SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Emily Fields, a fourth-grade teacher at Navajo Elementary School in the Scottsdale Unified School District, graduated from Arizona State University this semester with her Master's in Elementary Education -- and she decided to enlist the help of her students to help her cap off the end of her grad school journey!
It was an assignment they had never been asked to do before - and it was all to help Ms. Fields mark this important milestone.
"Going back to school sets such a good example for not just myself but for others," explained Ms. Fields. "When you're an educator, you're not just educating others, but also yourself; it's important not to stop learning."
But before Ms. Fields walked across that stage, she had to finish one last assignment and got her fourth graders to help her out.
"I just say, 'Hey, when you're finished with the warm-up in the morning, you can come write on this! It's going to go right on my graduation cap if you want to write me a note or something,' and all of them did so it turned out really nice and sweet and they're really cute," Ms. Fields said.
They wrote things like - "I love you, Ms. Fields!" or "You're the best!"
It all meant so much to this first-year teacher.
"I wrote my name and 'good job' because it's exciting to see," explained Daniel Garcia. "She's very kind, she helps people, she's confident."
"I said my name and that I have the best teacher ever," said Alexis Blain.
"It was pretty cool that we would be on it and we couldn't go, but then we would be with her when she was graduating," said Logan Simonds.
"Teaching my first year and getting my Master's all in this one chunk of time... they are so much a part of my life and I wanted them to be there with me when I went on that stage and got that diploma," said Ms. Fields.
Ms. Fields is also a product of Scottsdale Unified Schools, having graduated from Desert Mountain High School.
