reading and writing, but we have to be honest that years from now, they’re not going to remember the specifics of the math that I teach them, and the reading that I teach them, in the writing that I teach them, but they are going to remember how I make them feel.

And my hope is that I’m sending them off into the world feeling good about themselves. And my ultimate goal is to help them to see themselves the way I see them as capable, brave, strong humans who can go off and leave a mark in the world.

MRS. HOUGHTON: And they want to show up, and do their best, and put forth their best effort, and really, everything else falls into place. And I think that’s true for adults too. I’m so fortunate here in Plainville to work with an amazing administrative team, and I know that I’m safe, I get to be my authentic self, I’m supported, and because of that, I’m motivated to then show up and do my best. So it’s true, whether we’re nine or ten years old or whether we’re adults, relationships are at the core of everything, and ultimately, I think that’s what matters most in life. And when they feel safe, when they feel loved, and when they’re excited to come here, not only are they going to feel confident and go off into the world and be their best selves, but also their learning is going to skyrocket because they are motivated and they’re going to show up as their best selves and and want to do their very best. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: In talking with Sammy’s mom, Erin, she recalls the transformation she witnessed during Sammy’s 4th-grade year. With Mrs. Houghton’s guidance, Sammy became more confident academically and personally. It is because of Mrs. Houghton’s dedication and incredible impact that Sammy now dreams of being a teacher just like her.

ERIN SULLIVAN: So Sammy has anxiety, and school was definitely a big trigger. I would say, within two weeks of being in Devon’s classroom, all of that went away. She did not have any trouble all year long; it was probably the only school year she’s ever had where that occurred, and she learned a whole lot because of it. I saw her have fun, she was excited to get up and go, and she gained confidence. I think even now, and I don’t think this is even something that Devon knows.

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: When Mrs. Houghton heard the heartfelt news of Sammy wanting to be a teacher, she was reminded of the ripple effect of teaching. Educators not only shape their students, but also the future generations that those students go on to impact. At the heart of her work is the understanding that investing in her students has effects that extend far beyond their time in her classroom.

MRS. HOUHGTON: I don’t think there’s anything more beautiful than that, and I was called to this profession and stuck with it, because I believe that this is one of the special professions in the world where we can truly have a global impact. Every year, I’m blessed to have 20, 21 kids in front of me, and I think every year about how those 20 kids go off into the world and impact 20, 30, 50, 100 more people, right? So it’s that idea of a global ripple effect. And so to think about Sammy going into this profession and being able to have that same impact. And so I’ve done my work. That’s how we make the world a better and brighter place.

MRS. HOUGHTON: From an academic standpoint, they’re always blowing my mind with these amazing ideas and perspectives in the way nine and ten-year-olds see the world is so profound. I always say, if fourth graders ran the world specifically, we’d have no problems. And all kids, right? They’re magnificent. So Sammy, you going into teaching would be just the greatest thing that this world could ever have. 

You have so many gifts, the way that you see the world, the way that you interact with people. I saw the way that you interacted with your peers, with your friends, with people who weren’t your friends, and that’s a special gift. You have something very, very special inside of you, and something very special that you can give to this world. And I just think the best way you can do that is to teach. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Expanding on her commitment to relationship-building, Mrs. Houghton cultivates a safe and growth-oriented learning environment. Through morning meetings and end-of-day check-ins, students are encouraged to share openly and show up authentically. She also incorporates affirmations throughout the day to build confidence, and models how trust is reciprocal—sharing parts of her life so students truly know her, too.

MRS. HOUGHTON: Every day, I start our day with a morning meeting, and so that’s coming together as a community. We’re sitting on the rug together, and sometimes it’s structured, sometimes it’s not, and we’re talking about our lives, our day, what happened over the weekend, and over time, organically and gradually, we’re really creating that safe space for the kids to share about what’s going on.  And I think that’s where, hopefully for Sammy, that’s where it all began, where she was feeling “Okay, I’m safe in here. I’m safe to be authentically me. I’m safe to share the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’m safe to take risks.” When we get to know each other, when we kind of peel back those layers, when we celebrate successes, when we support each other through hard times, it’s really creating that classroom family. 

