Elementary teacher comes home: Ms. Zaranek returns to alma mater in Collier

Naples

Maureen Zaranek, a first-year teacher at Corkscrew Elementary, shares a laugh with students in her fifth grade Cambridge Program class as they participate in a fun warmup activity early Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Golden Gate Estates. The 2017-18 school year marks the first year the program for high-achieving students will be available to grades three through five who qualify.

When Corkscrew Elementary alum Maureen Zaranek interviewed for a teaching position at her alma mater last summer, she told Principal Rebecca Merhar that she loved the school and “just wanted to come home.”

“And that just captured our hearts,” Merhar said.

More than a decade after graduating, Zaranek, 23, returned to Corkscrew on Wednesday as a fifth-grade Cambridge teacher for advanced students.

Zaranek has many fond memories of the school in Golden Gate Estates. She remembers dancing in the cafeteria every Friday with her teachers and principal and playing baseball and kickball with her classmates on field days.

Chancelin Dixon, 9, a student with the Cambridge Program, places a sticker on the "Innovative" section of the white board as students learn to identify personal characteristics that align with traits that the program seeks to foster at Corkscrew Elementary Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Golden Gate Estates. The 2017-18 school year marks the first year the program for high-achieving students will be available to grades three through five who qualify. Cambridge students follow the same curriculum as regular classes, however they do so at a faster pace.

More clearly, she remembers the teachers who made her fall in love with science and history and reading — the teachers who didn’t give up on her when she struggled.

Now, back on her old stomping grounds, Zaranek is striving to be that teacher for a new generation of students.

“I want to be the one who makes a difference, who motivates them, who inspires them to be the very best they can be,” she said. “This is my home and I’m really honored to be back here.”

When a parent dropped off her daughter on the first day of school, she immediately recognized Zaranek. The parent used to work at Corkscrew as a counselor when Zaranek was a student.

The two spent a few minutes reminiscing, and the parent shared memories she had of Zaranek as a little girl and of her brother, who was also a Corkscrew student.

“It’s really cool having it all come full circle,” Zaranek said. “I feel very comfortable here and very confident.”

Zaranek and her 18 students spent the day learning each other’s names and reviewing their summer reading — "A Wrinkle in Time."

Zaranek said she couldn’t believe how intelligent her students are.

“They’re blowing my mind,” she said.

One of Zaranek’s students, Nadia Sandhu, 10, said she had high hopes for Zaranek because she, too, was taught by Corkscrew teachers.

“I think she might know a lot more than other teachers,” Nadia said. “And she can bring ideas from the teachers she learned from.”

Nadia may be onto something. When Zaranek was a student, one of her teachers invited her dad, a carpenter, to the classroom to teach the children how to build bird houses.

Now that Zaranek is in charge, she plans to do the same. And her dad can’t wait, she said.

Ten-year-old Brady Cox, another of Zaranek’s students, was particularly impressed with his teacher’s “full-circle” story.

“There’s just one word to describe it,” he said. “Wowzah!”

Fifth-grade students raise their hands in Maureen Zaranek's class Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Golden Gate Estates. The 2017-18 school year marks the first year the program for high-achieving students will be available to grades three through five who qualify. Cambridge students follow the same curriculum as regular classes, however they do so at a faster pace.