Regina Anyaegbunam - “Every Day Starts with a Powerful Positive” [Carol Greenwood

EVERY DAY STARTS WITH A POWERFUL POSITIVE

By J1 Reporter Regina Anyaegbunam

Carol Greenwood is a light that shines from Room 211 on the second floor of Western Hills Elementary School’s recently renovated building. A light has to be turned off occasionally to conserve energy and keep up its brilliance. Taking a break every now and then is good to do. It is necessary in order to meet the demands of everyday living with teaching a fourth/fifth grade combo.

Enjoying a Diet Coke and a Bacon Turkey Bravo with a side of chips from Panera is how Carol Greenwood went about this. Ideally a Diet Mountain Dew, maybe a nut mix… or chips… or crackers, and a day with the dogs is how to escape from the intense realities of being a teacher. Today, she’s taking a short break in the comfort of a Panera booth.

Greenwood starts her days by opening up emails and getting ready for the school day. Then ends her days by cleaning up the mess created throughout the day. Nights are spent grading. Weekends are spent planning.

Retreating to her family cabin in northern Iowa has proven to be beneficial to disconnect and re-collect her thoughts. “I love to just not have any sound and let my brain think instead of having to go on that overdrive,” Greenwood said.

One sound she enjoys is the sound of song. Greenwood exemplifies “lifting every voice and singing” by shining her light with her voice, “I love singing and I get to sing every Sunday down at the Kroc Center.” Singing is not new for Greenwood who has been singing since the age of 5. “I was in various choirs, groups, and a solo singer as well.”

Greenwood grew up as the daughter of a Methodist minister and often relocated to different small towns around Iowa. “He would get assigned another place to go, so we’d all have to leave.” Greenwood and her siblings, an older brother and sister, sang in trios at all of their churches.

Her mom was very citified. She grew up in the big city of Boston, the complete opposite of her father who grew up in a small town. The two attracted, despite their differences, on a blind date. Thanks to their meeting, Greenwood was able to learn from the two and their different perspectives on life. “Between the two of them, we learned a lot about diversity and caring for others,” Greenwood said. Two main things her father would preach were forgiveness and gratitude. To this day she still values those things and applies them to her moral code. “My faith in God is the strongest moral code that I have, I know it sounds cliche, but I think to myself in situations: ‘What would Jesus do?’”

One Sunday night in 2019, Greenwood encountered a little miracle on her way home from the Kroc Center. “I saw this itty bitty dog running around and I thought, well, ‘Whose dog is that?’”

Any stray dog captures her heart, “If I see a stray dog, I pick it up.” Like many dog lovers, she feels as though she loves dogs more than humans sometimes.

She tried repeatedly to get him off the streets, especially after noticing his limp. After 45 minutes and several failed attempts, she decided to call the Humane Society and leave it in their hands. She tried driving away, but a pull at her heart told her she couldn’t. She turned around to find him again and eventually found his head poking out of a bush.

Greenwood continued to follow and felt defeated by the constant rejection from the dog. She had given up on the chase again. She sat down at a picnic table nearby and asked God for help to save this “little boy.” She lowered her head, made eye contact with the “little boy” and said for the umpteenth time, “Come here little boy”

And the dog trotted over to her, wagged its tail, and sat down in front of her. This shook Greenwood who recalled thinking, “Oh my gosh, it’s a real time miracle.” She brought him to the Humane Society and wanted to adopt him knowing he’d been on the streets for a while. She feared adopting someone else’s dog, but still

“My father always said we are to do for others and that is our job, to always do for others.”

-Carol Greenwood 42

Photo By Regina Anyaegbunam Carol Greenwood poses in front of her classroom door at Western Hills Elementary School decorated with letters she created herself.

really wanted to take care of him, “He’s my miracle boy.”

She’d wait for a week to get a call from the Humane Society and on a Friday afternoon, she got the call. “We didn’t have kids that day and I ran out of the school.” Louis, the terrier found on the street and her miracle boy, would join her family of Henrietta, a chihuahua terrier, and Winston, a cocker poodle.

Her selflessness and faith-driven character has developed over the years thanks to her growing up and hearing the sermons of her father who preached kindness and forgiveness. She also credits various interactions she had in her adolescence and experiencing many small town relationships.

One notable experience that inspired who she has become today was her primary school experience. There were bad memories that led to her meeting Mrs. Fritchen, who would become her fourth grade teacher and a good memory.

