Salt Lake City's new teacher of the year on book bans, active shooter drills, district drama and kids growing up online 

• Cathy Bigler, Whittier Elementary teacher

Disbelief washed over Whittier Elementary School teacher Cathy Bigler on May 8, as she saw interim Superintendent Martin Bates and Whittier principal Bri Deleon holding balloons in her classroom doorway.

As they announced to her and her fifth graders that Bigler had won Salt Lake City School District's (SLCSD) 2023 Teacher of the Year award, Bigler clasped her hands together and held them up to cover a beaming smile.

A student called out from the back of the class, "You deserve it. You really do!" Bigler blew kisses to the class and curled her hands into a heart.

click to enlarge

• Cathy Bigler, front left, grew up in Provo and would play-act teaching classes with her dolls.

For as long as she can remember, Bigler wanted to be a teacher. When she was a third grader in her home town of Provo, she would set out her dolls and stand and teach them in her room. She graduated from Brigham Young University in 1984 and, at age 21, fulfilled her dream of teaching in Alpine School District. Since then, she's spent the past 38 years teaching elementary school, with the bulk of that time in SLCSD and the past 17 years at Whittier, located in the Liberty Wells neighborhood.

Bigler's ambition for helping develop Utah's youth is part of a long-standing family legacy of education. Her father, James Bergara, served as superintendent of Provo School District and her mother, Ella Ruth Bergara, taught children's literature at BYU before they passed away.

Now, Bigler's daughter is just a year away from finishing her education at the University of Utah and, in line with her family legacy, will become a teacher as well.

While Bigler takes a much-needed break from the classroom this summer, City Weekly caught up with the award-winning educator to chat about COVID lockdowns, teaching kids in the age of the internet, the future of the Salt Lake City School District and the new wave of book bans sweeping the country. [Editor's note: The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.]

Connor Sanders: Did you know you were up for Teacher of the Year?

Cathy Bigler: I got an email from the district a few months ago saying that somebody had nominated me. I was like, "Oh, that's nice." And then I got another email a little later saying, you're one of the four finalists. And with that one, I thought, "Oh no, this is real."

I started to get a little bit nervous, because I really don't like having a lot of attention on me—which is weird; my friends always say, "Then why are you a teacher?" When I'm around my peers, I just want to be in the back. But then, in the classroom, I want all the kids listening to me. I don't get it, but whatever. So, when they said I was one of the final four, I had to answer some questions and go do an interview and things like that. But then, I figured, "OK, that's all done now. I'm good."

When [Bates] walked in, I just thought, "Oh, no." Like, "Oh, my gosh! What?" It was the cutest thing. Little kids out on the playground and their parents, when I go out on bus duty, they'd say, "I saw you on TV!" I never had that happen before. It was funny.

What were your feelings when it sunk in that you had won the award?

CB: Well, just super honored because a lot of teachers put their heart and soul into everything they do, and they don't get any recognition for it. I'm the kind of person who doesn't put myself out there. I'm not on Facebook. I don't have an Instagram account. I don't have any of that stuff.

And so, in my heart, I kind of thought this was for all those teachers who just go to work every day and do their job and love those kids. And they don't have to be recognized for it. But it's nice every now and then, you know, so I was really, really honored.

You've been teaching at Whittier for nearly 20 years. What has kept you there?

CB: I love the kids. I don't care whether you're a west-side kid or an east-side kid, gifted or special education. I love it when kids need you. And you can feel that from the kids. I love getting to know them and seeing the kids in the hallway that are going to be in my class. I also love my colleagues, my administration. It's just such a wonderful, loving, supportive school. And I felt like that right from the beginning when I first got there.

What do you make of the recent pushes to ban so-called "pornographic" books?

CB: I think that's really unfortunate. As a child, I was very sheltered. Growing up in Provo, I don't know if there were books that were banned back in my day. I do know that if my parents hadn't wanted me to read books, they would have told me, and I hope I would have listened to them. And I wouldn't have read them.

But I certainly wouldn't want them as parents to make a blanket statement that, "I don't want any child to read this book, just because I don't feel comfortable with my child reading it."

I find that very troubling ... There are graphic books and things that maybe shouldn't be in libraries. But who are we to say what is and what isn't?

I think people ought to be able to make the choice for themselves, what books they want their children to read. And when their children get to a certain age, and they're fully capable of making the choice, then they read.

Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to shelter your children forever, and I think it would be better if they had a conversation with their children. I don't think it's so much about the book as it is about keeping an open line of communication between children and parents about what parents want and what is best for kids. Because I honestly think we're all on the same page, we all want children to grow up feeling safe, feeling supported. I think people are just going different ways getting there.

• Cathy Bigler, center, with her family

You've seen multiple generations of children grow up. How are kids different now than when you first started teaching?

CB: One of the things that I've noticed is they're much more "world-wise" than they were before. I think it's because of the internet. They just know a lot more about current events than I ever did when I was younger or my students back in the '80s.

We'd never heard about school shootings and now it's just so commonplace that you hear about that. And we have practices. I always tell them after any school shooting, "This is why we do these drills. This is why." Because it's almost like it's not a big deal at this point. You know?

At least, in my experience—and maybe it's because I moved from Provo to Salt Lake, I don't know—I see the kids are a little more open-minded, more willing to accept new ideas without being judgmental.

I'm not saying that the kids down where I taught before weren't, I just don't remember some of the issues coming up that have been coming up a little more recently. I find them more open, more accepting now. I do, though, find that mental health is a bigger issue now than it was.