And I do that same thing at the end of the day every day with a closing meeting, and we’re talking about our day. What were the highs? What were the lows? What are you proud of? I have affirmations every day before I start lessons, I yell, “You are,” and the kids are shouting back to me, “Brave.” “You are bold. You can do hard things. Mrs. Houghton is here to help you.” And then we always start with “You are.” and they yell, “Unstoppable.” We have dance parties where we’re dancing around the room and singing songs like “Unstoppable.” I think for the kids in fourth grade, when they’re nine and ten years old, they might see it in the moment as, “Oh, this is fun. We’re having a dance party.”

MRS. HOUGHTON: I’m a self-contained classroom, which means I teach all of the subjects, and my kiddos don’t switch classrooms. In my fourth-grade team, I’m the only classroom right now that is self-contained, and I’m very rooted in that. I believe that I need to have the kids with me all day. They’re still very young. I appreciate that as they get older, teachers are content-specific as the curriculum becomes more intense, for sure. I feel very strongly that I need to be with the kids all day long. There are so many cross-curricular connections that can be made, and also, that community building is happening all day long.

I think sometimes teachers can be a little fearful about sharing about themselves, and I am just fully exposed in here. And Sammy will attest to this. I tell them everything about my life. They know that I dance. They know my favorite foods. They hear about my hobbies and what’s going on in my own world. And I think that’s a huge piece of it, too. So they have to know that I’m a real person outside of this classroom, to build that rapport and to build that trust. So it has to be reciprocal when we’re thinking about building that relationship, and we have to get comfortable sharing about ourselves as well and really exposing who we are outside of the confines of our classroom. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: One of the ways Mrs. Houghton empowers her students is through student-led conferences. When report cards come out, she gives her students a digital template to note their strengths and areas of focus. Sammy shares how preparing presentations and reflecting on her progress built her confidence. Additionally, Erin describes how meaningful this process was as a parent to hear directly from her child and to watch her confidence grow.  

SAMMY LEUCHTE: When the report comes out, she would sit us down, and she would talk about how the report comes out, and our parents would see how we were doing in our progress. And she would say that what she does in her classroom is we make these slide shows that say, what did we think we did well, and what did we want to work on, and how school was going for us. So when the report meetings would happen, we would come too.  So my mom would hear from Mrs. Houghton, “This is how Sammy is doing.” But then I would say how I think I’m doing also, which definitely built my confidence, because then I can say to myself, “This is what I’m doing well, and this is what I want to work on.” And when I went there and hearing what Mrs. Houghton said, I would put that in my day. Just like hearing from her, this is what I’m doing well; it just really built my confidence a lot.

ERIN SULLIVAN: I thought it was great. I will say Devon definitely let Sammy speak first. So she really wanted Sammy to organically say, “What do I think I’m doing well, and what do I need to work on?” And Devon really made herself an afterthought at the end, where she sort of added in a couple of things, or if I had questions. But it really did come from Sammy what she believed, and I thought that that was wonderful. I mean, I myself work in a school. I’m not a teacher, I’m a counselor. So I’ve worked with a lot of great educators over the years.

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Building on her student-led conferences, Mrs. Houghton explains what led her to intentionally design this model. By giving students ownership of their learning reflections, she helps them become active participants in their own growth. Through having the students be part of the conversation and analyze their own performance, she is setting them up for long-term success.

MRS. HOUGHTON: So I’ve been teaching for 21 years, and the traditional parent-teacher conference, you sit with the parents, which I love. I love talking about the kids. I love engaging with the parents. And the next day, I’d sit with my kids, and I’d say, “Did you hear from your parents about all the wonderful things that we said about you?” And they’d look at me with their sweet little faces and say, “No, I heard nothing.” So it was continuously feeling like these lost opportunities for them to hear the great things. So I started thinking about how to make it a meaningful process, and not just have the kids sitting there and being part of the conversation, but being actively engaged.

So I did a little bit of research, and it’s a thing student-led conferences. There’s a lot of research behind it, and I just kind of designed it in a way that would work for me. So I have a digital template that’s broken down by content area, all of the things that I teach. And there’s a box for math, there’s a box for science, there’s a box for writing, and so on. And within each box, there are strengths and areas of focus. And so over the course of a term, I photocopy all of the tangible work that my kids have completed.

