Teaching wasn’t Helena Faiello-Simpson’s first plan, but it became the one that shaped her life.

“I always liked school when I was a kid, and I used to play school, play teacher and student,” she said. “When I got divorced, I had two daughters to raise, and I understood immediately that being a teacher would lend itself to raising them by myself.”

Her journey to the classroom wasn’t straightforward.

“I didn’t initially go to college to become a teacher,” she explained. “I went to college for math and then for English, and then I pursued my alternative certification.”

Even though math was her favorite subject, she chose English instead.

“I always preferred mathematics,” she admitted. “But I felt like teaching English would be more of a challenge for me, that I would learn more from it.”

Once she began teaching, she discovered her strength in connecting with teenagers.

“In fact, I felt like I could communicate most effectively with them,” she said. “I worked in a kindergarten class once, and it was fun, but I couldn’t bring my language down to their level.”

Her role as a mother shaped her teaching style.

“It has,” she said. “Being a mother has helped me be a better teacher.”

At Chapin High School, she found a place she truly loves.

“At Chapin, I’ve had a wonderful experience. I love it here,” she said. “This is not the first school I’ve worked at. I worked previously at Urban High School, and before that, I was a substitute teacher.”

Her earliest teaching memories still make her laugh.

“Yes, Colberg Elementary,” she recalled. “On the first day of school, the kindergartners told me, ‘Miss, I’m done,’ when they went to the bathroom. They were waiting for me to go in and help them wipe.”

She quickly learned that some lessons weren’t in the textbooks.

“Just a couple times,” she said. “Just my first year. After that, we had to tell them, no, you’ve got to take care of that on your own.”

Her career also included time in special education, where challenges were greater but so was the sense of purpose.

“I worked in a self-contained classroom, and all of the students had severe cognitive disabilities and autism,” she explained. “They could often be violent, screaming, biting, or kicking. Honestly, it just reinforced my choice to go into education.”

Even though teaching wasn’t her first plan, she now sees it as the right one.

“I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to do,” she said. “I just wanted to finish college. But I tell my students, you don’t have to go to college. It’s expensive, and there are people who didn’t finish college who have better paying jobs than I do.”

For her, teaching is more than work it’s joy.

“I love my job. I enjoy it,” she said. “It’s important that you make enough to live on, but it’s important that you enjoy what you do. Because it doesn’t really feel like a job.”

Through every challenge, Faiello-Simpson has found meaning in her journey.

“No, I just love being here,” she said with a smile.