It’s not unusual to see those who choose the field of education to have careers that last for many years, but for two long-time educators at Pulaski Elementary School, that length of time has spanned a combined 101 years.
Mrs. Gayle Kiser and Mrs. Barbara Cain are currently serving as Title I Tutors at PES, assisting students to raise their reading levels and gain confidence in their understanding of what they read. They’ve been with Pulaski County Public Schools together since 1978.
“They are two of the best teachers I've ever known,” PES Principal Mr. Mike Price said. “One of them paddled me, I will not say which one. They bring a wealth of experience, and they are always positive when they are here. The students love them, and they are valuable members of our faculty and staff.”
"What a dynamic duo we have had the pleasure of having in this wonderful school division,” PCPS Superintendent of Schools Mr. Robert Graham said. “Imagine in their combined 101 years in education how many lives of children they have positively impacted, especially in promoting literacy and helping students improve their reading skills. We are grateful for the services they have proved during their tenure and appreciate all they have done for the students, teachers and community members of the Pulaski County School Division!"
“We’re kind of the school grandmothers,” Mrs. Cain said.
“It’s nice,” Mrs. Kiser added. “We have students stop by all day to give us hugs. It’s a nice benefit of the job.”
For Kiser, her journey began outside of Pulaski County.
“I’ve been in education for 51 years,” Mrs. Kiser said. “I started in North Carolina. I was born and raised there, then went to Appalachian State University. I started teaching in Lenoir, NC, and was there for six years. Then I got married and moved here, and was at Draper Elementary from 1978 to 2005. After that, we both came here to Pulaski Elementary. I retired in 2012, but immediately went back to work as a substitute. We’ve been working as Title I Tutors for about eight years now.”
Cain got her start in Pulaski County, but has also assisted other communities during her career.
“I’ve been in education now for 50 years,” Mrs. Cain said. “I got my start at Draper Elementary, working in first grade, but was promoted to second grade. I worked there until 2005, then became the Instructional Support Facilitator for Pulaski Elementary. I worked with response to intervention in that position and did that until 2009. In that job, we worked with students, through the University of Maryland and Radford University, who were identified as being at risk academically. We monitored the students’ progress and helped them set goals to fill in the gaps.”
“I retired in 2009,” she continued. “My husband had cancer and he passed away that year. I went to work for the State Department of Education as a Response to Intervention Coach all over the state. I eventually took the same position in Bland County, then in Montgomery County. I came back to Pulaski County in the same job until 2017. Then I returned to PES. We both started tutoring here in 2017.”
So what exactly does a Title I Tutor do?
“As a Title I Tutor, we support the Title I teachers,” Kiser said. “We give them an extra boost for those students that need a little extra attention. There’s a huge need for this, especially since COVID. The time they spent virtual really hurt students, especially those in kindergarten through second grade. Those are the really formative years.”
“We need to have more of this type of intervention and small group work with our students,” Cain said. “Getting them that personalized attention is the key. Those students that came into the school system at the start of COVID were really impacted. Working with the students in their early years really helps with not only academic issues, but also with behavioral and disciplinary issued. Students who feel behind are frustrated and they act out. When we reach out and provide the help they need, we see a difference in all of that.”
Both have ideas on how to help improve things for those students who need a little extra help.
“There needs to be more funding available for tutoring,” Kiser said. “The teachers are tasked with so many things. They have to not just teach, but they’re also having to do pre-assessment and post-assessment. Then they have to work harder with those students who are behind. When we can bring in tutors, it lets the teachers focus on their jobs more and provides the students a better chance to get the personalized help they need. We both believe in the assessments, but we also see how it adds to the teachers’ workloads.”
“Randy Chrisley and Wendy Golden do a great job of identifying the students who need extra help,” Cain said. “They make our groups for us. They use the standardized testing to initially recognize the students with the need. Once those students are identified, we go to work.”
At this point of our interview, we had to take a break when a student stopped by their office to give each of them a hug.
“It’s like that all day,” they said with a smile.
With so many years of experience, we asked about the differences they’ve noted through the years.
“We did things a little differently in the early years, but we still teach mostly the same things,” Kiser said. “When we were at Draper, we used creative ways to incorporate the fun things in with the learning. When we taught a social studies unit, we were able to incorporate the reading, science, art, and other areas into it in a fun way that kept the students engaged. It’s tough for teachers to do that sometimes now, because they are so overtasked.”
“Those times that we did the creative and fun things are what students remember the most,” Cain said. “We’ve had kids come back to us and talk about the gingerbread houses we did at Christmas. They remember the field trips where we walked down to Bryson’s store and they got to buy a snack. Being able to use creative ways to teach takes a lot of extra time. With larger class sizes in larger schools, that’s tough to do sometimes.”
“Another problem teachers run into is when they present things to students who aren’t on that instructional level yet,” Kiser added. “It’s tough for the student to grasp and understand it when that happens. This is when we can be effective as tutors. When teachers evaluate a student with a PALS test, they put them in groups for us to help.”
Through the years, the duo has also had to use creative ways to correct students when they made bad choices.
“I always had one rule,” Cain said. “Listen first. If they did it again, they had to pay restitution. Something I learned early was to let the student come up with what that restitution should be. Oh, they hated it. Most of the time, what they came up with was harsher than what I would have recommended, so I’d guide them to a new idea. Maybe instead of being in the back of the lunch line or having silent lunch for two weeks, they needed to do that for a few days. Once they finished up, they were back to normal, but they had to pay for their own bad decisions first. You have to carry it out and you have to be consistent. When I explained it to parents, having everything written out so they could see the process and made it clear what we were doing, and they liked it.”
With such a long career, the two have meet and worked with many students. At times, that included their own children.
“Teaching is a profession like no other,” Kiser said. “I was able to teach my kids and her kids. We taught each other’s kids. Now all the kids knew Robbie was my son. Now it took a while for them to figure out John Kelly was mine too. Now Robbie is a longtime member of the fire department and John Kelly is a First Sergeant with the Virginia State Police. We see a lot of our former students who have done great things.”
“I’m very proud of the fact that my family is now three generations deep in serving Pulaski County Public Schools,” Cain said. “My dad served as supervisor of maintenance under Ken Dobson. Then I taught, and now my son Mike is the principal here at PES. Through the years … to see my son on that football field as a player, then as a coach for football and soccer, and now in his current position … I’m just so proud and I know his father would be proud too. Seeing your children grow into productive members of society is wonderful. How many mothers can say they are going to end their teaching career working for their son?”