The Francis W Parker school opened its door in 1901. 120 years later, Parker’s doors are still open. First grade teacher Bev Greenberg (known as Greenie) has been at Parker for 50 years — 42% of its lifetime.

Greenie says she is grateful for the school letting her stay for 50 years, however, as her former students, sophomore Deven Gupta said, “The school should be grateful for everything Greenie has done for the Parker community.” Fifty years after Greenie walked through Parker’s doors, she is still teaching first graders at Parker, full of joy, pride, and love.

“Magical ones are what I call my first graders,” Bev Greenie said. Greenie has taught classes in Senior Kindergarten and First Grade since 1970. Her first job at Parker was with a senior kindergarten (SK) class, and she worked with the business offices as an assistant at the same time. However, after settling in as a full time teacher, she dedicated herself to teaching her students. “I believe that the children in first grade are the ultimate gift. Just being able to watch them grow and learn is truly magical, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do what I do,” she said.

As an undergraduate student studying education, Greenie came to Parker for observation hours. “The moment I walked into Parker, I felt such a warmth, such an inviting atmosphere. I knew that I wanted to work here,” Greenie said. She started at Parker when the Lower School was across Clark Street and the business offices were where the Science Wing is currently. The Lower School across the street housed only Junior and Senior Kindergarten. “I said, I don’t know if I could ever teach here, but I’ll find a way to be here someday.”

“I still remember my early times at Parker when Greenie made it a point of coming up and introducing herself to me,” Upper School English teacher Mike Mahany said. Mahany has been at Parker for 32 years, arriving 18 years after Greenie.

Mahany has collaborated multiple times with Greenie’s classes over the years. One time, Mahany’s freshman class and Greenie’s first grade class both wrote poems and presented them to each other. “I have really enjoyed knowing her. She’s been such an incredible presence in the building here. Not only to her students who remember her fondly but also to her colleagues as well.”

“I think back to when I first started as a naive and not very secure teacher,” Greenie said. When she first started, she was filled with doubt and nervousness. Greenie described her first couple of experiences in conferences as “nerve wracking.” She said that she would sit across from parents shaking as she tried to tell them about their kid and her notes. It wasn’t until she married her best friend and soulmate, Jay Greenberg, who told her: “You can make anything work if you just believe that you can.”

Since then, Greenie has made sure that her kids are the best prepared for the real-world as they can be. “I’ve definitely changed as a teacher, but I certainly learn from my students every year,” Greenie said. 

“A wise teacher changes their teaching style. They do not stay in a prescriptive mode,” Greenie said. After teaching more than 1000 students at Parker, Greenie has seen it all. Greenie admitted to making mistakes over the years, which she calls hiccups, but she has created a foundation for teaching her main principles to her students.

Those principles include empathy, compassion, creativity, and community. “I have to convince them to recognize that within themselves they’re amazing human beings. We all need to be influenced by people who believe in us. I want to carry on that by also believing in them, but I want them to believe in themselves. That’s important to me.”

“The child in the 1970s is not the child of 2022,” Greenie said. Greenie has taught through everything from a global pandemic to the Cold War to 9/11. Greenie has sculpted her curriculum and her teaching style to tackle whatever current events come her way. “The kid of today demands that you recognize that they have opinions, that they have different ideas and different strategies. If you’re smart, as an educator, you will entertain what they’re saying to you and try it because nine times out of ten, they’re right”

“If you spend more time listening to children, and listening to how they think, how they strategize, it enriches your curriculum,” Greenie said. Greenie makes her students “think outside the box” when tackling problems in her curriculum. She believes that that is the best way to teach a student — to make them question logic and authority, not just follow directions. She calls her kids that think outside the box “planetary kids.”

 She believes that to survive in society today, her students need to learn how to strategize and be creative in their problem solving. “I don’t want you to be a clone. I don’t want you to be a follower. You have potential and ability. I want to be the person you can try it out on and not fear that I’m going to shut you down, because there’s no reason to shut you down.”

“I was kind of nervous going into Ms. Greenie’s class as a first grader,” Gupta said. He said that his teachers in Kindergarten would mention Ms. Greenie as the “strictest teacher you’ll ever have.” Gupta was in her 2012/2013 first grade class. “She was probably one of the best teachers I could have had. She was very wise, and I learned a lot from her class. Probably the most out of any other class in those years.”

“She’s probably going to be one of the few teachers that I remember from my childhood,” Gupta said. He plans on spending 14 years at Parker and he calls Greenie his “first real teacher.” He said that she had such a big impact on who he is today. “She understood how to teach a first grader, and it really set me up for my coming years at Parker.”

“Greenie does a great job of reaching out to the outer community outside of her classroom,” Mahany remarked. Greenie has made it a key part of her curriculum. When Greenie was teaching SK, she and her class created a restaurant that served over 300 adults and senior citizens in the Parker community. In her restaurant, the parents and adults would cook the food while the kindergarteners would turn into dishwashers, waiters, waitresses, bussers, and hosts or hostesses. In the present day, Greenie and her first grade class makes sure to greet every member of the Parker community including cafeteria workers, maintenance staff, and security. 

Greenie and her class also make pictures, drawings, and cards for community members’ birthdays. One of her main principles in class is to teach kids how to serve the community as if they were family. “They’re part of our family,” Greenie said. “We need to show the people who don’t expect anything from us that they are as important as we are.”

“I find that teaching these first graders is my joy, not my job. I am grateful everyday that that hasn’t changed,” Greenie said. Greenie still teaches first graders and plans on doing so indefinitely. “I would say lead with your heart and be the reason someone smiles today.”

“If I could give Ms. Greenie one piece of advice I would tell her to retire,” Mahany said jokingly. He spoke about how much of an impact Greenie has had on the school and how supportive she is to anyone a part of the Parker community. “I also think she would hate retirement since she loves teaching so much. She’s a true teacher, and she has inspired me many times.”

Greenie has watched construction workers build the fourth floor and renovate all the wings of the school. “Time is very tricky for me,” Greenie said. “A week can feel like 12 years, but when you say 50,it’s like somebody’s saying a million. I just can’t fathom that. All I know is I look forward to every day because Parker is such a joyous place. The fact that I can still be here and love the fact that I am a teacher at such a wonderful community is just a gift. So God’s been good to me, and I can’t be more grateful.”