Leah Esmont is a Program Coach at Washington Elementary School in Phoenix, where she provides staff development, new teacher mentoring, and is the testing coordinator. She mentors 15 first and second year teachers. Leah has been teaching in Arizona for 27 years.

How did she get into teaching? A summer job she hated.
Leah was studying premed on her way to a career as a surgeon. “I took a summer job as a receptionist in a restaurant, which I hated and got a job at a summer camp instead. I fell in love with teaching kids, changed majors that fall and never looked back.”

What was her toughest moment as a teacher?
 “My second year in teaching, I had a third grader, a little boy who’d been adopted and was being given back. He thought he was leaving school for lunch. The things that you can’t control are the hardest to deal with. How you treat students in the four walls of your classroom is where you can make a difference. So it’s critical to educate them so they have choices in life.”

Why she went for the Master Teacher program?
“After going through the National Board Certification process, I got really excited with the thought of helping first year teachers, keeping them in the classroom, and being there to help them move their practice forward. The need is so great here - teachers have such heart to stay. Master Teacher is one of the programs out there that is truly valuable. Every school should have a full time mentor.”

What’s been most rewarding for her about being a Master Teacher?
“Working with the new teachers, watching their enthusiasm. Watching them shine in the classroom, taking something new that they’ve learned, and coming up with great innovative ideas. They want so much to do a good job, so when they are feeling low, I let them know how important they are, how much they are valued.”

To other teachers thinking of becoming Master Teachers:
“Teaching is the most important job in the world other than parenting. But when you have the opportunities to work with other teachers, it becomes exponential the number of children that you can impact.”

Esmont works with 15 teachers with approximately 25 students of their own. That comes to 375 students touched by her work. Figure that these teachers impact other teachers through collaboration, and the numbers of students affected goes much higher. Then consider that Esmont is instilling professionalism that will benefit students throughout a mentee career, and the impact is truly exponential.

Her toughest moment as a mentor?
“Trying to find an entry point with a new teacher who thinks everything is going well, when it’s not.”

Ultimately, Esmont was able to show the teacher data that she herself had asked Esmont to gather, data that measured student engagement in her lessons. The numbers didn’t lie and the teacher had to open up.

Her goal as a Master Teacher:
“To ignite the enthusiasm, interest and passion for teaching. To not let it burn out, to keep that passion and dedication burning. It has to be a consuming fire. Kids don’t deserve anything lukewarm or mediocre. I have no patience for that.”

What difference does she see so far?
Last year, her first year mentoring, the school had 18 new teachers. Only six new teachers came in this year.

“Scores are rising,” says Esmont, “there’s more continuity and commitment of teachers for students. Teachers are gaining expertise, rather than just trying to survive.”