PORTSMOUTH, Va. — It's the time of the year that teachers are preparing for the wave of new faces to greet them in the classroom. For some in Portsmouth, however, they've actually seen some of those 'new faces' before.
A pair of educators are back together again after more than a decade.
Shawn Millaci and Heidi Lewis started teaching in Portsmouth for the same reason.
"I felt it was a calling to me. I felt I would be valued, and I was needed," said Shawn Millaci, director of secondary curriculum instruction at Portsmouth Public Schools.
"And I feel like it was just a calling. I wanted to share my passion for history with students and I thought this would be the best way," added Heidi M. Lewis, director of elementary curriculum instruction at Portsmouth Public Schools.
That calling isn't the only thing the two educators have in common.
"Started working at Cradock Middle School with a great group that was fresh, and green, and we all started together," said Mr. Millaci.
Roughly 15 years ago, Ms. Lewis and Mr. Millaci taught together as team teachers.
"Mr. Millaci, I remember when he came in. He was our high-energy new teacher, and Ms. Lewis was very structured to the book," said Dr. Angela Flowers, who was their assistant principal at the time.
"There was some sass, yes, but they had a common goal," added Dr. Flowers.
The teachers said a lot has changed since then. They started with a full teaching staff and are now dealing with nation-wide staffing shortages.
But it's not all negative. She said evolving technology has been useful.
"When I first started teaching, we were using overhead projectors in the classroom," said Ms. Lewis.
Other popular things at the time? MySpace and flip phones.
Ms. Lewis said over time the changes have shaped them into better leaders.
The leaders moved on from team teaching in middle school, built completely separate careers, and now find themselves back working together in Portsmouth more than a decade later.
"To come back together things are just kind of coming full circle," said Mr. Millaci.
They've moved from educating students, to helping other teachers as the directors of curriculum instruction. Dr. Flowers is with them in Portsmouth too.
"They are family," said Dr. Flowers
The educators said they're now ready for the first bus of the year to arrive.
"The first day of school is about hope. It's about promise. It's about what can be in this school year," said Mr. Millaci.
Mr. Millaci and Ms. Lewis hope the trust they built teaching together all that time ago will help them positively impact students, parents, and other teachers this school year.
