Our Students, Now: RTA English Teacher Sheba Serna

Sheba Serna, a Mount Vernon High School Class of 1992 graduate, was recently awarded as Rebecca Turner Academy’s Teacher of the Year for the 2023-2024 school year by the Mount Vernon City School District. Ms. Serna worked in the Sundown Alternative Program prior to the founding of RTA, and she values her work deeply because she feels that she would have been an RTA student herself. The support she received at MVHS helped to propel her towards a teaching career within the District.

Ms. Serna has spent 20 years teaching in the MVCSD, spending time at Mandela School and the Sundown Academy before starting at RTA.

“Ms. Serna has done a fantastic job at Mandela School, Mount Vernon High School and now Rebecca Turner Academy,” said Acting Superintendent Dr. K. Veronica Smith. “She has served our students that need her the most with extreme care and dedication, and I know they are thankful for everything she has done for them. Thank you for all your great work at RTA, Ms. Serna!”

View the Q+A with Ms. Serna here!

What inspired you to come back and teach in the MVCSD?
This is my home. I don’t live here anymore, but I’m born and raised in Mount Vernon. I just felt like I wanted to serve the people – students who are just like me. 

How does your experience in the District inform how you teach at RTA?
My first two years at Mount Vernon High School, I got half a credit. That’s why I was on the five-year plan. I was a Rebecca Turner student; always cutting, fighting, getting suspended, always in trouble. I had the potential, had the ability, but just didn’t take school seriously. Then I met the best teacher in the entire world, Mr. Danny Lanzetta. He just made me want to teach. He was amazing; he saw in me what I always knew I had, but there were just so many other issues in my life. So, at Rebecca Turner, it’s the same thing. These kids have a lot of potential, but they just have so many issues going on in their lives. I had the home problems, financial, poverty – I went through all the things they’re going through, probably more, but I still made it. So, I let them know it’s possible. They can do it. It’s a struggle you have to fight, but it’s still possible. So, I see myself in them. 

Is there a teacher or mentor from your time in Mount Vernon that inspires your work today?
Danny Lanzetta was the best English teacher in the entire universe. No matter how much I tried to lay back and slack, he wouldn’t go for it. He always said he saw my potential. He would give me opportunities to share my poetry with class. He was just so inspirational, but I didn’t know I wanted to be an English teacher then. When I left and decided to go to college, I walk into my class and there’s Mr. Lanzetta, my college professor.  It was just something about that man; he stuck with me and always believed in me. I just wanted to do what he did. I wanted to be him because he was so inspirational.

How did MVHS prepare you for your career? 
When I came here, MVHS was huge. I was just a drop in the ocean. It was rough, but what it did was it taught me self-reliance. I had to work hard to become successful academically. They had a program at Mount Vernon High School called Y-MED (Young Mothers' Educational Development), and when I got pregnant, I thought everything was over. But they had the program at the high school, and so I went to class and learned how to be a mother. One of the nurses who was teaching the class, she actually – after I had my son – came and did a home visit to make sure that I remembered the things that I learned. That was really instrumental because I had that support system that began at the high school. They even connected me to childcare. After graduating high school, I was still connected to the people from the program who helped me with childcare along the way while I was in college. 

How does it feel to work in the same District that you graduated from?
I love it. I love it especially because I know most of their parents; I grew up with them, went to school with them. One of my parents at meet and greet came in, and we hugged when I realized who it was. When her son didn’t do his work yesterday, I shot her a quick text. By the end of the day, he came in and he brought me the work. So, I love working here because I know the people. I am a Mount Vernonite, born and raised here. It’s a really close community if you’re from Mount Vernon; it’s almost like we’re all family. So, I can reach out. I had a kid two years ago who wanted to play keyboard and was really financially struggling. In Sundown, there was no music program for it, so I have this community of support. I reached out to my community and said, ‘I have a kid who wants to play keyboard, does anyone have one?’  Within 10 minutes, I got a text message to come pick it up. First thing in the morning, I grabbed it and brought it to the boy – brand new. It’s a community thing because we all know each other. 

What would you say to students who might want to pursue education in the future?
I would tell people that if they want to go into teaching, have a lot of patience because you definitely need it. If your heart’s not into it, don’t do it. You can’t teach and not care. They’re all my babies. Even after they graduate, I’m in touch with a lot of kids. This is one profession that if you don’t care, this is not something you do for the paycheck. You have to really love what you do. Some advice that I wished I received is something that I’m still working on: don’t get too attached because it can get overwhelming. You still have to maintain that balance of your work life and personal life because sometimes the lines can get blurred. The kids, especially our kids, have a lot of issues, things you could not even imagine. It’s really important to keep somewhat of a distance because it can become extremely overwhelming to pile all their issues onto yourself.

Is there anything you know now that you wish you had known while you were in school?
I think if I had the opportunity to go back, I love teaching English, but I love history too. People walk in here and say, "What do you teach?” They’re not really sure because it’s kind of eclectic. You have some history, some art, so I kind of dabble in all of it. That’s one of the things that English allows me to do. If I could do it all over again, I think I would still choose to teach English because Danny Lanzetta was that powerful. He was the best teacher. I wish everyone could just meet him. 

How do you connect with students at RTA?
I spend a long time trying to bond with my students. I’m like the mama bear, and they’re all my little baby bears. You have to have the relationship. You have relationships with kids, and they’ll work for you. They’ll behave for you, and they’ll do what you want. Having that bond with the students is the best thing that I can have. It allows me to get a lot of work done. They’ll work for you if they like you, and it’s genuine; it’s from my heart. I tell kids, even if I just met them today, “I still care about you because you’re a student, so I’m going to always care about you.” My relationships are what allows me to be successful.

What I love the best about working with Mr. Newbey here at Rebecca Turner, even with Mr. Grant and Mr. Burts back at Mandela, is the autonomy they’ve given me. When I first started teaching, the students were not buying into the curriculum, and it was a struggle. They allowed me to bring in other resources. I’m still teaching the strategies, skills, the writing and reading components, but they allowed me to bring in my own things to make it worthwhile, especially for the alternative kids. They need to see relevance. If they see no connection to it in their personal lives, they might check out. When we’re doing Regent's prep and I’m choosing stories, I choose the ones on GMOS. So, they’re learning not only how to write and read but they’re also learning something relative to life about GMOS, about too much sugar in food. So, I kind of get to tailor my resources to the students each semester, and they have allowed me to do that.