Staff Feature: Senetria Gibson

"Will anyone notice if you don't show up?" 

This is the question Principal Goodman challenged the Wesley staff with during pre-planning this year. She talked about how each person's role at the school is vital and the staff all make important contributions to the team. 

Senetria Gibson is an example of a dedicated staff member that says, “Yes, people notice if I don't show up. What I do matters!" 

In front of all the staff that day, Wesley's Executive Director, Jason Marshall, called Ms. Gibson forward. Ms. Gibson says, “I was very surprised, because I don’t like to have the attention on me. I’m more of a behind-the-scenes type of person.” She didn’t know what to expect.

 Mr. Marshall and Ms. Goodman presented her with a $4000 check in recognition of her perfect attendance over the last four years. Ms. Gibson showed up diligently through the pandemic, through all of the ups and downs—never missing a day of showing up for her students.

“It felt amazing once I kind of got myself back together from the shock of it all,” Ms. Gibson says.

Ms. Gibson started teaching at Wesley in July 2019. She had previously been teaching daycare and knew that it was time for a change. She wanted to grow into focusing and teaching Kindergarten and has been serving as a paraprofessional at Wesley ever since.

Ms. Gibson enjoys teaching students in Kindergarten, “I enjoy this age the most because once they have learned something, to just to see how their face light up from knowing they got it, and also knowing that I had first hands-on starting their learning journey,” she explains. 

Her favorite thing about working at Wesley is how it feels like a family, the community, and how the teachers pull together. 

When her students move to the next grade, she wants them to know that their teacher was always there for them. 

“I want them to leave knowing that my teacher was THERE, she showed up even when she was a little sick and she pushed through, she was there on those days when I didn't even know I needed her. I want them to leave knowing that I cared for them enough to just show up every day for them,” she expresses.

Outside of educating young minds, Ms. Gibson enjoys making T-shirts and other crafts. She also enjoys giving gifts to others and spending time with her family. 

When asked about why it’s important to her to show up daily she explained that she knew what it was like to be a child and to have a parent that dropped in whenever they wanted to. She made a promise to herself as a child that she would always make sure to be present and show up for kids. 

“One thing that I have told my children is that your name is important,” she declares, “so make sure that when others are saying your name it's because of great things.”

Thank you Ms. Gibson for all of your hard work and dedication to Wesley students and families over the years! Wesley greatly appreciates you!