The Cryer-Kafkas Connection
Mr. Kafkas
I am looking forward to teaming with Mrs. Cryer this year as a content Math and Social Studies teacher. The 2014/2015 school year will be my 9th year teaching at Wells Elementary School as a 3rd and 4th grade teacher. Prior to moving to Wells, I taught at Williams-Cone Elementary School in Topsham, Maine. Overall, this will be my 16th year of teaching with most of those years working as a looping teacher. My experience teaching the same group of students (from 3rd to 4th grade) have allowed me to see the amazing growth students can achieve during that 2-year grade span. It has also led to classroom communities where strong friendships are formed with many great memories we can look back on years later. Now that I will no longer be a looping teacher, I am excited for the opportunity to focus on a specific grade level/subject area while still integrating other subjects whenever possible.
I have lived in Maine for most of my life and enjoy visiting Boston area whenever I can. Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, Boston Garden, Museum of Science and Quincy Market are some of my favorite weekend destinations. My love of Boston was reinforced by my 4 years spent at Gordon College in Wenham, MA (30 minutes from the city). I graduated from Gordon with a Business/Accounting degree. Although I am still a “numbers/budget guy” the accounting field wasn’t for me. After many volunteer sports coaching positions and summer camp jobs, I decided to pursue a career in teaching. I received my K-8 teaching degree from the University of Southern Maine in 1999. I completed my Masters of Teaching and Learning in 2003. In recent years, I have enjoyed running on the Eastern Trail and taking part in races such as the Maine Marathon, Komen Race for the Cure (and special themed races at Disney World too). In 2013, I ran the Maine Marathon
with my sisters Janet and Liz, and my mother. It was my mom’s first race! Our “Team Kafkas” relay team was in support of my brother Steve Kafkas who has successfully battled cancer recently. Steve is a 5th grade teacher in Illinois. I also have a 4 year-old nephew Daniel and 2 year-old niece Lillian.
My main teaching philosophy is to have each student feel that they are a valuable part of a community where they can learn new skills, ask questions/explore and support each other to reach individual (and group) goals. The subject of math has many foundational skills that we will spend time focusing on. For example, we will focus on developing math fact fluency (accuracy with speed), place value, problem-solving strategies and explaining mathematical thinking to others. Our math class will also relate these
skills/strategies to real-world contexts. Although Mrs. Cryer will be focusing on literacy instruction and I will teaching Math/Social Studies, we are BOTH experienced with and available to you as resources for either subject. Don’t hesitate to let us know if you need support in any area at school. We hope you enjoy being part of our classroom/team!
With my sister at the "Tilt" at the John Hancock Building in Chicago. The windows move out from 94th Floor at a 30 degree angle! This is the face of me trusting the math and engineering skills of those who built this! (August 2014)
Mrs. Cryer
This will be my third year teaching 3rd grade here at WES and I am really looking forward to teaching literacy and math while teaming with Mr. K! I began teaching five years ago in Hollis where I taught second grade and then, fifth grade. Third grade is my favorite! It will be an exciting year being able to focus on just literacy. This is the first time the 3rd grade teachers have taught this way, but the 4th grade teachers have done it this way for several years and they love it! The most exciting part is that I will have more time to create better lessons for my students!
This was an important summer for me because, after 5 years, I finished work on my Master's degree! I am just waiting on the paperwork to go through and I will have a Master of Education in Instructional Technology! Yes, that means I love using technology in my classroom! Mr. K and I will be
working together to include technology to help students learn. They will be writing blogs, using websites to learn and practice math and reading skills, sharing books and so much more!
I love teaching mainly because every day brings new challenges and exciting discoveries. My favorite time of day is when I see a student's face change as a concept suddenly clicks in his/her mind. The students get excited and so do I! Each day there are new lessons to try and interesting obstacles to surmount.
My family is a very important part of my life. My husband, Ty, and I have been married for 26 years and have three sons. Ty graduated from Wells High School, as did all three of our children.
My oldest son, Jim (24), is a lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He is in flight school and plans to fly helicopters. This summer he learned all sorts of acrobatic flying, felw two solo flights and a cross-country flight of 4,500 miles! He graduated from Rennsalaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in systems engineering.
My middle son, Scott (22), is also a lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He is stationed in Quantico, Virginia while he attends The Basic School, which is the first school all Marine Corps officers attend after graduating from college. He hopes to work in logistics, which means he will help organize things like troop and equipments movement around the world. His most exciting piece of his life right now, though, is that he will
Jim on the wing of his aircraft after his first solo flight.
be getting married on New Year's Eve! He has been with his fiancee since they were freshmen at Wells High School! Scott graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in communications.
Tommy is my youngest son (18) and he is just starting college at Villanova University, just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He plans to get a degree in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience so he can use it in a criminal justice career. He also is in the Naval ROTC program, so he will become an officer in the Navy when he graduates.