Paying it forward: a legacy of leadership
Yesenia Bencomo is a leader even when she doesn’t know that anyone is following. When asked about the extra things she does around the school, Bencomo took a moment, commenting that she doesn’t think much of all she does — she just does it.
And that’s exactly how she has influenced Holyoke Elementary School for the last 12 years; her co-workers can easily rattle off a whole list of ways she makes the school a better place, but she just does it all without a second thought. She just knows it’s the right thing to do, making it easy for other teachers and students to follow her lead.
Bencomo had the unique experience of being nominated for the Leader Among Us award by two co-workers who also served as her teachers when she was a student in Holyoke herself. Lynn Schneider and Kimberlee Bennett, her fifth-grade and junior high math teachers, each speak highly of their experiences working with Bencomo. Likewise, she views her numerous former teachers that she has since worked with as great mentors.
Now the shoe is on the other foot, and she gets to mentor others. For years, Bencomo instructed the growing ESL program with one paraprofessional at her side: Christy Shafer. Five years ago, a second para, Aydaly Juarez, joined their team. Still, with increasingly high numbers of ESL students in attendance, Bencomo advocated for a second ESL teacher to be hired for several years.
This year, her wish came true, and Stephanie Chaney was hired. Where Bencomo had previously been responsible for kindergarten through sixth-grade ESL, this year she works exclusively with K-3 and Chaney teaches grades 3-6.
Bencomo’s push for that second teacher has made a huge impact in the elementary school. Now ESL classes are much smaller. Within the 78-student program, the largest class has nine students, and already small classes can be divided further between the teacher and the para. For 30-minute blocks, those small groups receive targeted instruction to meet their individual needs more effectively and efficiently.
ESL staff joke with each other that there is a revolving door to their classroom. A new group of students comes in for their instruction one after another, and anyone can tell that the students like to be there. Schneider commented, “Students love being in Mrs. Bencomo’s room as they know it is a place where they will get the help and support they need, they feel valued, and they are willing to take the risks involved in learning a new language because they feel safe under her leadership.”
From her own perspective, Bencomo thinks it’s her life experiences that have given her empathy and a special ability to relate to her students. She still remembers her first day of school at Holyoke Elementary: she was in third grade, new to the community and didn’t know a word of English.
Everything seems so much bigger when you don’t know the language, she recalled. “I think back to that day, and I get it. It’s scary,” she said, “but it turns out to be OK.”
She remembers vividly her classmates welcoming her on her first day, and even though she didn’t understand what they were saying, they took her to the swings and played with her at recess. She doesn’t really remember learning English, but she knows she had plenty of support, and that made it seem easy. “I think that’s why I love what I do so much,” she said, and now she offers that support to the next generation.
If there’s one thing that Bencomo could convey to others it’s that “empathy goes a long way.” Parents, students, teachers, community members — everyone — should remember to take a step back and look at others’ lives before passing judgment or making assumptions about them.
For that very reason, Bencomo has led some staff inservices at the school to educate teachers on what to expect when they have an ESL student in their classroom. She also used the opportunity to dispel some myths and teach others about cultural differences they may encounter while working with Hispanic students.
She is proud to live in a diverse community that has such a rich culture, and she is glad to see that more and more people are coming to appreciate it.
Becoming the teacher she is today
An educator at heart, Bencomo shared a story that her own mother told her. As a young child she would gather all of her friends to play together, and she would pretend to be a teacher. All her life, she has loved learning and loved helping others, so her chosen profession has proven to be a great fit.
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