The good Cornellians can do: Elizabeth Rosenstein ’79

“If you had asked me about being a teacher when I was at Cornell, I wouldn't have considered the idea,” admits Elizabeth Rosenstein '79.

After a decade working in the fast-paced world of fashion in NYC, she took time off to start a family. And she became enamored with children. Elizabeth started taking on side jobs that put her around kids, including lifeguarding and camp counseling.

In fall 1999, she received a letter from the NYC Board of Education. They were looking for teachers who were willing to work in an area of need while they pursued their teaching credentials. Elizabeth took a chance and applied for an opening in the South Bronx.

“I had seen with my own children the difference a good teacher could make in the lives of students,” she says. “I wanted to be that type of teacher. I figured my motivation would make up for any skills I lacked.”

She got the job and describes her first months as “pretty terrifying.” Elizabeth taught without any formal teaching experience, turning to colleagues for mentorship and coaching. Meanwhile, she raised her two elementary-age children and went to graduate school.

“The kids felt that I believed in them, and I cared. I was doing something meaningful in the community, and it felt good,” she says.

After 26 years, Elizabeth still loves watching her students evolve into a room full of curious learners. She says by about April each year, she can really notice their progress. Her favorite memories happen at graduation in June.

“The last day of school each year is happy, yet sad. The class has become a kind of extended family,” she says. “On the last day, we start to separate from one another. I have done my job and gotten them ready for the next challenge.”

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