The Kindhearted Mrs. Baldwin

Kaylin Rock, Staff Reporter

Although Mrs. Baldwin has only worked at Gateway for a short time, she is already a well-known teacher here. 

Mrs. Baldwin became Gateway/Crossroads’ site permanent substitute teacher at the beginning of the year. Upon Mr. Danaher’s retirement, she applied for and took on teaching his classes for the rest of the year.

Before working at Gateway, she had three other teacher-related jobs. She worked at VIP Kid, taught home-and-hospital students, and also virtually taught English to Chinese kids. As a result of these experiences, she currently knows two words in Chinese: ‘Bao-Bao’ which means ‘kid’. She also knows ‘Ni-Hao’ which means ‘hello/hi.’

Mrs. Baldwin became a teacher because she loves working with kids and seeing their confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth grow. “I want people to be the happiest they can be,” she said.

It is very apparent that Mrs. Baldwin’s heart is in the right place when she responded to a couple of hypothetical questions about important issues. She would do whatever it took to make a student who was being bullied feel safe and supported as well as make sure the bullying stops. If a student who was being bullied came to her she would, “Immediately go to the guidance counselor and the vice principal, or any sort of administrator, to make a plan for it to stop, and [make sure] that the student feels supported.” Additionally, if she could bring back anyone from history for a day, she would bring back Abraham Lincoln so she could “ask him for advice on how to help a country that is dividing itself.” She truly wants to make sure that everyone, regardless of ideology, feels safe.

Outside of school, she likes to be very active. She runs, hikes, reads, and hangs out with her kids. She has five kids! Their names are Ethan (16), Addyson (13), Braden (11), Madelyn (8), and Katelyn (6). She also has pets, two dogs, one rabbit, and six chickens. She has a big family! 

Now, she has an even bigger family–welcome to the Gateway/Crossroads family, Mrs. Baldwin! We are truly lucky to have you here with us!