PROFILE—CATHY WEIST
Every teacher in the Carmel Unified School District has at least one set of significant letters after his or her name.They may be B.A. for Bachelorof Arts degree or B.S. for Bachelor of Science degree, and perhaps M.A. or M.S., indicating a master’s degree in arts or science.Degrees are marks of accomplishment.
Cathy Weist, Tularcitos School’s newest kindergarten teacher, not only has 27 years of teaching experience, but also through training and diligencehas become proficient in a wide variety of educational techniques.
And she has accumulated quite a few important letters after her name.
Mrs. Weist is a GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) trainer, and versed in CGI (Cognitively Guided Instruction) for Math and SVMI (Silicon Valley Math Imitative) Mathematics.She is also an expert in Barton Reading/4 Steps Reading, Phono-Graphix, Reading and Writing Workshop and most recently was a Common Core Literacy Coach for the Scotts Valley Unified District.
They demonstrate that Mrs. Weist has had a tremendous amount of professional training, is highly skilled and knowledgeable in education and is truly a lifelong learner.She might be called a teacher of teachers.And when she sits down with her 19 students every weekday at Tularcitos, she is splendidly versed in how to best teach them.
Mrs. Weist was originally a nursing major at California State University, Chico, but as she continued in college, she began to gravitate toward teaching as a profession.Both fields fit into her mindset.
“It just really came natural to me to want to help people,” she says.
After graduating from Chico with a bachelor’s of arts degree, she earned a master’s in Education Administration as well as a multiple subject teaching credential and an administrative credential, all three at National University in San Diego.A long and fruitful career in education has followed, including 25 years in the Scotts Valley Unified District, both inside and outside the classroom.
While she was in Scotts Valley, she trained teachers at every public elementary school, about 100 teachers in all, as well as approximately 25 in private schools in that area.
As a teacher trainer, she says that her goal is “to help teachers deepen their practice and become more effective with the rigorous task that we have been given.”
Why the return to being a classroom teacher at the start of the current school year?
“I was looking for something different, looking for a change,” she says.After she learned of the elementary school opening within the CUSD and looked into it, she says, “I just got super excited.It seemed like it was right for me.”
Mrs. Weist has a succinct philosophy in working with youngsters. It is this: “You’re not born smart, but you become smart by working at it.One of the saddest things is when a five-year-old says, ‘I can’t do it.I’m dumb.’School is easier for some, but we all have to work at it.”
Recently remarried, she and her husband have a blended family of six children.
Mrs. Weist is delighted to be at Tularcitos and back in the classroom.
“It’s working our really well.I have a fantastic class and the parents are really supportive,” she says.“It’s a wonderful school district with everything a child could need.There are structures in place to meet the needs of all children.”
There is a small ritual in her classroom.
“I say, “It’s another beautiful day,’ and they respond ‘to grow our brains!’”
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