The Rigors and Rewards of Being a Teacher - CSUSB Magazine ...

Toni’s Reward
By Jaymes Merritt
After 20 years of teaching
middle and high school
English in Apple Valley, and
10 years after winning the
California Teacher of the
Year Award, Toni Robinette
is still passionate. She is passionate
about her subject, her
profession and her students.
“First and foremost, I
teach children; second, I
teach language arts,” said
Robinette during a recent
visit to her alma mater. “It is
important for my students
to know and feel that I am
a teacher because I believe
that it is the most important
career there is.”
At least one of
Robinette’s former
students heard the message.
Katie Lancraft, a
recent liberal arts graduate
from CSUSB, sent
Robinette a graduation
announcement this past
June with a personal
note. “I was once a student
of yours in 1997
when I was in the seventh
grade,” wrote Lancraft. “I just
wanted to thank you for all
the hard work you put into
your job every day and tell
you how much you really
A TEACHER’S TRAVELS — Her trip really started in fourth grade when the desire to
teach was first planted while at McKinley Elementary School in Colton. In 11th grade,
Toni was in school in Utah taking history from Mr. Olson, her main inspiration to
become a teacher. Three years ago Toni Robinette shared her ideas about teaching
with CSUSB students as part of the Alumni Association’s “Professor for a Day” event.
impacted my life as a student.
After seventeen years of
hard work and dedication,
this month I will receive my
bachelor of arts degree.”
Born in Portland, Ore.,
Robinette graduated from
CSUSB in 1987 and began
teaching immediately at
Apple Valley Middle School
in the high desert. She then
taught at Vista Campana
Middle School, also in Apple
Valley, where she was awarded
the California Teacher
of the Year in 1997. Later,
she moved to Granite Hills
High School, where she now
teaches freshman honors
and 11th grade English.
But even the greatest
teachers have difficulties.
Today, Robinette faces
upwards of 40 or more students
in every one of her
classes. Compliance with
the federal No Child Left
Behind Act (NCLB) has,
she said, created a complicated
and complex tangle of
standardized testing while
stifling some of the creative
elements of teaching. The
loss of professional staff
development days prevents
educators from feeding off
one another. Even getting
credentialed has become a
chore, with many requirements
to meet and several
exams to pass. When you
add to this equation the high
turnover rates of high school
principals, who are on the job
an average of 22-24 months,
then you have a definite
uphill battle. “It is vital to
have more consistency in the
leadership of a high school,”
said Robinette. “We need
administrators who are effective
instructional leaders, and,
along with the staff, have a
shared vision for the school.”
The future of teaching
is an uncertain picture.
26
CSUSB
Fall/Winter