Rini encourages students to stick together

VERMILION — Donna Rini didn't start her career as a teacher, but she certainly intends to end it that way. Rini is Vermilion High School science teacher and instructs students 10th, 11th and 12th grades. Science was a constant in her life, but teaching didn't happen at first. "I started teaching later in life," Rini said. "I was a science major out of college and worked in the medical field, I loved it." Rini had her first experience in teaching as an after-school religion teacher, it turned out to be a calling for her. "I happened to be teaching ... and realized this was a passion a something I really loved to do," Rini said. "I had three young children at the time so I put it on hold." A few years later, the state offered a teaching crash course program to encourage science majors to become teachers. Rini finished her teaching courses and went on to teach science to high schoolers for 12 years. "I was so blessed to have two careers that I absolutely love," Rini said. While science started as the initial draw, it's not the only aspect that spiked Rini's enthusiasm for teaching. "The best thing is the relationship with the students," Rini said. "It's about getting to not just know them, but to understand their learning styles and modifying things to make them excited about learning. "They are not all round pegs," Rini said. "I love that. It's the most challenging part of my job the part but what I love the most." In order to understand how to teach each student, you have to get to know them through simple interactions — even just chatting in class with each other about anything but science, she said. As Rini teaches multiple grades, she gets to know some kids for their entire high school stay. "You have to give yourself time and give them time," Rini said. "Sometimes it takes multiple years to get to know them and their personalities, we all have different personalities." "It's a combo of doing social and emotional lessons, spending time with them and being open with them," Rini said. "And meeting the kids where they are, we have to take them where they are not where we need them to be." Rini said she wasn't really a fan of school when she was younger, so she can understand the frustration. In her classes, she strives to find the right way to engage the kids to get them to achieve. "By changing the way I teach, present or test, they respond and I see them stretch themselves to a higher point and get some success they never had before," she said. "Getting to see the look on their faces is my passion and what brings me to the job everyday," Rini said. That personal touch was what Rini missed the most when the school was shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Getting to know your class is not something you can do organically over video lecture, she said, so the kids would be put into small groups during lecture to have a chance to just talk with each other. "Kids learn to mature by socializing with each other," Rini said. "That was a big part that was missed. "We did a lot of things in breakout rooms," Rini said. "It was to try to have them talk about what's going on that week and what's going on in their life. It's very important to engage organically in the classroom." Teaching science from across screens is a tall ask with labs being near impossible to complete during the shutdown. Rini took the issue and the lab kits into her own hands, setting them out for kids to pick up at school, even personally delivering the supplies to the students' houses. "Teaching and learning science is very challenging to do remotely," Rini said. "They had the equipment and they could do the hands-on work, and the parents were very willing to come to the school and pick up the tools." Transitioning back to in-person lectures was also a challenge, she said. Trying to get back into schedules and establish expectations for the students was difficult. "When you go from changing those environments it's harder to restart up those expectations," Rini said. "The transition between those two was the hardest part, a lot of that was managerial things but it was difficult." Regardless of the adversity, Rini said she wouldn't quit this job even at its worst. "I'm so blessed," Rini said. "Even on my worst day I would never think about quitting."