Connecticut teacher of the year from Windsor shares diverse book recommendations on Instagram

Joe Chaisson, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·4 min read

May 14—WINDSOR — When schools closed down at the start of the pandemic, kindergarten teacher Rochelle Brown had to devise a new way to share her love for reading with students.

In March 2020, Brown took her personal collection of over 100 children's books home with her and created an Instagram account — @KidLitLove8 — where she posts short summaries of recommended books for parents and students to choose from.

Brown said she wanted to offer books that reflected her students' culture and backgrounds.

"I always loved books growing up, but I could never identify with the main characters," Brown said. "When I got to college and started studying to be a teacher, I thought to myself, 'this is something that just can't happen to the kids in my room.'"

Her Instagram account has 266 posts with books for young children that cover a range of culturally significant days, from Ramadan to Easter to Chinese New Year, and topics including civil rights heroes and hard-to-pronounce names.

Brown is a kindergarten teacher at Poquonock School, a school for pre-kindergarten through second grade.

Brown was named the state's 2021 teacher of the year in October.

"When I got the award, I was just thinking in my head, I am just doing what I would want someone to do for my child," Brown said. "It is a huge honor. I am sometimes still in disbelief that it was me, because I don't go around talking about all the things I have done and bragging and boasting.

"I just feel like you don't come into teaching for accolades or for the pay. You come into it because you really have a genuine desire to do what is right for children, and to give them the best education you can give them."

Jay Mihalko, principal at Poquonock, said he couldn't imagine a more perfect person for the award.

"Rochelle is extremely humble in everything that she does and she's also there for the kids every day, and truly treasures each unique gift that every child has," Mihalko said. "She's a great member of the kindergarten team and brings a lot to the school in terms of her additional work with the equity team, as well as the kindergarten team."

Nancy Field, a first-grade teacher at Poquonock, said the biggest thing Brown brings to work is her heart.

"She's one of those colleagues that teachers trust. If you go to her, she can give you good advice and you can trust her," Field said. "We are becoming a more diverse society so as a white teacher, if I have questions, I can bring them to her, and trust that she will give me a good answer and understand why I am asking. We have that level of trust. She's an incredible human being."

Field described Brown as authentic, giving, and thoughtful.

Brown received her bachelor's degree in public health at the University of Rochester, followed by her master's in teaching and curriculum from the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education at the University of Rochester.

Brown has been teaching in Windsor since 1999.

"Every child can learn, you just have to find the way in which they learn. But, the basis of any of their learning has to be building strong relationships with them and their families," Brown said. "Children do not learn from people who they feel don't believe in them, or from people they feel aren't like them."

She added, "The first thing I always want to do is just let the children know is that I am someone who can be trusted, I am someone that has their very best interest at heart, and I want the very best for them. And that goes a long way for kids and their families."

Brown added that when she is with kids, she wants to be the teacher that she would want her children to have, if she had children.

"It's an honor to be a part of people's lives and to have a lasting impact on their lives. It's an honor to know what I do truly does make a difference in the lives of people, and that I can impact so many people."

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