Clampit: Hard work+high expectations = success

For Melissa Clampit, who teaches fifth grade math at North Avenue Elementary School, the decision to become a teacher was practically a given.

However, some good healthy parental advice led her to steer in a different direction — a temporary detour Melissa does not regret.

In the long run, she decided to follow her heart. So here she is today, doing what she always dreamed of doing — teaching.

Melissa was born in Cuero and raised in Westhoff. She  graduated from Yorktown High School in 1991 and attended Texas A&M University where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Economics in 1995.

“After graduation, I worked at Texas A&M University for a year before receiving my alternative teaching certification through Region VI in Huntsville,” she says.

When asked what inspired her drive to become a teacher, Melissa says it’s all in the family.

“Both of my parents were involved in education,” she says. “My dad began his career as an ag teacher and then held various administration roles, including being my junior high principal. My mother was a teacher, and I wanted to be like her.  I can remember helping her erase chalkboards and watching her make copies on an old machine that used purple ink.”

Melissa says her mother was  a true inspiration in her life and passed away when Melissa was just 10 years old. She and her brothers were raised by their father, who actually advised her to follow a different career path than teaching.

 “I remember telling him during my senior year that I wanted to be a teacher,” she recalls. “His response was one that I was not expecting to hear.  Instead of encouraging me to pursue a teaching career, he suggested that I should become a speech therapist if I wanted to be in the education field.  Serving many years in education himself, he realized the time, preparation, and demands that teachers face.”

So Melissa took her dad’s advice, but instead of earning a degree in the education field she chose to earn a business degree.

“During my time in college,  I worked part-time at a daycare school teaching and realized I needed to follow my heart,” she says. “After graduation I enrolled in the alternative teaching certification program to become a teacher.”

Melissa says she loves teaching math and being able to see the student’s reactions when they actually understand what she’s trying to convey. On one hand, it  may take several approaches, but once they get it, she says it is very rewarding.  

“My students know that the first day they step into class that my job is to teach and their job is to learn,” she says. “We discuss how everyone is unique and that everyone may not catch on at the same time.  If you walk by my classroom on any given day, you will see the students engaged in a lesson, watching short digital videos, or hear them chanting.  I do my best to make learning fun by using creative methods so that the student can retain what has been taught.”        

This is Melissa’s 17th year to teach. Following graduation, she married her husband, Rusty, who was only in his first year of vet school.

“During his vet school years, I received my alternative teaching certification and taught at Normangee ISD for two years,” she remembers. “Upon my husband’s graduation from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, he accepted a job in Edna, and I taught for Edna ISD.  Following that year, we were expecting our first child and decided to move to Gonzales to be closer to our families.

After staying at home for a year with our daughter, I applied at Gonzales ISD and started teaching fifth grade at North Avenue Intermediate School. Fourteen years later,  I am still teaching fifth graders!”    

When it comes to giving advice to those who aspire to teach, Melissa says simply to follow one’s heart, like the way she eventually did.

“Pursue the area that works best for you,” she says. “If you are unsure of what grade levels to teach, it would be wise to receive multiple certifications, so that later in your career you have options.  I would have to agree with my dad when he said that teachers spend countless hours preparing and planning for the success of their students.  Always set high expectations for yourself and your students. Hard work plus high expectations equals success!”