How does that show itself in the classroom?

CB: Kids don't necessarily talk to teachers about it. But I can just tell that, sometimes, it's kind of like an underlying current.

I just see that in a kid. Especially with the pandemic—and when we had to teach at home—the kids were at home, and I could just tell when I was teaching them on the computer.

I mean, it seems fun to be at home for a while. But when you're isolated like that, for so long, it kind of starts to mess with you.

When the kids were able to finally come back to school, they were so excited. Kids would tell me that they'd read things online that they didn't feel comfortable with, or that made them feel weird. So, then we were having to teach kids, "OK, here's what you do when you're online, and somebody says something to you." Having to teach them how to quickly get out of that situation.

I think there's a lot of things. I think kids grow up way faster than they did back when I first started teaching. And I think that that can really challenge them with their mental health.

Perhaps it sets expectations for how they're supposed to behave before they're ready?

CB: Yes, the high expectations and the pressure. It's not just in-person, either—with social media, you get it online, too. I never had to deal with that.

I always tell them, "I can only imagine how difficult things are for you. I am here to help you navigate whatever you need to help you through this time. It's very difficult."

Grown-ups have no idea what it is like to be a child nowadays. It's a lot harder than we think.

I think, basically, feeling safe and feeling heard, are the biggest things. Whether that's a physical safety, or an emotional safety or a mental safety, or, you know, worried about bullies—things like that. It's just so much different now.

• Visitors surprised Cathy Bigler in her classroom with the news she was Teacher of the Year.

What are some of the biggest issues impacting you and your community of educators?

CB: One thing—and I don't really feel this as much as some of my colleagues—is pressure to perform, especially when it comes to standardized tests.

Teachers work so hard, and we've always said, you can work as hard as you can, but when kids go in to take those tests, they're going to do what they're going to do. Even if they know the information, they may not test well.

It's so hard because teachers put their heart and soul into it, and it all comes down to one month of testing that says whether you're a good teacher or not a good teacher. That seems so unfair.

Teacher burnout is kind of a thing. It's weird, though, because I've never felt that, even when I really was frustrated. There are lots of challenges, but the benefits for me always outweigh those challenges.

There are some teachers for whom the challenges outweigh the benefits, and they don't want to do it anymore. I certainly can't blame them if teachers feel like they're not being supported.

I've always felt that if I needed something, I had somewhere that I could go. I want to be that teacher for other teachers. If there are teachers struggling, I want them to feel comfortable asking me because I have taught forever, and I could certainly try to help them.

But yeah, that whole overwhelming feeling of pressure to perform, to have your students perform and that you don't get to do anything fun. It's all about testing, testing, testing, testing. I think that's very hard for teachers.

The school district is experiencing enrollment decline and leadership turmoil, including the removal of a board member and the previous superintendent. How do you feel about the future of SLCSD?

CB: I'm still really confident. Our district will do what they need to do with the [school boundary] reconfiguration. I know change is hard for people. So I'm not saying it's going to be easy. But I do have every confidence that our district will do what needs to be done to help our kids.

And I feel really, really positive about our new superintendent, Dr. Elizabeth Grant. I love that she's from [Salt Lake City]. That's great.

I don't think that's the No. 1 important thing—but she's capable and that is the No. 1 important thing.

I know that there's been a lot of bad press, with our school board and the superintendent and all that. I get it. But what people are not seeing is that these teachers are still going in every single day and doing their job and trying their very best to help those students.

And what's really important here is helping those kids. That's what we do every day.

How did the leadership drama impact the teachers around you? Did you feel distracted from your responsibilities?

CB: In my own life, I didn't. But I know for some of the teachers, sure it was. Teachers talk. Schools are like small towns. Everybody talks—everybody knows what's going on. I know that some of the teachers were frustrated. It was more that they didn't want the outside [world] thinking that our district is this awful district because we are not.

I think our board's really tried their best. I'm not sure if they succeeded. But, I don't think people go on to a school board thinking that they're going to sabotage the district. I think we tried. But I do think there were some teachers that were very frustrated by that.

I just look at the goal at the end of the line, which is to teach my kids and be there for them. I never wanted my kids to feel the stress that maybe their parents were feeling at home. So when they came to school, it was always, "Let's do our work. Let's feel safe and comfortable and happy."

How is the pandemic still impacting classrooms, and how do you think the at-home lockdown will affect students long term?

CB: I'm not sure there will be a long-term impact. When the kids came back, it was hard for them to sit still. A lot of them couldn't hold a pencil. It was so weird. It was only a year or so, but it was funny to watch them trying to write with a pencil. It never dawned on me that they wouldn't be able to use it.

The routine at school and trying to persevere through assignments—that was hard at first, too. But now that it's been a year or two, it's getting better. Kids are just so resilient. They're so good at picking up and coming back from things if they have the support that they need

I think we've done a really good job trying to support these kids, welcoming them back, making sure that they felt safe. I still have kids who wear masks in the class. I'm not going to say anything to them. If they feel comfortable wearing masks, if that helps them feel safe, do it.

Some of them are doing it because it's more of a security thing. They feel safer that way. It's funny because now when kids have colds, they will come in wearing a mask. I never had that happen. Before they just coughed and sneezed all over. Any sign of a sore throat or sniffle or whatever, it's, "Do you have a mask, Mrs. Bigler?"