Elementary teacher enjoys making a difference in students’ lives

Teacher of the Year Lynn Gunerman at Eagle Springs Elementary School says her desire to help children led to her career as a teacher.

“It’s not just from a teaching perspective, it is for the real world,” she said.

Originally from New York, Gunerman moved to California and then she met her husband, Kevin. They both moved to Virginia prior to Kevin being stationed at Robins Air Force Base, where he retired.

Gunerman said they’ve been living in Warner Robins since 1999. She is the third grade gifted teacher at Eagle Springs Elementary. This is her 11th year teaching at the school, but she taught at Northside Middle School for two years and prior to that, she taught two years in Virginia.

Gunerman graduated from California State University in Sacramento with a bachelor’s degree in business and then earned her master’s degree in education at Marymount University in Virginia.

She said she likes the administration at Eagle Springs Elementary, noting that she has no desire to go anywhere else.

“This is really like my home,” Gunerman said. “The people are really great and like family.”

Why teaching?

“As a little girl, I used to have a chalkboard and play school. I really love working with children and helping to make a difference in their lives.”

What brought you into the field?

“My desire to help students. I had a friend who was going through her teaching and then she got her teaching degree. I used to go in and observe her classroom. I was always interested in that. I started out as a business major. I was going through it and I thought, ‘I think I want to change. Teaching is what I think I want to do.’ But, at that time, there were not a lot of teaching jobs and then things turned around. I moved to Virginia and things fell into place. I got my master’s in education, and they needed teachers.”

Any inspiration from past teachers?

“There are people on my grade level who inspire me. We’re a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) certified school, so we really had to work together. They inspire me to go outside my comfort zone and really pushed me to see what STEM was really all about. We do vermicomposting and we also do outside composting.”

Best part of teaching?

“Every day is different. You really get to see how the kids grow and when you make an impact on a child. The great thing about teaching is that if you don’t do it perfectly this lesson, then you always have another opportunity to improve on that lesson. It’s all about the kids, honestly. That’s what keeps me here. That’s what keeps me in education.”

What is it about teaching that you like the most?

“Working with the students and seeing that a light bulb has gone off and then making a difference in their lives. I do not like when anything takes me away from that. We’re not just teaching them academics, we’re teaching them social skills — how do you act, getting along with people and being kind. All of that is so important, especially at this age.”

Most challenging part of teaching?

“The most challenging part of teaching is probably the amount of paperwork, but I find a way to do it.”

Anything that makes your job difficult?

“The amount of paperwork; sometimes the amount of testing, but they’re changing that. That has gotten better.”

If not teaching, what?

“If I had to do it again, I would go into engineering because of what I know from this school and the engineering design process and what engineers do. Or, I would have gone into nursing, too.”

Advice to students:

“Always do your best. Come through the door ready to learn, because we have so many things that we want to teach you to be successful. It has to start in pre-k and kindergarten. We know that at this school. It’s a building block. Be ready to learn every day.”

Advice to parents:

“Help your child with the homework. Make sure your children are going to bed at a good hour. Make sure that you check in with the agenda.”

Home life:

“My husband is a retired major in the Air Force. He is now a JROTC instructor at Westside High School in Bibb County. We have two children, Kelly, 18, who is a freshman at Georgia Southern, and Alexis, 16, who is a 10th grader at Houston County High School. I’m crafty. I love to do acrylic painting. I like to garden. I’m one of the teacher sponsors for the Junior Master Gardener Club.”

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