BY MAGGIE BEAMGUARD, Insider Editor
Many years ago, in a humble, third-grade classroom not so far away, Diana Rowland used her sharpened No. 2 pencil to fill out worksheets provided by her teacher, Ms. Judy Boroughs.
Today, Rowland is the teacher, standing in front of an eager second-grade class, in the very room where she was once a student.
Rowland recently was named West End Elementary School’s 2021-22 Teacher of the Year, a recognition her 8-year-old self never imagined receiving. But it comes as no surprise to Boroughs.
“I believe to this day that I was born to be a teacher, and nothing thrills me more than to see one of my former students come to that same realization,” she said. “I had the privilege of teaching Diana in the third grade at West End Elementary School and she proved to be every teacher’s dream student.
“I have followed her as she has embarked on her career and I think it was destiny that brought her back to WEE and back to that same classroom we shared several years ago. It has been said that ‘teaching is a work of heart’ and this describes Diana perfectly.”
Of the ten years Rowland has taught in Moore County, the last two years have been at West End Elementary on N.C. 211.
“It’s a really special place. It feels like home. That feeling partly comes from the nostalgia I have of once going to school there.”
Making it feel even more like home is that Rowland’s mother, Heidi Rabstejnek, is the school’s cafeteria manager and is again making her lunches. Mother and daughter check in each morning on Rowland’s way to her classroom. The pair love this special perk of working together.
“She was put on this earth to teach,” says Rabstejnek, who remembers her daughter “playing school” at home with her younger siblings as her pupils. Rowland’s younger sister, Sarah, made for a model student while her brother, Danny, proved more resistant to her teaching techniques.
The aspiring educator taught her sister how to write her name and gave her assignment papers to complete. Their mother still has those completed assignments in an old composition book.
“I adored my teachers growing up,” Rowland said. “I would see how they made learning fun and how they made connections with the kids. I always had such positive experiences in the classroom growing up that it made me want to go into this field and to create that same environment and love for learning.”
Fun-loving and creative, Rowland is the kind of teacher you wish you had as a child. Her second-grade classroom, where she once listened to Mrs. Boroughs read aloud to her class from a stool, has been carefully curated into a safe haven for learning.
Upon entering Rowland’s classroom, you are liable to encounter “ninja warriors,” Frankenstenian “doctors,” “pirates,” or cafe “managers” completing assignments designed to help them dig deeper into their learning objectives. By incorporating “classroom transformation,” Rowland puts a fun twist on learning and makes the lessons memorable for the children.
“Ms. Rowland takes the time to make the curriculum fun and engaging,” Principal Shaun Krencicki said. “She gets her students excited about what they will be learning. One day she and the students are dressed like judges and attorneys while they litigate and scrutinize their reading passage, and another day they are doctors doing “surgery” on sentences.”
Rowland enjoys teaching all the different academic subjects, but she has a particular love of math: “There’s something about math and figuring out word problems.
“I love helping kids realize that they’re good at math. Once kids start to think they’re not good at math, they really hit a wall. I think it’s important to get them hooked on math early on. I love all the hands-on lessons you can do with math to make it fun.”
Reinforcing a unit about money, each student recently had to calculate the cost of lunch and pay Rowland in play coins before lining up for the cafeteria. The hungry students had strong motivation to quickly complete the task.
As important as the academics are to Rowland, it is the privilege to nurture students that she loves most.
“It’s almost like these are my students for life. Getting to know them, hearing their stories, getting to know their families and just making all those connections — that’s my favorite thing. And when I see that light bulb go off — when I see them excited that they figured something out — helping guide them to that moment is really special to me. I love getting to know my class.”
Rowland’s favorite time of day is snack time, but not just so she can enjoy her favorite, the Cosmic Brownie.
That’s when I really get to chat with the kids. I love all the learning that we do, but snack time is really when I get to hear about what they’ve done over the weekend or how their new puppy is doing or when their mom is having their new baby. It’s also in the afternoon, so we’ve done the bulk of our learning that day. So kids get a moment to enjoy their time with their peers.”
The camaraderie between teacher and students is apparent.
“We’re currently in a pranking war,” shares Rowland. “We were not in school for April Fools’ so we are treating the whole month as April Fools. I’ve been getting them good.”
One morning, she announced to her class that there was a new drill since there was to be some upcoming rain. She instructed them to lift up their pant legs and to practice their swimming strokes just in case. “I’m really pushing their trust,” she chuckled.
The biggest challenge Rowland faces is time. Being fully prepared often means Rowland is in her classroom on Sunday afternoons making sure she has copies ready, papers graded and lesson adjustments made so the students get exactly what they need.
In addition to her students, Rowland shares her time with her family, her spouse, Creston, and children, Evelyn and Quint, and 16 goats and 30 chickens. The small dairy goat farm Rowland owns is her personal escape.
“Every day we’ll go out there and just take care of the animals. I think it feeds my soul to be in the fresh air and to my kids running around with the goats. It’s become a family activity.”
Family, home and teaching are fully integrated for Rowland. Her mother is especially proud of her.
“For her to be nominated is just amazing. And given the field of all the great teachers that are here, for her to be chosen, that was just meaningful.”
The Teacher of the Year is chosen annually by the teachers themselves using criteria established by the school district, including: making a significant contribution to the total school program; involvement in the community; and demonstrating knowledge and best classroom practices that meet the needs of all students.
Krencicki notes that, in addition to teaching, Rowland is “an expert in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, and she has taken on several important leadership roles since joining West End a couple of years ago. She is the grade level chair for second grade, and she is also a part of the Teacher Support Team, a group of teachers who meet with the principal throughout the year (including the summer) to develop and implement a plan to improve instruction across the building through professional development strategies.”
If there is one thing that Rowland hopes her students have gained by the end of the school year, it is the growth mindset that they can do anything they set their minds to.
“We start working on it in the beginning of the year when we’re building that classroom community. We give them a safe space to make mistakes and to learn from their mistakes. If they keep trying and learning they’ll reach their goals.”
And perhaps one of those students will make it his or her goal to be a teacher just like Diana Rowland, who wanted to be a teacher just like Mrs. Judy Boroughs — a homegrown “work of heart.”
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
