Teaching is not just a job, as the saying goes, for Burnett
Elementary’s Teresa Sermersheim, but also a way of life and a gift
she gives to others.
Teaching is not just a job, as the saying goes, for Burnett Elementary’s Teresa Sermersheim, but also a way of life and a gift she gives to others.
“She’s the unofficial entire school’s mom,” said Bob Davis, former Burnett principal and currently the principal of Los Paseos Elementary. “For the Burnett School community, she is a very important thread in the fabric, holding things together.”
Sermersheim works within the English language learner (ELL) program at Burnett, which has a high population of students and families for whom Spanish is their first language. She serves as a resource teacher, assisting other teachers to work with the ELL students in their classrooms and providing resource materials for teachers.
“This is just the perfect job for me because not only do I love working with kids but I love books,” she said. “I have gathered quite a collection over the years, and it’s a good feeling to be able to help when a teacher has a specific need.”
She doesn’t just reach out to teachers and students, Davis said but to everyone.
“What a gracious person she is,” he said. “She cares about everyone at Burnett. You couldn’t find a more dedicated educator.”
Sermersheim, a single parent, has opened her home as well as her heart; in 1998, she adopted a then-2-year-old girl from Guatemala, named Flori.
“It was actually easier, as a single parent, to adopt a foreign-born child,” she said. “My daughter had been malnourished and left at a hospital. She eventually ended up at a wonderful orphanage, which is where I found her.”
Flori has apraxia, a neurological disorder, but Sermersheim said she wants her to be as independent as possible. She gives credit to her father and two sisters, who live in San Jose, as do she and Flori, for supporting her and helping her care for Flori.
Flori attended kindergarten and first grade at Jackson Elementary, but moved to San Martin/Gwinn Elementary for second grade. She is in a special day class with four students.
“I have seen her blossom.” Sermersheim said of her daughter. “She has just learned to say her name. I want to help her be as independent as possible, be as respectful of her needs as possible.”
Apraxia, Sermersheim said, is a problem with the “wires” going from the brain to tell the body what to do.
“Hers aren’t firing as they should be,” she said. “As she was learning to talk, we would touch her mouth, to help get those ‘wires’ more lit up.”
She also opened her home to a niece and nephew whose parents died.
Her nephew, Ansel, is a student at CalPoly San Luis Obispo, and her niece, Camille, attends Branham High School.
It was Camille who helped last summer when, as a part of a district program, Sermersheim worked with migrant families to boost their English skills.
“These were families of students, who, for whatever reason, could not get to summer school,” she said. “It was a great program. There were things the students could do, we brought books for them, and we brought books for the parents. Many times, we were with families that had children from preschool to high school age, and Camille would work with a group while I would work with others. I think it was a good experience for both of them.”
Barbara Neal, who came to Burnett as principal at the beginning of the school year, said if the district is able to get the funding for the migrant program again this summer, she would definitely recommend Sermersheim participate.
“I would hope that we could have this program again, and that she, and I, could get involved.”
Neal said her experience at Burnett would have been very different without Sermersheim’s support.
“She has been an invaluable source of knowledge of this school because of the length of time she has been here,” Neal said. “She has an incredible handle on the culture of the school and on student needs … I know this year would have been a lot more difficult without her.”
Davis and Neal both said Sermersheim’s care for kids extends beyond the time they are within her sphere of influence. Davis said she continues to track kids, to be interested in how they are doing, even after they’ve left the elementary level.
Neal said Sermersheim takes a personal interest in the students.
“She has worked in all the classrooms, seen them grow,” said Neal. “She knows the areas where they are strong and areas they need to grow.
Then she can see it from a global perspective; for example, this class needs to work on reading skills, while this other class needs to improve skills in another area. She gives me the eye on the school that I don’t have.”
As a principal, Neal said, another valuable trait Sermersheim displays is a willingness to share.
“Sometimes people hold their knowledge to themselves, but not Teresa,” she said. “She goes above and beyond every step of the way to make sure I am aware of everything she knows. She imparts her knowledge in a way that’s majestic.”
One bit of knowledge – or wisdom – Sermersheim wo-uld like to impart to everyone, especially those living in areas not as culturally diverse as the Bay Area, is that the definition of family is broad.
“I really think it is important for people to know that families come in different shapes and sizes,” she said.
“People ask Flori sometimes if she has a daddy, and our response is, ‘She has a grandfather and two aunts.’ Our family is definitely a nuclear family.”
