At the edge of the playground outside Pelham Elementary School sits a bright yellow bench that is a source of pride for Debbie Jacque.
Decorated with tiny handprints in a multitude of colors, the Buddy Bench — dedicated to the recently-retired teacher — is a new gathering place for schoolchildren to talk to each other and to demonstrate empathy. These are traits Jacque tried to inspire in all of her kindergarten students during 30 years of teaching at the school.
“The Buddy Bench so represents me,” said Jacque, for whom the bench was dedicated in recognition for her long service prior to retiring in June. “It warms my heart that everyone understood me.”
The bench carries her name on a plaque affixed to the back, a gift in June from her final class.
Jacque’s focus on listening to what others say and promoting respect toward each other are among the reasons she was recognized with the Roger L. Wallace Excellence in Teaching Award last Sunday.
“The most important thing for me is in helping them with learning and learning about who they are,” Jacque said. “That’s it in a nutshell.”
Named after the retired longtime Fort River Elementary School teacher, the award is given annually to a current or just retired teacher from one of the four elementary schools in Amherst and Pelham.
Andrea Battle, a member of the Wallace Foundation that oversees the award presentation, said representatives look for teachers who promote social justice and recognize student identity. Jacque was selected from six finalists, and will get a $700 stipend and a plaque.
A recent interview at the school was Jacque’s first opportunity to be back in the building since her retirement. She intentionally stayed away in September.
“I gave myself the month to become a retired person,” Jacque said, adding that she is walking and doing yoga every day. “I really miss the children, but physically my body is really happy. I haven’t felt this good in years.”
Walking through the halls of the small school again, Jacque said a good teacher has to listen to her students.
“It’s always been important for me to listen to children and to hear what they have to say, ” she said.
“Young children are so fresh; they don’t have any of the world baggage on them,” Jacque said. “They’re open and honest and say what’s on their mind.”
Pelham principal Lisa Desjarlais said many children are already discovering the Buddy Bench, which was built by special education teacher Leanne Hunt, and Hunt’s father.
“It has really made an impact in that children are using it and responding to it,” Desjarlais said.
Jacque said she is pleased this is happening. “It brings tears to my eyes that it is being used. To hear they’re using it is so exciting,” she said.
Being away from the classroom is a new experience for Jacque, who said she always wanted to be a teacher.
“I knew when I was 10 years old I wanted to teach children,” she said.
When she attended Amherst Regional High School, Jacque got her first taste of teaching by participating in the school’s child study program, and then as a high school senior she did a work study with kindergartners at Crocker Farm Elementary School.
She then went to Greenfield Community College, later graduating magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in human development and a bachelor’s of science in early childhood education. During her college studies she worked part-time as a kindergarten aide.
But she decided to put off her career to raise a family with husband Ronald, having two children, daughter Anette, and son Berri, and doing some substitute teaching for kindergarten through third-grade classes.
When she returned to teaching full time, she was first a paraprofessional at Crocker Farm and then a temporary teacher at Wildwood School before moving “up here on the hill,” as she puts it, in 1986.
Jacque said she will use the Wallace award stipend to purchase age-appropriate books focused on empathy and caring that can be used in the Pelham school’s classrooms.
She is also arranging to visit Baystate Medical Center in Springfield where she will read books she was given as retirement gifts to children hospitalized there, observing that these youth are facing often serious health issues that can often last a long time.
“I will think about a Pelham child when picking a book off the shelf,” Jacque said.
Jacque has twice previously been recognized, including receiving the Ronnie Mish Award and the Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Award.
She added that she always operated under a simple philosophy: “My love of teaching is my love of children,” Jacque said.
In addition to the Buddy Bench, a respect quilt is still on the wall in the school’s hallway, a patch made by each child in the mid-1990s class to illustrate how to be respectful toward others. Jacque has a replica of this quilt at home that she still uses to keep Pelham in her heart.
“I love this little school, I love the Pelham community and I love the Pelham school,” Jacque said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