When my kids are completing work, I’m, of course, giving them tons of growth, producing feedback, so I’m putting that in their portfolios as we go. And it’s really magical to witness. The kids will be spread out in the room. They’ve got their portfolios open, and they’re going through these work samples and reflecting on how they’ve done. I also complete their report cards a little bit early, so that they have those in front of them as well. You know, they’re reading through my feedback.

And then, come conference time, like Erin said, the kids are really leading it. It’s about their reflections. And what’s so powerful for me is I can have my ideas about my students, and of course, I know them so well. But every time I run these conferences, without fail, I have a couple of kiddos who will say, “Well, gee, I’m really not feeling confident with whatever skill it is.” And at the end of the day, whose perspective is more important, theirs or mine? Theirs. And so I learn so much from it, too, about how they’re feeling. They set goals for the things that they want to work on. We’re checking in about those goals. So it’s a really empowering process for them. 

MRS. HOUGHTON: And it’s preparing them for life, right? I mean, it’s pretty hard to find a job these days where you’re not sitting with your boss or your administration or your principal. This is exactly what I do with my principal, too. So it’s also mirroring what they’re going to do in the real world. So why not start in fourth grade?

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: As Sammy transitioned to 5th grade, she was bullied by another student, which affected her confidence and joy. She began not wanting to go to school and lost her love for learning. During this time, Mrs. Houghton’s classroom remained a safe space for her where Sammy felt believed in, listened to, and supported during a time when she needed it the most.

SAMMY LEUCHTE: The bullying, when it started, was near the end of her year, but at that point, it never really bothered me, because I felt so safe in her room. But once I hit fifth grade, the same student was in my class next year, and it got very difficult for me. I began not wanting to go to school. I didn’t get out of bed in the morning. Going to school, I would cry every day, and I’d be isolated because they would kick me out of partner work, or they wouldn’t want to be my friend. 

So I remember it was a really bad day, I was walking in the hallway, and I saw Mrs. Houghton. She looked at me, and she knew, like it wasn’t going well for me. And I told her, I said, “I’m having a really hard time. Could I meet with you?” So I met with her a couple of days later, and I told her everything because I felt safe with her. And so she talked with me for a very long time, and she let me come into her room once a week so I could have fun with her and see her again, and help all the kids, and get out of the atmosphere I was in.

SAMMY LEUCHTE: But the fact that she did just made me so grateful for her, because I’m not the only one just standing here alone. Someone wants to help me.  Someone wants to believe in me. Because when there were situations happening, I would be the one getting in trouble for me getting bullied. And when I told her about that, I remember she said to me, “I know you’re telling the truth because you never lie.” Which really stuck with me because I never lie. 

So I was able to get through the rest of fifth grade, and luckily, they solved the situation, and now it’s over, and I’m so grateful for that. But the way I got through was because of her. Mrs. Houghton, from fourth grade to fifth grade to even now, I still think about how she still affected me. Like, sure, maybe I don’t remember something we did in math in December, but I remember the lessons where she would sit us down and talk about how her day was. So, me wanting to tell her when this was happening in the fifth grade, I still felt the safety from fourth grade, and I still feel now. Like situations that would happen now, I’d still want to tell her. She’s the one I want to tell. There’s no one else I feel more comfortable telling that’s in a school district besides her. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Mrs. Houghton reflects on how she supported Sammy through this hard experience by creating opportunities for mentorship, which allowed her to spend time with the 4th-grade students and regain a sense of safety and belonging. When former students return to her classroom for support, it reminds her of her purpose.    

MRS. HOUGHTON: When kids like Sammy come back, it solidifies for me that I’ve done my work, that I’ve done my job. There’s no better reward for me than hearing her say that she felt safe to come to me, that she felt believed, that she felt supported. Something that I do every year, I’ve done it for my past 20 years now. On the last day of school, I read my favorite book, “The Giving Tree”. 

I can’t get through it without bawling my eyes out. And for anyone who doesn’t know that story, it’s the story of a tree, and there’s a boy who loves the tree. And the boy gets older, and he comes back to the tree, and he takes the branches and builds a boat, and takes other things and builds a house. And then eventually, the boy is grown and old and comes back to the tree, and the tree says, “Oh, I have nothing left to give. I’m just a stump. But come, boy, sit on my stump.” And when I get to the end of it, I always say to my kids, “Who’s the boy?” And they say, “It’s us.” And I say, “Who’s the tree?” And they say, “It’s you.” And my message is, I will always be here for you. I will always be the tree.