It was traumatic. In third grade, she had a teacher who was old, kind of angry, and bitter. “I was very shy, and she had a hard time helping kids that didn’t follow what she wanted. I was so shy that I was gonna say the wrong thing, and I was scared to death to answer questions.”

She recalled the teacher getting so mad at her when she wouldn’t do her phonics, “She would make me go sit under a table. I would bawl and while all the other kids were sitting in a circle doing phonics, I was under a table.”

In that same year. Her teacher belittled her to her parents, going as far as calling her the r-slur and saying they’d have to take care of her forever. Her father refuted everything she said, ‘“No, you’re wrong. She is actually quite smart and she’s not returning.” She was transferred from that little town to another little town.

She found herself in Sydney, Iowa, at a new school, with a new teacher. “I remember walking in, and I’m so scared because I did not have good memories from Kindergarten through third grade.” Her fears soon subsided because to her, her new teacher Mrs. Fritchen was nothing like her old teacher.

Greenwood remembers walking into that classroom and thinking: “I walked in, she’s gorgeous. She had long black hair and a big huge smile on her face. She came right over to her, gave her a hug and said, ‘Carol, I’m so happy you’re in my classroom!’”

This was a significant

turning point in her life. Mrs. Fritchen was able to flip a switch in Greenwood just like that. In that moment, Greenwood decided she wanted to be just like her. Mrs. Fritchen changed Greenwood’s view of what school was and brought her out of her shell. “I was still shy and I didn’t think I was smart, but she allowed me to believe that.”

Years later she found herself pursuing a Master’s degree in Curricular Instruction, then teaching elementary students at Western Hills. She hopes to always leave a positive impact on students that makes them kind, forgiving and believe in themselves. “I want everything for them, I keep hoping that if I keep encouraging them, telling them how much they’re worth and valued, then maybe they’ll end up believing in themselves, too.”

Today, Greenwood starts every day with a powerful positive. The school year of 2014-2015 was not going in an ideal direction. “It was one of the toughest years I’ve ever had.” The thought of powerful positives originated from a holiday tradition that started with her dad. “What are you grateful for?” A common question asked at the dinner table on Thanksgiving.

It was commonly asked in the Greenwood household, “What are five things you’re grateful for?” Greenwood recalled her and her siblings getting annoyed at first. “We’d get annoyed like really we have to tell you five things we’re grateful for?” Lessons were learned after getting over that irritation. “We learned after you’d get to say your five things you kind of felt better.”

This would be her solution to getting her students who were having a hard time getting along, to start being kind to each other. She’d ask them what they were thankful for. “Pencils,” they’d say. They would mock others and laugh. It didn’t seem to have the right effect. “I kept thinking, eventually, someone is gonna break through and say ‘I’m thankful for mom’ or something meaningful.”

Eventually they did break. They stopped trying to cut corners. They became more competitive and tried to outdo each other. “I still do it. Every day. And if I don’t do it, my kids are like, ‘You forgot our powerful positives!’” One student a few years ago gifted her a canvas that says ‘Start every day with a powerful positive’ and it still hangs up on her wall to this day.

What lies ahead for Greenwood has yet to be determined, but ideas are up in the air waiting to be pursued. After being in the game of teaching for 15 years, talk of retirement is inevitable. In the future, there is no doubt that her love for dogs and animals will ever go away. “I love animals.” If there is a stray dog on the streets, Greenwood may be found not far

Photos By Regina Anyaegbunam Above: The Powerful Positive Poster, gifted by a former student, continues to stand in Greenwood’s room after the reconstruction of the building. Below: Carol Greenwood teaches her fifth graders about the food chain with an interactive video.

behind it.

One thing for sure is that her kindness and faith will continue to guide her in doing things for others, “My father always said we are to do for others and that is our job, to always do for others.” This is a moral she will continue to live by in her daily interactions and dedication to her classroom. There is nothing she would want to do over in life because everything she has done has brought her closer to finding who she truly is. A strong confident woman who could do well on her own. There is nothing she would want to do over in life. Except maybe to get back in line to get a baguette for her sister, which she does.

Carol Greenwood is a light in the world, dressed casually in tennis shoes and a grey ‘Literally Freezing” sweatshirt waiting patiently in the Panera line to order that baguette.

Photo By Regina Anyaegbunam The 4:00 end to the school day approaches as shown by the time of the clock. Underneath the clock are quotes posted by Greenwood to contribute to a positive learning environment.