By Sarah Hall
Editor
Amy Hysick thought she was going to be a doctor.
But Hysick, the daughter of two former North Syracuse Central School District teachers, changed her mind after teaching a section of microbiology to nursing students.
“Being in front of them, being able to teach, there was something that clicked in the back of my head that said, ‘You know what? This is a better fit for your talents and your energy and your abilities than being a doctor would be,’” she said. “Between the example that my parents had set and teaching that one class and having all of those pieces finally fall into place, it was really a road map and an arrow that said, ‘This is what you’re supposed to do with your life.’”
As it turned out, it was the right call; earlier this month, Hysick, a science teacher at Cicero-North Syracuse High School, was named the New York State Teacher of the Year.
It was a rigorous process to earn the title. Hysick was named North Syracuse Central School District’s Teacher of the Year for 2015-16, so she was the district’s choice to fill out the application to the state. She filled out her application at the beginning of 2016 and assumed that was the last she’d hear about it.
“I know what some of the qualifications have been and some of the resumes and accomplishments of some of even the past runners-up,” Hysick said. “I knew a gentleman who was a colleague in another district who was one of the finalists and was not selected. I’m going, ‘God, all the stuff that he does. There’s no way I’m getting this. It’s not going to happen.’”
But then in March, she learned she was one of 10 semi-finalists.
“I remember distinctly getting that email,” Hysick said. “I literally had to walk out of the room. I was shaking, I was so nervous.”
Being a semi-finalist brought another round of written responses and essays explaining her teaching style and commitment to the profession. Hysick was then named one of five finalists, which prompted a site visit from New York State Parent-Teacher Association President Bonnie Russell, the school information officer for the West Genesee Central School District, and former NYS Teacher of the Year Jeff Peneston, who just retired from teaching earth science at Liverpool. Hysick then had to travel to Albany to be interviewed by a panel of former winners and others, which she calls “the most intimidating thing I’ve ever done.”
“It was terrifying,” she said. “You can’t bring anything in with you. [No] notes or anything… I walked in and there was this big giant rectangular table and I have the hot seat at the narrow end of the table and up the sides of the table I think were 14 people, 10 of whom were the last 10 years’ worth of the state teachers of the year… For every question there was absolutely no change of expression. Zero change in affect for total poker faces for every single response that I had… I walked out of there and I called my mom. I was like, ‘Well, that adventure’s done. I’m out.’”
But Hysick’s doubts were unfounded. She received word in June that she had been selected — but she couldn’t tell anyone outside of her immediate family.
“They notified my principal, who then notified my superintendent, but that was it,” Hysick said. “Every time I would run into someone at Wegmans and they’d go, ‘Hey, you hear anything yet?’ I would have to flat out lie to them. I’m really active in my church. I had to lie in church because they would ask me, “Did you hear anything yet? Do you know yet?’ ‘Nope, I haven’t heard anything yet…’ Then I’d have to walk away because I just lied in church.”
The official announcement was finally made Sept. 13. Now that the cat is out of the bag, Hysick is excited to show the rest of the state what North Syracuse is all about.
“There’s so much amazing stuff going on in all of the classrooms in our district,” she said. “All of the eyes of New York state get to go, ‘What are you guys doing that’s so cool in North Syracuse?’ Because there’s such cool stuff going on in all the classroom in our district. Not just science. I get to shine light on that and I’m really excited about that part.”
Meanwhile, as NYS Teacher of the Year, Hysick gets to do some pretty cool stuff herself. In addition to speaking engagements and appearances, as a science teacher, Hysick will get to attend Honeywell’s Space Camp in Alabama this summer.
“If you want to just apply as a teacher, the upper age limit is 14. I teach 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders,” she said. “This is a huge opportunity for me to be able to go that I wouldn’t have because of the population that I teach and what their program is geared towards.”
She’s also in the running for the title of National Teacher of the Year. Early next year, Hysick will meet with the state teachers of the year from all 50 states and six territories for professional development. All of the candidates will have to go through the same application processes they did for state teacher, and they’ll all be recognized at the White House where the national winner will be announced by the new president.
Hysick said she doesn’t consider the state title to mean she’s New York’s top teacher. Quoting a former NYS Teacher of the Year winner, she said, “There are days I’m not even the best teacher in my classroom.”
“There are days when everything works and the cosmic stars align and you see the light bulbs go on over every single kid’s head. You’re like, ‘Holy crap, this is the best job ever. I rock at this,’” she said. “Then there are other days when it’s just absolutely the opposite and it’s like pulling teeth to get kids to answer a question or talk to each other or participate in classwork. There’s no rhyme or reason that I’ve been able to find as to which one happens on any given day. Really, this is more about being a representative to be able to talk to other people about teaching and about what it means to be a teacher.”
Hysick acknowledged that she may do things a little differently than some of her colleagues.
“I wear crazy outfits,” she said. “We had school spirit week all this week. Today I wore a lime neon green wig with a blue sparkly tiara on top of it. I don’t take myself very seriously in my classroom, and so my kids learn that they don’t have to either.”
She also has a somewhat unconventional grading policy.
“What I’ve chosen to do in my classroom is I allow my kids to redo everything. Every test, every quiz, every lab, every project, every assignment, for full credit,” she said. “If your grade on a quiz is low because you had a bad day, come in and retake it and show me that you have learned from your mistakes or you had a better day or you actually know it for real, and your grade reflects your most recent demonstration of what you actually know. We don’t average the other ones. The other one was a practice. The only one that actually counts is whatever your highest attempt is.”
Hysick said forcing kids to adhere to a “one strike and you’re out” policy is holding them to a higher standard than most adults.
“What happens if you go take your driver’s test and you fail it? You go take it again,” she said. “What happens to a little kid who’s a third-grader, takes the standardized test, gets anxious and gets labeled a one for the rest of his or her elementary school career? We don’t do that to adults. Why are we doing that to third-graders?”
Hysick said giving kids second chances and allowing them to learn from their mistakes helps them to learn in general — which, after all, is her job.
“Your brain learns from mistakes, so it’s okay if you make them,” she said. “What happens when you make a mistake? You learn from it, you do better. Then you get better and then you get better.”
That’s part of Hysick’s own philosophy, as well—that life is about continuing to learn and do better.
“My journey is all about learning,” she said. “Part of what I love being as a teacher is that I’m the lead learner in my classroom. I’m not the one with all the answers. I’m just the one that maybe has read more books than you.”
She said that isn’t going to change now that she’s been named NYS Teacher of the year.
“There’s no way that I’m just going to say, ‘OK, I’m teacher of the year, I can stop learning. I can stop working so hard.’ Yeah, rest on your laurels, just take a year off. That ain’t going to happen. Because that’s not me,” Hysick said. “This doesn’t mean that I’m done. This doesn’t in any way mean that I can stop learning and stop growing and stop improving or stop innovating or stop challenging myself. That can’t happen and won’t happen.”
