Hidden behind pink, sparkly costume glasses, Robyn Frame's eyes illuminated as she read a book to her kindergarten students. Her animated face was matched by the enthusiasm in her voice. Changes in character dialogue signaled adjustments in her vocal tone - ranging from high-pitched squeals to baritone rumbles.
The children, sitting Indian style on a rug in the center of her classroom - as known as "the deserted island," were entranced with each flip of the page.
Silence later ceased as Frame, a kindergarten teacher at Bartley Elementary School, and her students sang along to a kid-friendly rock-n-roll song about the days of the week. Frame was the front man - or rather, woman - to a band of four and five year olds; the whole ensemble jamming out on air guitars. Throughout the entire class period, Frame gave special cards to children behaving well. The cards were top secret, she told them, and she emphasized they couldn't show their classmates what they received. If her students couldn't tell the importance of the cards by the tone of her voice, they could tell by her raised eyebrows.
"I'm going to keep this in my pocket forever," one boy said after being the first child to find his spot in line.
Frame's energy gives her an actress-like style to teaching, which comes as no surprise with her background.
The classroom becomes her stage
As a Fulton High School student in the 1970s, Frame could often be found on the stage. This led her to earn a theatre scholarship to Columbia College where she pursued a theatre and dance degree. In the late '70s, the college dropped its theatre and dance programs, but Frame didn't want to leave the school and discovered another passion - teaching.
"I had already been inspired," Frame said, adding she always had a love for children and babysat at a young age.
During her practicum at a Columbia elementary school, Frame observed a teacher she wanted to emulate. As kindergartners walked into the classroom, this teacher sang good morning to the children.
"I go, "I want to be her,'" Frame said. "And, I did ... I just decided this is it. This is what I should be doing."
Fulton Public Schools recently named Frame as its teacher of the year - an annual award given the district educator the excels in teaching. In her nomination letter, Bartley Elementary Principal Connie Epperson said Frame is a "positive leader" in their school."
"She works well with all staff and has a great rapport with her students' parents," Epperson wrote. "Mrs. Frame is creative, energetic, passionate about what she does, and a skilled kindergarten teacher. The last three years in particular, she has stepped up to the challenge of helping lead our staff and students in the creation of a better learning environment for all. It goes without saying that our school community benefits immensely from Mrs. Frame's commitment to providing the best teaching, the best leadership, the best attitude and the best experience to our students and staff."
In 1982, Frame landed her first teaching position at New Bloomfield Elementary School as a third grade teacher.
"I was going to make $10,000 and I thought I was rich," Frame said. "That was the starting salary in 1982. I think about that and think, "Gosh, was I stupid?' That was the best two years, the best experience."
In her first year, the most valuable lesson Frame said she learned was one she told her kindergartners in class earlier this week: "If you can't figure it out, ask a friend."
"It's important to ask for help," Frame said. "I think you have to get over that mindset of "I look too vulnerable or weak if I ask for help.'"
Transitioning back into the classroom
Frame then came back to the district she graduated from and began working at Bush Elementary. She taught there for more than four years, and then took time off from teaching to raise her two daughters - Hannah and Olivia. At one point, Frame opened her own aerobics studio in Columbia and later became the aerobics director for Wilson's Fitness. Juggling the aerobics program part-time in Columbia and having two children at St. Peter Catholic School in Fulton became too much, and Frame said she "had enough."
When her daughters were attending St. Peter, Frame paved her way back into teaching as a part-time gym and music teacher at the school for nine years. She did this in exchange her Hannah and Olivia's tuition.
After nearly a decade at St. Peter, Frame said she felt a desire to have her own classroom again.
"I missed the five year olds," she said.
Frame interviewed with Connie Epperson, Bartley Elementary's principal, and its then-kindergarten teacher, Andy Duncan. Leaving the interview, Frame said she had a meant-to-be feeling about the school.
"It felt right," Frame said. "I went home and told Bill (my husband), "I don't know if I want to go anywhere else. It just feels right here.' They were all so energetic."
She landed the job and has brought her own energy into Bartley for the past 10 years.
The person who helped her through those first years back in the classroom was Duncan, her partner in kindergarten. She described him as a stress-free, fly-by-the-seat-of-his pants person who took advantage of spontaneous opportunities for children to learn.
"If it was something in the moment and there was nothing written in the lesson plan that said "We're going to be studying worms today,' it didn't matter (to Duncan)," Frame said. "Because he saw a teachable moment and he went with it."
Duncan's happy-go-lucky attitude benefited Frame in her first year back into teaching, a time that can he highly stressful for educators.
"As a new teacher and coming back into everything - and there's a lot your first year - he would just say, "Just wait and it will be OK. He would say, "This too shall pass.' And he was right," Frame said. "So, you learn not to stress with everything that's new because, as educators, we try to do everything."
The Frame-Finley kindergarten team
When Duncan announced he was leaving Bartley, Frame said she knew exactly who should take his place - Katie Finley, who was then teaching first grade at the school. Frame said she liked how Finley incorporated important aspects of kindergarten - music and movement - into first grade.
Almost instantly after Duncan broke the news to her, Frame said she went to Epperson's office and told the principal: "Give me Katie Finley." Duncan and Finley also approached Epperson with the same idea.
"Connie didn't stand a chance," Frame said jokingly.
Finley, a William Woods graduate, was a previous practicum student of Frame's. Even in Finley's years as a student teacher, Frame said her practicum student demonstrated a natural ability, actively participating in the classroom and the children's educational experience.
Working with Frame, Finley said, was a chance to work with an experienced teacher she could learn from.
"I wanted to work with Robyn because she's the best of the best, and I thought, "Well, I want to work with the best of the best,'" Finley said. "That's who I want to be."
The two teachers' relationship is an example of how opposites attract. Finley said her personality is type B, looking at the big picture and allowing details to work themselves out, while Frame is type A and is very detail oriented. The differences between them, Finley said, is a reason she made the move to kindergarten because she knew they could work off of one another's strengths.
Their partnership in kindergarten developed into a friendship outside of school. They walk together, teach fitness classes at the YMCA, attend social events and have become a part of each other's lives. Frame and Finley's personal friendship has benefited them at school, especially during difficult times. Both women lost their mothers within a couple years of each other.
"It's a support system," Finley said. "You can't just leave it all at home - it's impossible. It gives us somewhere we care about each other."
Frame's passion for teaching continues
The biggest lesson Finley said she's learned from Frame over the past four years is to "love what you do." Frame lives this lesson each moment in her classroom, Finley said.
"I think she has to live it, otherwise it wouldn't be as strong of a lesson," Finley said. "She really does live it in every single thing that she does. She just loves to teach and she loves what she does. She loves being with the kids every day."
At 55, Frame said she has no plans to retire.
"I've always said I have to love what I do, and if I'm not starting now planning for the fall, then I think that's a sign," Frame said.
Until then, Frame will keep teaching and reaping one of its rewards - watching children's faces light up when they've learned a new skill.
"(One of the biggest joys of teaching is) when a child gets something for the first time, it's that child that comes with nothing ... and to see how far they've come."