Amanda Bomprezzi has been teaching third grade for the past seven years at Bon Lin Elementary School. She has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Memphis.
It Takes a Village
Amanda Bomprezzi is thankful to her former teachers and her mother, for helping to hone her love for reading and providing her emotional support during stressful periods of life. And she reminisces about them often. “I have four special ladies to thank for helping me to discover my love of teaching,” she says. “Kim Wiggins, Carol Lane, Judy Marston, and my mom, Sheila Bomprezzi.”
Growing up, Bomprezzi’s mom worked at the family’s church’s Mother’s Day Out program every summer. When she was old enough to have a job, one of her first was teaching at Mother’s Day Out. It was there that she discovered her love for working with children. Her mom showed her the value of working hard for something she is passionate about, and now she teaches in the same school as her mom, Bon Lin Elementary.
Bomprezzi’s fifth-grade teacher had a huge impact on her career choice as well, and also on her style of teaching. “She [Carol Lane] is my role model for how a teacher should encourage her students and be emotionally available for them in their everyday lives,” she says. And she hopes that her own students will remember her for years to come. “Once my student, always my kid. My hope is that years from now, when my students look back on their time with me, they will remember how much I cared about them.”
“Take chances …”
“Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!” Ms. Frizzle’s [a character from The Magic School Bus book series] catch phrase sums up Bomprezzi’s teaching style.
“Many times, kids think they don’t know how to do something, when in reality, they are simply lacking the confidence to try,” she says. “I want my classroom to be a place where they can take chances without fear of failure. I also make sure my students know that everyone makes mistakes — even teachers!” And she always encourages her students to try new things. “Sometimes skills are going to be hard; however, if students don’t take chances, how will they ever experience success?”
Bomprezzi believes in hands-on learning and its ability to make lasting impressions. “In my classroom, we get messy! Whether it’s making solar ovens for s’mores to talk about conducting heat, using Cheez-Its to build arrays for multiplication, or watching as caterpillars transform into butterflies, I believe doing hands-on activities makes learning not only fun, but memorable.”
Bomprezzi cherishes the relationships she makes with her students and loves to discover fun things about their personalities. She believes in the need for stability and consistency in her students’ lives. “I strive to be an adult in each student’s life that they can depend on to be consistent,” she says. “Consistent in encouraging them to learn new skills. Consistent in challenging them to give their best effort each day. Consistent in being someone they can be silly with. Consistent in being a ‘safe place’ to share their worries. And most importantly, consistent in showing them that they are loved like they are my own.”
In addition, Bomprezzi believes that the academic, social, and emotional skills that her students learn will have a direct impact on the future of tomorrow. “My effort toward helping students grow academically, socially, and emotionally will hopefully positively impact each of their futures,” she says.
Bomprezzi’s students motivate her to be her best, and she always encourages them to be respectful. “I encourage my students to treat each other with kindness and respect,” she says. “Each year, we brainstorm what a kind and respectful classroom looks like and write a class kindness pledge that we promise to honor throughout the year.”
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