Liz Fortier spends her days at Georgetown surrounded by students. But it’s not college students who keep her busy.
Rather, Fortier spends her days teaching and corralling the Buttercups — two- and three-year-olds at Hoya Kids, a learning center for the children of Georgetown’s faculty, staff and students.
For Fortier, being a preschool teacher came as no surprise.
“It’s one of those things that I both kind of stumbled into and sort of had a feeling I would end up as a teacher from a young age,” she said.
Over the years, Fortier has spent a lot of her time working with children. As a self-described “teacher’s pet” who has always loved learning, Fortier inched closer to her career as a teacher when she spent a year of post-graduate service working in a Washington, DC, public school through City Year Americorps. When a position opened up at Hoya Kids, it felt like a natural next step.
Now, two years later, as the lead teacher in the Buttercups classroom, Fortier can often be found outside teaching the Buttercups or indoors during circle time, helping the young students make connections and develop greater emotional and social skills.
Find out more about Fortier’s path to preschool, what brings her the most joy as a teacher and what her Buttercups have taught her.
How I became a teacher: I have a lot of teachers in my family. I remember back in seventh grade, I was voted most likely to become a teacher, mostly because I was a teacher’s pet and raised my hand all the time. As I graduated college, [I realized] all my experiences were with kids. I enjoy working with students. I love learning. It kind of just all fell into place.
What I love about working at Georgetown: I really love the parents that work here. I initially started here in the youngest classroom and then moved up with my class to the older classroom, so I’ve had this group of kids for two years. I’ve grown to love getting to know the parents of each of these kids and all the different ways that a university runs.
My first day as a lead teacher: Kids are so great at reading other people’s feelings. I remember on my first day not wanting to seem too stressed or anxious. [The kids] just pick up on that so quickly. But they were great. They’re all so sweet. I jumped in feet first and really tried to immerse myself in the new classroom and my new team.
How we teach: Ideally a big part of Hoya Kids is learning through play. We have an interest-based curriculum, which is really cool. We ask a lot of “I wonder” questions and exploring questions. One unit we’ve just had, they had ice outside and it melted. They were like, “What’s happening?” We spent a whole week talking about why ice melts and freezes. A lot of it is just trying to get them through their parts of the day and just being there whenever they notice things.
The part of my day that brings me the most joy: I love circle time. We have a carpet in our classroom, and everyone sits around in a circle. That’s sort of our more organized class time. Our philosophy is that they’re learning, growing and exploring all day, but circle time is usually more specific. We just sit and encourage them to think of ideas and have conversations.
Why I love teaching the Buttercups: They’re just so cute. I love getting to watch their language growth. I have taken a couple of speech pathology classes just to learn more about child development. And to me, it is fascinating that we learn language at such a young age when there are adults still trying to understand how language is formed and how we learn it.
What the Buttercups have taught me: We have a phrase at school where we’ll be like, “Is this a big deal or a little deal?” I take a lot of the phrases that we repeat at school, and they become a part of my day-to-day. It’s really helped me to learn about what’s a big deal or a little deal and what’s important. I’ve learned to just stop and take a moment to breathe if I’m having a big feeling or not sure of what to do.
What I wish people knew about my job: I would love for people to know that we do really care about our students, and I hope that comes across that way. We take care of people all day, and it means a lot when other people take time to not necessarily take care of us but to check in with us.
How I catch a break during the day: I love to read. I usually end up sitting over by the fish pond [by White-Gravenor Hall] or on the lawn, and I’ll have a book out. I like to go on little mental health walks around the neighborhood. Georgetown is another reason I feel lucky to work here because it’s so beautiful, and it’s a quiet neighborhood where I can walk around and look at houses and things.
My guilty reading pleasures: If I’m physically reading the book, I like to do fiction, sometimes more fantasy, but I also will do nonfiction audiobooks. Dystopian fantasy is what I’ve been reading more often lately. It’s nice to feel validated that other people are also thinking about the worst-case scenarios and the “what would I do” questions. Honestly, [I’ll read] anything, and if a friend recommends it, I am automatically going to read it, which is great.
