As a first generation Asian-American, third grade teacher Phuong Gano was raised to believe that education was the key to success.
The daughter of post-Vietnam War refugees, her parents met on the journey from Vietnam to Boston in 1982, where they settled and worked in hotel restaurants and housekeeping to build a new life. Her father immigrated with three siblings and her mother came alone. Even though the
Lisette Morales
Phuong Gano
Photo by Lisette Morales
Vietnam War ended in 1975, economic sanctions, the unstable political climate, ethnic persecution, and ensuing wars with neighboring countries lead to a worldwide humanitarian crisis. While living in Vietnam was dangerous, leaving was even more so, until the United Nations created the Orderly Departure Program to ensure safe passage and a destination abroad ready to receive the refugees. Phuong knew that her parents left family and the life they knew in Vietnam to pursue the American Dream in a peaceful country.
However, Phuong never knew her mother.
When she was three years old, her mother was murdered and Phuong learned early on that leaving one dangerous environment does not guarantee safety in another environment. A few years after her parents came to America, there was an argument about missing family money that came to a tragic end. An accused cousin shot and killed five family members and critically wounded two others at their home, including Phuong’s mother and herself. Phuong survived because a nearby truck driver ran into the gunfire to scoop her off the porch and help get her to the hospital.Phuong was left with facial paralysis.
Her childhood dramatically changed after this incident. Her main guardian became her aunt, who helped her father raise her. No one talked about her mother and Phuong did not ask. The subject was far too painful. At the time, it was one of the worst mass shootings in Boston history.
For many teachers like Phuong Gano, lessons learned in childhood and in the home lead to lessons taught in the classroom. Phuong began developing her lesson plans at home at the age of seven, playing school with her cousins. Her unique life experience led her to be the teacher and mother she is today, and put her on the path to earn the Stand Up For Justice Award.
Phuong met husband her Tom in 2004 when they were in college. Their two sons Cassius (9) and Marcus (4) keep them busy with baseball, reading, and homework during the week. On the weekends, they love spending their time outdoors at the beach, playing, going out for ice cream, and enjoying the tree house her husband built for the boys.
When did you know that you wanted to become a teacher? The teacher in me came out when I was about seven years old. I grew up with six cousins. As the oldest, it was my job to “teach” my younger cousins. Come to think of it, I made them all play school with me whether they liked it or not.
How many years have you been a teacher? I have been teaching for 12 years. This is my ninth year with Collier County Public Schools. I spent almost two-and-a-half years teaching in an inner city private school in Boston.
What do you love about teaching your current grade at Shadowlawn Elementary School? What would surprise us about your school? This is my second year at Shadowlawn Elementary and I absolutely love teaching third graders. One of the reasons why I love third graders is their ability to understand humor. Shadowlawn Elementary is a Title 1 school where 82% of our students are economically needy. However, if you were to step into our school, you would not be able to tell. Our staff does an amazing job at making sure that our students are taken care of if they are in need. We are constantly vigilant of how they come to school, their emotional state, and we make sure that they get what they need before we start teaching them.
Tell us about your Stand Up For Justice Award. What did you do to be recognized? The Stand Up For Justice Award is a kindness initiative started by Beth Povlov of the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples. It recognizes high school, middle school, and elementary school educators who are innovative in bringing respect for others’ differences into their activities with students in a transformative, impactful, and caring way. Her goal was to create a resource for educators of any discipline to incorporate strategies that promote understanding and respect among students, countering bigotry and bullying.
In the beginning of this year, I decided to start a project called “Project Lunch Notes.” As a parent, I like to write little notes and put them in my son’s lunchboxes. I did not really think he noticed them at first, until he called me out one day when I forgot to write one. He really liked reading them and told me that it made him feel special.
I decided to implement note writing in my classroom as a kindness initiative. Children cannot be kind to others if they have not felt kindness themselves. Therefore, I made each student their own “lunch notes” notebook to keep all their notes in. Once or twice a month, the students would get a random classmate’s notebook and write that classmate a kind note. When I started this project, I had no idea how the students would receive it. However, they loved it and wanted to write in it every day. They all started to become more conscious of their words and how it could affect their peers. About two weeks ago, I had them write an encouraging note to their class-mate about the FSA. One student wrote, “I noticed that you are shy. But I believe in you. You can pass the FSA. Don’t give up!”
How has your childhood influenced you as a mother and a teacher? Growing up without a mother greatly influenced how I am as a parent. My aunt did her best to raise me as her own and I never felt unloved. However, there was always some-thing missing. When I became a mom, I knew that I wanted my children to feel a love I never felt from a “mother.”
In a way, Project Lunch Notes did stem from my idea of what a mother should be like. When my husband and I first started dating, I would pack him lunch and sometimes write a note and then he told me his mom use to do that for him when he was younger. I really liked that idea and did it when I had kids.
What are some of your more memorable gifts received for Teacher Appreciation Week? One of the nicest things that I received was an unexpected message from a parent. It was a genuine thought and very simple. All it said was “Thank you, teacher, for making the children happy.” Once, I had a parent ask me “ What is your favorite coffee from Dunkin Donuts?” The next morning, her child came in bearing my favorite cup of coffee.
During Teacher Appreciation Week, Shadowlawn Elementary goes out of its way to make the teachers feel appreciated. Last year, we got coffee on a couple of mornings, free lunches a couple of days, and small tokens of appreciation in our mailboxes each day.
What is the best advice you have received about parenting? The best advice about parenting that I received was actually from my husband, and it was to listen. A few months back, my nine-year-old and I got into a little argument. Well, it was more like me being short with him and then sending him to time out because he talked back in a rude manner. My husband then said, “I think he was trying to tell you something. Did you listen to him?”
So, I took a deep breath and walked over to our son and asked, “Why didn’t you do what I asked?”
It turned out that he just wanted to finish doing whatever he was doing with his dad (which would have taken only a few more minutes) before he started doing what I had asked. I was too busy trying to get him to do it “now” and I thought that he was ignoring me. Once I “listened” to him, he calmed down. He left time out, did what I asked, and then continued on with his dad.
What advice would you give the parents of your students? I would give them the same advice: take a deep breath and just listen. In our hearts we want to always protect children, give them advice, and guide them. As parents, I find the hardest thing to do is to take a step back with the “telling” and give in to the “listening” part.
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 5-11.