Erickson Elementary School

Growing up, Isobel always showed an interest in teaching. So, when she attended the University of Arizona and took a class to help her navigate a variety of majors, she found herself in art and visual culture education. The path from there either led to teaching in a museum or becoming an art major. The decision was easy. 

“I knew I had that love of teaching, so I went towards the teaching emphasis route,” Isobel said. 

At Erickson, Isobel enjoys being able to work with all grade levels and seeing students express their creativity, especially when they create work differently than how she would have envisioned. 

“I always have an idea of how I want the projects done and then they always blow my mind and they do something completely different that’s even better,” Isobel said.

Teryl is in her second year teaching at Erickson, but before she came to the eastside elementary school, she taught what one would consider regular classes. Over time, she felt like she wanted to do more and be able to help more students directly, so she came to Erickson, where she’s able to work with refugee and immigrant students.  

“It’s always something new,” Teryl said. “I enjoy getting to know their cultures and finding out more about them, and watching them grow from not speaking anything but their name to being able to talk and read.” 

The 26-year Tucson Unified employee also enjoys working in this setting because it allows her to do one of her favorite hobbies: reading. She specifically works on just reading and writing with her students. 

That’s what makes it even better for me,” Teryl said. 

Ellen previously worked at Erickson for a decade as a fifth grade teacher, but is making her return to the eastside school this year after a two-year stint at a different Tucson Unified elementary school. She said Erickson felt like home over the 10 years she previously worked there and missed the family environment, students, and families she worked with. 

“I just wanted to come back,” Ellen said. “Once I left, I knew that I wanted to come back home.” 

While she may have come back to a familiar setting, Ellen didn’t come back to the same job. Now, she’s involved in nearly every aspect of the school. As the CSP, she works with individual teachers, observes classrooms, and helps in any way she can, even with administration and front office staff. But at the end of the day, she’s just grateful she can have an even bigger impact on the students. 

“When [the students are] having a rough day, they know where my office is and they know they can come to me for a few minutes,” Ellen said. “So we get them reset and we can get them back to class. That’s always been important to me.”