A teacher from Drăgăneşti-Olt represents the parental image for students whose parents are away working abroad. Mihaela Nistor makes sure that they never miss anything and teaches them the subject through examples in the form of stories, which the children apply in their everyday life.
Mihaela with her students PHOTO personal archive
Mihaela Nistor, religion teacher at Drăgănești-Olt Technological High School and Comani secondary school, is this year's finalist of the Rural Teacher of the Year Gala in the “Development of students' socio-emotional skills” category.
He graduated from a biology-chemistry high school in Craiova, and then attended the Faculty of Theology in Pitesti, specializing in Romanian language and literature.
“My father is a priest and since I was a child I had religion in my soul, as a personal imprint”, the teacher explains her choice. Because he also has a second specialization, in Romanian language and literature, he now also teaches universal literature and social education.
Many students from the small town of Dragăneşti-Olt have parents who have gone abroad and are raised by grandparents or older brothers or sisters. In the more than 20 years since he has been in education,
Mihaela gave these children the love that they didn't have in the family and helped them with everything they needed to come to school, and the results are not to be expected. Last year, a student he trains won first place at the County Religion Olympiad, with a score of 10, and a 6th grade girl won a mention at the same contest, with an average of 9.20.
“I feel this painful break in the family with them. They always found a support in me and I instilled confidence in them”, the teacher revealed with emotion for Adevărul.
She starts her classes with a hug with her students, and the secret of her success is the constant encouragement with which she motivates them not to give up in school, to persevere and push their limits.
The lesson of children abandoned by their own families
Everything that Mihaela teaches in class is converted by her students into practical things, which they apply in their everyday life. “I want the students who attend my classes to apply what they learn in life, and for my advice to pay off for them,” explained the teacher.
The little ones she trains don't really trust them, and that's why she constantly helps them manage their emotions and thoughts. One of the methods he uses is volunteering. At Christmas, for example, they collect vegetables and fruits, but also supplies, which they then donate to needy families.
The children thus get closer to each other and they no longer feel the same acute feeling of loneliness and alienation. For example, Andrei, a student in the 5th grade who is raised by his grandmother, always comes to school sad and withdrawn.
The teacher visits with her students children abandoned by their own families PHOTO personal archive
To get him out of this state, Mihaela involves him in all kinds of extracurricular activities and talked to his classmates about taking him to their house from time to time, so that he feels like a family. Another soul project is the partnership with a family-type house in Slatina, where she regularly goes with her students.
“I take them to see that their situation is very good compared to that of children who are abandoned by their families. I see how joyfully they go and give their little bit to those children”, says the teacher.
For the students it is a harrowing experience, but also one that matures them and makes them more empathetic and collaborative. The children go with the orphans on trips and walks through the park and slowly integrate them into their group.
“A few years ago, we were taking orphans home, so they could see what a family means,” Mihaela remembers with emotion.
The road from problem children to model students
The teacher uses every opportunity to develop her students' knowledge of grammar and the Romanian language, as well as literacy. For example, he does Romanian language lessons with them during religion class and leadership class.
Now, when they meet her on the street, her former students stop her to thank her for the tests she did with them because they got into the high school or the profile they wanted.
Mihaela always highlights the qualities of her students PHOTO personal archive
“In each of you there is something good and it must be valued”, is the motto with which Mihaela manages to mobilize her students every time. And the problem children change a lot for the better after they get her hands on it. A Roma student, disciplinary moved from another school, is an eloquent example.
All the children were scared of his arrival, and now he is one of the most polite and hardworking students in the class.
“The basis of these results is my love for them. If I don't hug everyone one day at school, I feel like something is missing from me. What I want most is to reach their soul and then pass on their knowledge to the subject I teach”, says the teacher.
The guardian angel of the chair
She doesn't hesitate to buy her students everything they need for school with her money, from school supplies and schoolbags to clothes and shoes and even food.
“And I give them money. If I see that one of them does not have a package, I send him to the store to buy. I tell him it's for me, because otherwise he's not ashamed. When he comes back with the sandwich, I tell him to eat it, because I'm not hungry anymore.” Mihaela tells how she has done many times so that her students do not suffer from hunger when they are in class.
It still reminds you of Andrei, a struggling student, who is always sick and yellow in the face. She initially thought he was sick and helped him get his tests done, but they all came out fine. He has since helped him many times with food and clothes.
Religion class is different
In the first years of education, the focus is exclusively on the school curriculum. Over time he changed his teaching method. Now every religious lesson begins with a parable in the form of a story. At the end, I talk about the moral of it and how they can apply it to their daily lives.
At the school in Comani, where he teaches the small classes, he always finds the blackboard full of messages like “We love you!” and with drawings depicting it.
“I don't think there is a day when I am not told “Madam, I can't wait for religion class.'' Hearing something like that from a child is my greatest satisfaction, my greatest joy.” Mihaela tells with emotion.
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Mihaela Nistor PHOTO personal archive (9) (1) jpeg
PHOTO GALLERY MIHAELA NISTOR
At the Drăgănești-Olt Technological High School, second-grade students learn about emotions, respect, patience and kindness in an optional course approved by the Ministry of Education. He now wants to show his students the world outside the small community in which they live. He wants to take them on trips, but first to a movie in Craiova.
It seems something trivial, but for some children who have only seen what a big city looks like on TV, it is something really spectacular. He has so far organized two summer schools, where he does remedial classes and workshops with the students, where they learned, for example, to play the darabane (no hand drum).
She gets the greatest joy of her soul when her former students seek her out for advice on what to do when they run into a problem. “I want them to always be kind and respectful, and they have me as their role model every school day”concludes the teacher.