MRS. HOUGHTON: And I was just so grateful that Sammy took that to heart. She came into my room so she got to be with me and be safe in this space. But I set up a mentoring program, and she was mentoring my little kiddos, which was amazing. So it was so symbiotic. So that’s what it’s all about, and that’s when I know that I’ve done the work. 

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETE: Erin adds to this conversation by sharing how Sammy’s confidence began to return after seeking support from Mrs. Houghton. Once Sammy had an adult in the school who showed up for her, it reminded Sammy she wasn’t alone.  

ERIN SULLIVAN: Well, it took the load off of me a little bit, right? Because it was hard for her, and so she would come home, and it was difficult for me to try to figure out what was going on and what might be helpful, and I was working with the staff there, but I could just see Sammy’s confidence and her mood dipping, and she was anxious, and it was a difficult time. And I think it was really organic. I didn’t direct Sammy to talk to Mrs. Houghton. 

She just happened to see her in the hallway one day and noticed something wasn’t right here, and asked Sammy if she was okay. And I think in that moment, Sammy just told her everything, because she has always just felt safe talking to her. I definitely think that was a turning point in all of it, because I think once Sammy felt believed, and there was a staff person there in the school that was advocating and saying, “This is a kid that tells the truth, the way she is right now isn’t indicative of who she is. This is a change that’s concerning,” I think that’s when I saw the people who are currently working with her starting to take steps to address the situation in a different way. 

I don’t think it was like Sammy had mentioned that they really, truly saw it for what was happening, or saw the negative impact it was having on her. And then I really feel like things changed after that. And in my conversations with other staff people, I really think that Mrs. Houghton was helping Sammy through it, and then I was able to work behind the scenes with people to get the issue resolved.

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: To wrap up their thoughts, Sammy and Mrs. Houghton share their gratitude for one another and the lasting impact they’ve had on each other’s lives. Inspired by Mrs. Houghton, Sammy now hopes to leave the same impact one day to be there for others and provide a safe space when it matters most. Mrs. Houghton speaks about how deeply her students shape her life and how meaningful they are to her. Just as one teacher can change a student’s life, one student can also change the world of a teacher.   

SAMMY LEUCHTE: You changed my life. Like, fourth grade, best year of my life. I’m being so serious with you, I was happy all the time. I was trying to hang out with my friends. I was just trying to enjoy life, like, how you taught us to do, just to have the most fun. And when fifth grade hit, during that time, I was just trying to think, what would Mrs. Houghton tell me to do?

SAMMY LEUCHTE: I was changed, and I had a bad experience. And I want to be in a world where these kids could have bad experiences too, and I just want to help them. Yes, I want to be able to teach them this is math, this is reading, this is writing, this is all of this, so you know it to go on and do great things in the world, but I also want to be there for them because their life could seem perfect on the outside, but it couldn’t be. You never really know what’s going on in someone’s mind, at home, anywhere. Even now, even if I’m not a teacher, I’m just a seventh-grade student, if someone comes over to me and is like, “I’m having a hard time.” I’m going to help you. I want to be able to do what you showed me to do, just be kind and be a supporter for them, and try to help them get through it.  

MRS. HOUGHTON: There are so many beautiful gifts that come with being a teacher, especially being a teacher where I am. You call it a little slice of heaven.

MRS. HOUGHTON: And you taught me so much about character and being an amazing human, and patience and grace and integrity and being brave and strong, and so that’s why being a teacher is so wonderful. I get to impact little people every day, but I get to learn from people like you, and I continue to grow and get to be a better person because of magnificent kids like you.

HANNAH BOWYER-RIVETTE: Thank you so much for listening and joining us today to learn more about Devon Houghton, our January Honoree and recipient of the Honored National Teaching Award. To read more about her story, you can visit our website at honored.org or click the link in the episode description. If you have a teacher who you want to recognize and nominate for our teaching award, you can head to honored.org/nominate. If you enjoyed today’s episode, you can follow us and leave us a review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening in from. Thanks again for listening, and make sure to tune in next month to hear the incredible story of our February Honoree.