Colleen Trager had dreams of being an opera singer and working in the music world but family needs brought her back to the Berkshires. After years in accounting, she found her place in teaching.
BECKET, Mass. — Becket Washington Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Colleen Trager has been selected as the October Teacher of the Month.
The Teacher of the Month series, in collaboration with Berkshire Community College, will run for the next seven months and will feature distinguished teachers nominated by community members. You can nominate a teacher here.
Being a teacher is not what Trager first set out to do, originally striving to be an opera singer until a call home to care for her sick mom sent her down a new path.
She obtained her bachelor's degree in performing arts at Wagner College on Staten Island, N.Y.
She then went on to work for Columbia Artists Management in New York, where she organized tours and managed logistics for famous classical musicians and orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor.
She worked there from 1996 until moving back to the Berkshires in 1998. She worked as an accountant for Guido's Whole Sales Office until 2007.
"I just knew that I wanted to do something that would impact other people and singing is wonderful, and people love to listen, but I didn't feel like it was really something that I could impact people on a daily basis," Trager said.
"So, when I was thinking of what I really loved to do, I loved to be with kids, I loved to learn. I had a great school experience, and I thought that that would just be a great path for me. So, that's why I chose to switch careers, and I'm so happy I did."
She returned to college to earn her master's in education at Lesley University. Trager has been teaching for 18 years, educating students in first, third, and now fifth grade.
Her students are always making Trager sing, she said.
"The fifth-graders they love to sing. They love to do dances, especially this class. So, we sing sometimes and I always promised them, before the end of the year, that I'll sing something in a different language, which they think is pretty cool," she said.
Showing this side of herself to her students shows them that there is so much to a person, Trager said.
"I think [students] sometimes see you just as the person that's standing in front of them as a teacher and people are made of so many different elements, and there's so much to our history that people don't always know," she said.
"So, I think it just lets them know that people are more than what they maybe see them in at the moment."
People can be transfixed with first impressions and make judgment calls quickly. Showing students that there are more sides to a person may make them more open-minded and give them opportunities to show they are, Trager said.
Trager values learning and says she loves how curious students are. Every year is different because you are working with a different cohort of students. It is never boring.
"I think that when you stop learning, you become stagnant and I think it's really important for me to keep learning, for the students in front of us, to keep learning. It's how we grow, and I just don't feel like you ever stop. So, I love learning," Trager said.
Her students express that Trager makes learning fun, highlighting how she teaches them the material by providing them with different strategies to utilize.
"If you're going into school and feeling so tired, she'll just get you in the mood and ready to learn and everything," fifth-grader Molly Avalle said.
Classmate Kathleen Chandler agreed, adding that you could be in the worst mood and that Trager will take the time to talk to you and make you feel better and ready to learn.
She motivates her students, pushes them to do things outside their comfort zone, and builds their confidence so they can do things they previously thought they couldn't.
These remarks were echoed by school Principal Mary Kay McCloskey. Trager connects with every student and makes sure they reach their full potential, she said.
"Every child who leaves her classroom leaves certainly having learned more with a stronger sense of self and a positive self-image. She's excellent at that and has students coming back all the time to visit her because of that," McCloskey said.
Trust is an important thing in any relationship, including a teacher-student relationship, especially for students who may be struggling a little more, she said.
"She builds that trust, that she is there for them, that she won't ask them to do more than they're capable of, but she will push them to do the best that they can do at their level," McCloskey said.
"And children, they're smart, they get that, and once she's established that with them, you see her students blossom. It's wonderful to watch."
She also commented on Trager's willingness to share her knowledge by mentoring younger teachers.
Trager emphasized that during her career, her fellow teachers and students have made her into the educator she is today.
"Being with other teachers, having teachers come in and coach going in to watch other classrooms and seeing all the amazing things that they're doing with students, and how the work that they're doing is impacting their lives. I think that's what impacts me. I think that's really what has changed me," she said.
Trager said she evolved a lot from when she first became an educator to today.
"I feel like kids have changed so much over that period of time. The students I'm teaching now are so different from the students I was teaching back when I began teaching first grade, so I think their change has also shifted my thinking," she said.
"I mean, even technology, we didn't have one-to-one devices back when I first started teaching. I'm not nearly as tech-savvy as the kids are. I love when they can teach me things on their devices, so I'm constantly learning from them as well."
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