IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Tonya Huber
Teaching is something Tonya Huber loves. She has been doing it in one form or another for 30 years. Now she has brought this love to The Island School, where she teaches Spanish and English language arts (ELA).
Teaching encompasses lots of other things Tonya loves: children of all ages, books, working with small groups, making learning fun, helping students love to read. The list goes on. For Tonya, teaching is not limited to what she does at school. This love of teaching is part of how she approaches life, with its many and varied opportunities to interact with others.
“I worked in day care at one time, and I worked with the Boys and Girls Club of Sarasota,” she explained. “I approached all of it the same way.” Whether the young people were preschool or older teens, there was always something to learn and something to teach. “I love working with kids at any age. Every age has something unique and special to offer,” she said. “As long as an adult is willing to listen and to respect the child, you can build on that.”
This approach to teaching and learning is exactly what Tonya has found at The Island School, making the school something she loves, too.
“I really feel it’s a teamwork situation here – we are all in it together,” she said of the school atmosphere. “Every grade matters, and we all need each other. I feel it is always a team effort. We need multiple people to move our kids forward. The parents are part of that, too. Parents, families – they are all so important.”
She feels The Island School is fantastic with its “very organized” approach making a difference in the success of both the teachers and the students. She works with two students in language arts and teaches Spanish one day a week with all the grades. With Spanish her goal is to teach basic vocabulary, pronunciation and communication skills, giving a foundation for more work as the students mature. In English language arts it is all about reading, vocabulary development and fostering a love for books.
When asked if she had some favorite books, Tonya had to laugh. “I have so many favorites,” she admitted. “I must have 500 books in my garage. My husband has had to accept that this is the way it will always be in our house.” He does not seem to mind too much.
Tonya not only has favorite books, she loves them so much she has to share them with her students. “I bring in books all the time for my kids to read. If they don’t like a particular book, or don’t think they like to read, I just find them a different book and have them give it a try. There are so many types of books, and so many authors who can spark their interest, that I just let them explore and find what interests them or grabs their attention. I keep introducing them to new books and new authors.”
She believes good readers develop from lots of practice. If students have a special interest in a sport or a topic, she can find them a book about it. Sometimes the book may appear to be below a student’s ability, but Tonya knows there will be new vocabulary words in that book that will move the student to a higher level. That is the book she will have the student read. Building vocabulary moves students to new levels of reading. It keeps them growing and reaching for new things.
The Huber family in front of a favorite place – Hogwart’s Castle at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. From left: Scott, Tonya, Bella and Reilly.
She encourages parents to buy books for their children and encourage them at every step. When books come to life in movies or at amusement parks, it can be a positive boost for reading. Harry Potter books, for instance, have been a favorite of Tonya’s own children (and for her and her husband), so going to Universal Orlando to visit the Harry Potter parks is a way for those books to come to life. Everyone in her family loves amusement parks, but if they have their roots in books, all the better.
She notes that both her daughters, Reilly, a senior in high school, and Bella, a fourth-grader, are “very creative.” She attributes much of that to their life-long reading habits. They also have diverse interests – Reilly in competitive gymnastics, academic achievement and theater, and Bella in soccer and swimming – which may not come directly from reading but are fostered by knowing the wide variety of opportunities and skills they have learned about through books.
“I have a passion for teaching kids to read,” Tonya said. Even in her Spanish classes, reading is a teaching tool. “I am always looking for bilingual books to use.” In Spanish class, each grade gets 40 minutes a week. Tonya likes to make those 40 minutes as much fun as possible. As they learn their new words, there are usually actions or games that go with them. One lesson even had them making imaginary ice cream sundaes, a lesson they could try to recreate at home with real ingredients.
Tonya and Bella scalloping this summer.
Photos submitted
“I want to make reading fun and interesting for all my students. I want them to be reading beyond me. Reading affects everything. I want them to practice; practice reading something every day, and make it a priority. Even if it is only for 20 minutes a day, everyone should be reading every day,” she said.
“Personally, I can’t imagine life without books, and I want my students to feel the same way. I bring in books all the time, and I let the students take them home so they don’t have to stop when the class stops.”
What happens if they lose one of her books? “I will buy another one,” she said, with no hesitation.
Tonya brings a wealth of experience with her to her position at The Island School. Her 30 years of experience include being a substitute teacher, a para-professional in the classroom, the director of the Sarasota Boys and Girls Club, and a teacher in a number of schools throughout Charlotte County. She has a B.A. degree from the University of South Florida and has her certification in elementary education, exceptional student education and reading.
Her husband, Scott, is a lieutenant with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and a member of the U.S. Coast Guard. Tonya and Scott have been married for 20 years.
