Who’s at the Door? (5) #ThursdayDoors

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Photo by J Fitzkee 2024

Welcome, everyone.  Some of you will recognize the person above.  She is beloved by many small children. Others will know the lady who is right behind her, who is loved by countless readers in the blog-verse.

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Who’s at the door?

Please welcome, mind-cultivator, teacher, and inspiration,
Jennie Fitzkee.

Jennie comes up with the most imaginative ways to open those mental doors for the children.  One of my favorites is Gloria.  The children, and the grownup readers on Jennie’s blog as well, adore Gloria, not in spite of, but because of her differences.  Above is a video of Jennie reading to Gloria.

By the way, 2024 marks Jennie’s 40th year teaching preschool at her beloved school.  Happy anniversary, Jennie!

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Interview

Jennie L Fitzkee 2024
Photo by Jennie L Fitzkee 2024

Teagan:  How do you use Gloria to open doors to diversity or tolerance for the children in your care?

Jennie:  Gloria is the diversity every child can understand.  While she is not from a specific culture, she is different.  She is old, not pretty, likes to wear black, and has a tall, pointy hat.  Every child encounters people who are different, and most make them feel uncomfortable. 

The root of acceptance begins with people who are different, like Gloria.  She has a personality – very shy – and she needs help and encouragement.  Bingo! That’s the door-opener.   Once children meet her, they want to help her.  They accept her for who she is, and include her in play.  Play is children’s work, and play with Gloria ‘cements’ their acceptance and love of her.  Children read books to her, play house with her (Gloria is usually the baby), and draw her pictures. 

If Gloria is left on the floor, someone notices and rushes to a teacher for help.  Yes, help, which comes naturally after acceptance.  Her weekend visits with children are special.  Most recently, a parent told me as soon as Gloria got into the car, “My child gave her brothers a lecture about how Gloria has been called a witch, but she’s not, and that they’d better be nice to her.” 

When a tricky moment presents itself in a lesson plan or a book we’re reading, such as bullying, I often ask, “What would Gloria say?  What would Gloria do?”  Then, Gloria is leading the way to tolerance. 

Gloria doll in costume

Teagan:  You often teach the children in your care about other cultures.  Do you use Gloria to help with that too?

Jennie:  Beyond opening the door to acceptance, Gloria opens doors to learning about other cultures.  When we have a unit on another country, we all teach Gloria how to sing songs in that language, and sing the Days of the Week in that language when we do the calendar each day, and dress her in shirts or a hat that is native to a country or a culture.  We often line-up chains to ‘fly’ to a new country, and Gloria always has a seat on the plane. 

When children teach Gloria, they are learning!  Gloria visits other classes in school.  She is always shy, and it takes some explaining to the new class in order for them to understand her.  In this way, children are getting a double-dose of learning and acceptance.  Most recently, Gloria wore a beret as we began learning about France, yet she still wanted to wear her new African shirt.  I asked the children if that was okay.  “Of course!”, they said, looking at me as if to say, “Why wouldn’t that be okay?”  Those were the magic words.  They understand and accept, thanks to Gloria.

Image collage by Teagan

Teagan:  From reading your blog posts over the years that we’ve been blog-acquainted, I can tell that you make a lasting impact on the lives of your students.  Do you ever hear from them after they leave your care?

Jennie:  I always tell children, “Once an Aqua Roomer, always an Aqua Roomer.”  That means they are welcome to visit, and to take Gloria home for a weekend.  They do!  If I see a child (former student) in the hallway having a meltdown, I will ask, “Do you want to take Gloria home tonight?”  OMG!  They are thrilled, and it makes all the difference in the world.

Updated to add one more story from Jennie:

It was such a pleasure to do the interview, and then your blog post was even greater than I imagined. You’re the best, Teagan! ❤️ OH! You’ll love this ‘epilogue’. When school ended today, my toughest child (I love him) asked if he could take Gloria home. It’s school vacation week, so that means a full week with Gloria. I looked at Mom, and she gave a look of “I guess so”, so I kneeled down to the child and said, “Mom said yes!” His eyes and face and big smile were shooting sunbeams. Then I said, “Wait. Do you have a night light?” He shook his head yes. “That’s good. Now Gloria won’t be scared.” He hugged her and walked away yelling at Mom, “Mom, let’s go!” This is the child who never wants to leave when Mom picks up. I’ll be going to bed and smiling tonight.

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Heartfelt appreciation to Jennie and Gloria for taking time to visit here today.  Thanks to all of you for opening this door.  Hugs!

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Of course, there’s the obligatory shameless self-promotion.

Thistledown: Midsummer Bedlam

Wildly whimsical for all ages

Thistledown - Midsummer Bedlam. New cover by Teagan R. Geneviene
Universal Purchase Links

Kindle:  relinks.me/B082RFN9GF

Paperback:  relinks.me/1675233632

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Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. It’s hosted by Dan Antion.  Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).

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Photos in this post are the property of Timothy Price.  Please do not use them without his express permission.

