In center, Juliette Darmon, North Andover Teachers Association president, speaks about the dozens of professional teacher status recipients standing during an event to honor teachers at the at the North Andover Historical Society. Lisa Bernard, a longtime kindergarten teacher in North Andover Public Schools, was inducted into its Educators Hall of Fame after.
NORTH ANDOVER -- Retired kindergarten teacher Lisa Bernard said she knows her teaching style may have been unconventional, but it worked for her and her students.
North Andover School Committee inducted Bernard, 81, into the North Andover Public Schools Educator Hall of Fame for her 23 years with the school district during a ceremony Wednesday at the North Andover Historical Society.
Bernard, a Lawrence native who lives in North Andover, said she was thrilled to receive the honor, but could also think of many other people who also deserved the honor as well.
She began her teaching career in 1964 and retired in 2008, teaching in Salem, New Hampshire, in public and private schools in Methuen before landing in North Andover. She stepped away for seven years to raise her kids during that time. She spent most of her time as a kindergarten teacher in North Andover schools from 1985 to 2008, first at Bradstreet Early Childhood Center and then Atkinson School.
"There is nothing like a five-year-old," she said with a laugh. "They are fabulous little creatures."
During her time at Bradstreet, Bernard was assigned a class of children with life-threatening nut allergies. She even taught a hearing-impaired class at one point.
But her "nut-free" classroom was one of the first in the country to set-up a program of this kind. School districts from across the United States requested information on how to implement such a model in their schools.
"We were forerunners of that as it hadn't come up in any other state yet," she recalled.
The classroom had a direct line to the fire department in case of anaphylaxis.
"It was pretty scary," she said.
Once she began the program, she stayed with it until she was transferred to the Atkinson School.
Signs hung up around her classroom saying "No peanuts." Students weren't allowed to bring food in. She had a lock box in the classroom of nut-free snacks since they couldn't have traditional parties like neighboring classrooms.
"Dateline NBC" even sent reporter Keith Morrison and a camera crew to Bernard's classroom when the nut-allergy topic got hot.
Morrison said wanted to get the kids to talk about the difficulties with their allergies and what set their classroom apart. The kids responded they were the only class in the school with a piano, Bernard said.
Bernard said her style of teaching was always unique.
"I didn't always go exactly by the book, but it worked for me," Bernard said as she strived to have her students think critically, instead of just learning the subject by rote.
She was "the teacher with the piano."
"It was really a wonderful way to reach the kids and bring them all together," she said. "If they had different abilities it was the equalizer."
Her students sang along as she played the piano. Music was an important part of her students' day and she would often share patriotic songs with them.
In her classroom, they would discuss the country, president, even taxes, in a way the kids would understand. The students learned about fire and police departments as well.
Days would start with what she called the "cozy corner." The kids would surround her rocker and they would talk for about 30 minutes about the weather, the calendar, current events and important things happening.
"I thought it was very important for kids to learn a little bit about government," Bernard said. "It made them feel so grown up."
Her teaching was always served with a side of humor as her classrooms where filled with young children. She enjoyed watching how her students digested information and how they absorbed it at 5 years old.
Bernard kept notebooks of all the things her students would say, as she often asked them open-ended questions. She enjoyed hearing their candid responses and how they were thinking and feeling about different subjects.
"I remember once asking one of my kids where he was born," Bernard said. "He looked at me puzzled and said, 'I don't know. I wasn't there.' That stuck with me."
Reflecting back on her career, Bernard wouldn't change a thing. She now runs into former students and parents from time to time when she's out and about with her husband.
She still remembers everyone.
"I don't remember a whole lot of things, but I sure don't forget their faces," Bernard said. "I remember them and I can still pick them out in a crowd."