BEMUS POINT — Anne Zuroski has taught at Bemus Point Central School District for 12 years, and deeply enjoys her profession.

Zuroski said she knew she wanted to be a teacher because she has always loved school. When her youngest son, Frank, started kindergarten at Bemus Elementary School, Zuroski said she started to substitute teach at Bemus and decided to extend her teaching certification to the elementary level. Afterward, she was hired to teach fifth grade in 2005 and taught that grade level for four years. Then, she moved to the sixth grade for four years, specializing in math, which included some time at Maple Grove Junior Senior High School when the sixth grade moved to the Maple Grove campus. Since 2014, she has taught fourth grade.

During an interview with The Post-Journal, Zuroski shared some information about herself and her work.

PJ: How long have you been teaching? Have you always been with Bemus Point?

AZ: I began my teaching career as a high school social studies teacher in Carmel, New York, in 1989. From 1989-1997 I taught eighth-grade U.S. History, ninth-grade Global Studies, and 11th-grade U.S. History and Government in the Carmel district. Then, my perfect and irreplaceable babysitter retired and moved to Cape Cod. So I stayed home and raised my family.

My husband John Zuroski, a Bemus Point native who I met in college at Binghamton University, was a very busy assistant district attorney at the Westchester County District Attorney’s office. He began his law career there after graduating from the University of Buffalo Law School in 1987. By 1997 we lived in Yorktown, New York, and had two children, Isabella (now 25) and Nick (now 22), and Frank (now 19) on the way. So, our growing family needed my full attention, (and) thus began my extended maternity leave.

I grew up in the Binghamton and Rochester areas. I was born in Binghamton in 1963 to Bill and Nell Whittaker. They also met at Binghamton University (when it was Harper College) and I spent my babyhood living in the dorm where my father was the resident director after he graduated.

Then, we moved to Rochester where my father got his PhD at the University of Rochester. We moved back to the Binghamton area when my father became a professor at SUNY Binghamton’s School of Management. I lived in Vestal from third through ninth grade.

We moved to New Paltz when my father took a job at the State College at New Paltz the summer before my 10th-grade year. Then I went back to Binghamton for college from 1981-85. After graduation I followed John to Buffalo, where he was in law school. I worked in sales for a year before I started graduate school for secondary social studies education at SUNY Buffalo. John and I moved to Westchester County when he started his first job at the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office after law school.

I first visited Bemus Point in 1983, at age 20, when John took me home to meet his father, Frank Zuroski. His mother, Josephine, had recently died. So, sadly, I never met her. But now I live in the house she raised her family in and I feel like I knew her.

Between my junior and senior year of college I spent the summer of 1984 working as a waitress at the Hotel Lenhart. John worked as the bartender there that same summer before he started law school. I fell in love with Bemus, its summers and the Zuroski clan. After college and graduate school, although we lived seven hours east, we enjoyed family vacations at the Bemus house. The Zuroski siblings kept the house in the family when their dad, Frank, passed away in 1997. They made a pact: whoever could get a job in the area first could move their family into the Bemus house. By March of 2001, John landed a job at the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office and our family lived in Bemus Point. We were thrilled to finally be raising our family here.

PJ: What makes teaching students so interesting? Do you have a particular story you’d like to share?

AZ: Teaching is so incredibly interesting on so many levels. I am so thankful that every day I get to mold youthful, uninhibited and open minds. Over every school year, I get to watch students grow and gain insights as they become better readers, writers, thinkers and speakers. I get to work with 14-20 something individuals every day. They each have unique talents and qualities that I must respect and help continue to thrive. The daunting side to that is respecting and meeting their individual needs educationally. Sometimes it is too much to do at once. Teachers have to be amazing multi-taskers, incredible classroom managers, firm, patient, kind, inspiring lifelong learners all at once. And it definitely helps to be funny! You can’t take yourself too seriously. Kids appreciate joking around peppered in throughout the day.

The most interesting thing about teaching is that the kids teach me. This past year I had the honor of teaching Elora Watkins. Elora is visually impaired. Elora taught me so much about positivity and communication. She made me communicate more precisely with my words so that she could accomplish tasks like note taking on a graphic organizer and social studies projects, without her seeing what I was doing. She taught us all the true meaning of stamina when taking her state tests from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., vs. the usual hour and a half, because her exams were in braille. Every single student has unique talents and unique struggles. I’ve had students who were struggling readers amaze me with their artistic talents, and teach me painting techniques, as we worked on various projects together. Kids keep me humble.

One rewarding thing about teaching is when students have an “Ah Ha!” moment. Experiencing students finally understanding a concept or a skill that is challenging is so satisfying. For example, many of my math students struggled with multi-digit multiplication. Yet, when they learned how to draw an area model to create a visual that helps them do the same multiplication using breaking apart and mental math, they succeeded! The most rewarding thing about being a teacher is when students, or their parents, tell you that you made a difference in their lives. One parent told me her daughter told her I helped her understand math and why it was important to work hard at it. That made me feel like I’d finally made it as a teacher.

PJ: Have you always wanted to be a teacher? When and how did you discover you wanted to be a teacher?

AZ: I probably went into teaching because I always loved school. I remember the first day of the summer after first grade sitting with my math workbook and doing the unfinished pages. My mom said ‘Annie, its summer! Play!’ I used to play school in my basement in Vestal. So now I get to play school for real.

I also chose teaching so I could have a career that would allow me to raise my family. Once we moved to Bemus Point, my children and I were on the same exact schedule. I used to pass Bemus Point Elementary and think “What a perfect little Fisher Price School! I wish I worked there!” Now I do! I am incredibly lucky to work with such excellent, hard working, dedicated and talented faculty and families. My dream has come true.

PJ: What are some hobbies and interests you have?

AZ: I used to be a runner. My right knee can’t handle that anymore so now I bike around town for exercise. I also like to garden and cook comfort food for my family. My favorite thing to do is read. My students and I are going to take on the Reading Marathon challenge I started about seven years ago. We try to read 262 books during the school year. There is a road on the wall of my classroom. Each kid has a runner cut out from Runner’s World whose head is replaced by a student headshot. Their runner moves up a mile every time they finish a book! It’s a fun competition that motivates kids to read independently and more! I can’t run a marathon but at least I can try to read one!

PJ: Is there something readers should know about you?

AZ: I love all music. I like to stay connected to pop culture by knowing every song on the radio. That is the teenager in me that never wanted to leave school! They say that “music soothes the wild beast” and I find that is true in the classroom. Sometimes I bring kids back to attention by singing to them instead of telling them to pay attention. It always works and gets a good laugh. One year my fourth graders and I rewrote the lyrics to Coldplay’s ‘Sky Full of Stars’ to learn our fours math facts. We called it ‘A Sky Full of Fours.’ They are going into seventh grade now, but I bet they could still belt it out! Someday I want to turn it into a music video. Famous last words.