Copyright © 2024 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved.

137 thoughts on “Who’s at the Door? (5) #ThursdayDoors”

  1. Great post, Teagan. I enjoy Jennie’s blog and can’t agree more with your comment about how creative she is, working with children and opening the door to learning. Gloria is a wonderful addition to her tool box.

    Liked by 2 people

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  2. What a fabulous interview, Teagan and Jennie. I’m also in awe of Jennie’s (and Gloria’s) ability to teach about diversity, acceptance, kindness, and a host of other topics, all life-enriching and all setting the children up for a lifetime of learning and human happiness. Jennie and Gloria are needed more than ever. Congrats to you both on the wonderful chat and for making my morning.

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    1. My goodness, Diana, what a lovely comment! I’m so glad you enjoyed this interview. Gloria really works magic with children. I’m just glad I can be there to open the door. You’re right that the world today needs her (and good teachers) more than ever, in so many ways. Thank you!!

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  7. You continue to amaze with your originality, Jennie! Lack of understanding between people is a curse, so the sooner it is highlighted the better. Gloria must feel very much at home by now…A BIG Thank you! 

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  8. Teagan, thank you for featuring Jennie and Gloria! I’m so happy I opened this door today. Jennie and Gloria are an amazing duo–words can’t describe the incredibly endearing impact they have on children AND us—the adults that still need these lessons–of acceptance and tolerance! I applaud Jennie for her 40 years of service and Gloria is making a difference, too! And Teagan, I enjoyed visiting here and learning about you. I applaud you as well. Many blessings to you 3 today–a terrific trio to boost hope!

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      1. You’re welcome, Jennie! It’s my blessing! Aww, thank you for being the “conduit” of this community connection, Jennie! You are so kind and thoughtful! Teagan, I’m so happy to know you, too!

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  12. I love this interview with our Jennie. She is a treasure, not just to the children she teaches but to those of us who know her. Adding Gloria to the classroom is just brilliant!!

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      1. It was such a pleasure to do the interview, and then your blog post was even greater than I imagined. You’re the best, Teagan! ❤️ OH! You’ll love this ‘epilogue’. When school ended today, my toughest child (I love him) asked if he could take Gloria home. It’s school vacation week, so that means a full week with Gloria. I looked at Mom, and she gave a look of “I guess so”, so I kneeled down to the child and said, “Mom said yes!” His eyes and face and big smile were shooting sunbeams. Then I said, “Wait. Do you have a night light?” He shook his head yes. “That’s good. Now Gloria won’t be scared.” He hugged her and walked away yelling at Mom, “Mom, let’s go!” This is the child who never wants to leave when Mom picks up. I’ll be going to bed and smiling tonight.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Oh, Jennie, what a marvelous story. I’ll revise the post later, so everyone can find it.
          I also want to thank you for fielding comments. (Not everyone does that.) This has been one of the most popular posts I’ve done in recent years. Have a beautiful weekend.

          Liked by 1 person

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          1. Teagan, I’m so glad the post has been very popular!! The comments really are wonderful. I’m happy to reply to them. Also, I’m glad you liked my added story, too. It was one of my ‘moments’ in teaching, and why I do what I do. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on his face when Mom said “Yes”, nor his yelling at her, “Mom, let’s go!”, which he has never done before. Hugs! 💕

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      1. I read a lot of interviews and reviews which is a part of my professional content work. I have always been inclined to understand people’s mind and interviews let me do that. Sarah sometimes do not like when I watch a lot of political interviews, celebrity interviews. I think I picked up this thing after watching Hard Talk on BBC for my Literature projects during my college days. Those days are gone, my professor too has passed but her gift to me has stayed forever.

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  21. I thoroughly enjoyed your visit with Jennie and Gloria, Teagan! (I still think of Gloria as a real person.) Every time I read about how the children interact with Gloria, it gives me hope for the future.

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    2. Liz, I think of Gloria in the same way. When we have our Back-To-School Night for parents at the beginning of the school year and ‘explain’ Gloria, I just can’t say the word ‘puppet’. Many thanks!

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  31. Who’s at the door – Gloria! I recognized Gloria immediately, Teagan and I can’t think of a better way to start Thursday Doors than to talk to Jennie about Gloria. I’ve been following Jennie for years. I had the honor and privilege of visiting Jennie in her classroom and meeting Gloria in person. What Jennie does with children is remarkable. Thanks for highlighting her unique method of tackling one of the most significant issues in the world today – Acceptance of everyone, by everyone.

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    2. Dan, you know my favorite photo is you and Gloria, that moment of a first meeting. It was a wonderful visit! Thank you so much for your beautiful comment. Acceptance…yes! Who knew this would be even more important today than when she joined my classroom? I’ll tell Gloria you said Hi.

      Liked by 2 people

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  34. Congratulations to Jennie on her long career. I love her posts about her teaching and love Gloria as well. Such a great character and such a good way to get children to understand and emphatise with important issues. Great post, Teagan. ♥

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