fran findley

Third-Grade Teacher Loves Her Students as Her Own

By Gretchen R. Crowe
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 4/26/07) fran findley

When you walk into the third-grade classroom at St. John Academy in McLean you get the impression that the students would not rather be any place else. The same goes for their teacher.
Fran Findley’s love of teaching and of her students permeates the atmosphere of the colorful, interactive school classroom located off of Old Dominion Road just steps from St. John Church. After spending nearly 30 years in education, Findley taught on a recent Friday afternoon as if it were still her first.
At their teacher’s request, Findley’s class of third-graders ticked off their favorite activities so far that year: most notably “Saint Day,” where the students assumed the persona of a holy person or a famous person and taught his or her peers how that man or woman served Jesus, and the “Wax Museum,” where, dressed as a famous person, each student came to life full of information about their character when another student pressed a button. Still to come is a song-and-dance Mother’s Day celebration, “Peru Day” and a trip to the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria.
“I am a real hands-on person,” Findley said. “I want the kids to use their senses in every way they learn.”
The class also participated in the schoolwide focus on virtues, such as responsibility, honesty, generosity and respect.
“We’ve been working really hard on our please and thank-yous,” said one blonde-haired girl.
An alumna of St. John Academy, Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington and the former two-year Catholic female Sacred Heart College in North Carolina, Findley is very familiar with the Catholic educational system that she now promotes. She graduated from Old Dominion University in Norfolk in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in education and immediately began teaching in Loudoun County.
The third of six children and the oldest girl, Findley said she grew up always wanting to be a teacher. She loves the third grade because the students are “really aware of their world,” and by sharing their love of God and their strong faith, “the children make my faith strong,” she said.
Findley has received awards and recognition from both public and private schools, and has worked closely with children suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She is language arts coordinator and runs the spelling club for fifth- to eighth-graders.
The passion that Findley has for her work and for her charges is undeniable.
“She’s so creative,” said Findley’s teacher aide Kelly Bloom, who is a parishioner of St. James Church in Falls Church where her two daughters attend school. “She thinks of new ways to do things. She’s very compassionate and she loves every student she has.”
First-grade teacher Irene Perez was Findley’s aide when Findley taught first grade many years ago at the school. Perez’s first-graders pair with Findley’s third-graders as reading buddies.
“She is amazing,” Perez said. “She’s very interactive.”
School principal Peter Schultz said that Findley is an example to her peers and an asset to their school.
“She’s truly an engaging teacher and she inspires the children to learn in a variety of ways,” he said. “The kids don’t realize they’re learning so much, but they are.”
Schultz said that Findley’s love of students is “completely ingrained” into her. And as the teacher watches her charges read to the first-graders, this love is evident.
“I have a real place in my heart for these kids,” she said. “I’m dedicated to finding that spark in the child’s eye that makes it come all together. I don’t think I could do anything else.”

Gretchen R. Crowe can be reached at gcrowe@catholicherald.com.