by Mary Jo David

When Audrey Austin welcomed her third graders at Heritage School this fall, she wasn’t just starting a new job. She was coming home. Austin attended Stockbridge schools from her earliest days through high school graduation. Now she is in the midst of her first year teaching in the district where she grew up.

“Growing up here in Stockbridge makes this extra special,” Austin said. “I’m thrilled to be back in my hometown teaching the next generation.”

Her hometown ties run deep. Not surprisingly, Austin is finding that she went to school with some of her students’ parents, aunts and uncles. “It’s cute when the kids make the connection,” she said.

Back in her youth in Stockbridge, Austin ran sprint relays and pole vaulted for the Stockbridge track team from sixth grade through her senior year. These days she enjoys reading fantasy and dystopian novels and loves to draw and paint, often sketching animals and people’s pets. She enjoys spending time with friends and family, and she has two cats she loves to spoil—Sunny Peach and Spirit Moon.

Teaching wasn’t Austin’s original plan. She started at Michigan State University as a psychology major. But after her freshman year, she worked as a paraprofessional in a Stockbridge kindergarten classroom for the last six weeks of the Stockbridge school year. She also spent the summer working with Kids Club. Says Austin, “That experience really solidified the idea of teaching.”

Following that summer, she switched her major to elementary education. After student teaching first grade in nearby Holt, she earned her degree from MSU. She is certified to teach preschool through third grade and also spent some time during college working with students learning English as a second language (ESL).

Ask this third grade teacher what her students enjoy most, and she doesn’t just point to one single subject or a specific lesson. “I think they’re happy just feeling comfortable and being in an environment where they can be themselves, goofy and fun, but focused on learning,” she said.

She tries keep her room cozy and visually appealing, a space students want to be in, because she believes that builds a feeling of belonging. And belonging is at the heart of one of her biggest accomplishments thus far. When asked about a career “win,” Austin recounts that when she was student teaching, she worked with a boy who was struggling to adjust to being in school. He did not have the most stable home life, but over time, she built a strong connection with him and watched him go from stressed about school to enjoying his classwork and making friends.

“Making an impact on any student is rewarding,” she said, “But it’s especially true about the ones who really need that connection.”

As a new teacher, Austin likes to think she brings a fresh perspective and a willingness to try new things, even if they don’t always work. She tries to learn from those mistakes. And because she’s pretty comfortable with technology she finds she’s able to help some colleagues who may be less at ease on the tech side of things.

Assisting goes both ways. Austin credits her third-grade team and the entire Heritage staff for their feedback, ideas and positive energy, which she said have made her first year far less overwhelming.

Her biggest challenge so far is keeping track of everything happening at once: lessons, activities and meetings. While she enjoys all of it, it took her a little while to “find her groove.” But according to Austin, things already feel more manageable than they did at the start of the year.

Her goal for the year is simple: achieving growth with every student, academically and socially, and helping them to have fun while learning. According to Austin, parents can help, too. She recommends practicing reading and math facts at home and talking through social skills with your kids, for example, how to resolve conflicts.

When she has the time, Austin loves to travel. She enjoys sharing fun facts about her life with her students, and traveling figures big in those stories. Her students were surprised to learn she has walked the beautiful beaches of Thailand and swam in that country’s gorgeous blue water. She’s also come nose-to-nose with some of the most incredible wildlife in Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands. Closer to home, her favorite Michigan spots include camping in Ludington and traveling to the historic park at Fayette, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where she once was treated to watching the northern lights over Big Bay de Noc.

All photos provided by Audrey Austin.