Local Teacher Rediscovered Her Passion for the Classroom Mid-Pandemic

“I never imagined I’d be back in the classroom, but the pandemic changed everything.” said Dana Sunseri. With over three decades of experience, Sunseri rediscovered her passion for teaching in the classroom amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. After years in an administrative role, Suneri returned to kindergarten in response to a significant teacher shortage in 2020.

“There was such a need for teachers, and I felt it was my calling to step in,” said Sunseri. Research shows the pandemic caused a dramatic decrease in the number of students enrolled in preschool and kindergarten. Although many schools transitioned to online learning, some parents and guardians chose to delay their child’s enrollment.

Sunseri adapted to these changes stating, “even during the year of Covid, when children were home, we would do little podcasts. I would make a movie of me reading books so that they could still get those experiences. Even though they weren’t in person, [students] could still feel connected to learning from their teacher.” Sunseri’s creative solutions helped close the gap on foundational concepts experts assumed would be lost through virtual learning.

In August 2020, Baton Rouge Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy (BROD) opened a new elementary campus, offering a fresh start for students and educators. BROD’s educational vision of differentiated instruction, aligned with Sunseri’s teaching approach. Differentiated instruction tailors learning to each child’s unique needs, similar to Sunseri’s virtual learning solutions. “My mission is for all children to fall in love with learning, not just the learners who can sit at a desk with pencil and
paper, but those who need to hear it, feel it, see it, and move around,” Sunseri said.

As a public charter school focused on health science topics and careers, BROD’s values, known as the HEART Tenants: Honor, Endurance, Academic achievement, Responsibility, and Tolerance — drive their mission and school culture. Sunseri noted that these values were already integral to her classroom philosophy.

With a bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sciences and a master’s degree in child development, Sunseri’s dedication to education is evident. Having served in administration for 18 years, Sunseri wrote the curriculum for a local early childhood learning center. Now, as a kindergarten teacher at BROD, she continues to make an impact on her students, inspiring them to love learning as much as she does.