From the moment Kayln Ortega pushes her music cart through Fort Myers Beach Elementary’s sophomore classroom to the moment she pulls it out an hour later, there’s not a second of downtime.
It’s intentional.
It’s been just under four months since Hurricane Ian decimated the beach school. Students and their families are still struggling. About 40 of the 54 students enrolled in the school have lost everything.
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“I just tried to make it really fun and try to get things moving because the minute things stop moving is the minute they have time to think about things other than school” , Ortega said. “So if I get them moving, keep them active, and keep them engaged, the less time they have to think about all the other things going on in their life.”
Fort Myers Beach Elementary was one of three schools in the Lee County School District destroyed by the hurricane. Students are now in five classrooms at San Carlos Park Elementary. The kindergarten class, which has only three students, and the second grade class, which has seven students, share a classroom.
“Most of our kids live on the beach, so we have to come back to an environment where it’s not ours and we have to start learning again,” Ortega said. “We also need to be those mentors and those counselors and supportive adults for our kids because they’re struggling.”
After Hurricane Ian, Ortega, who lives in Cape Coral and didn’t lose her home, was the one to contact all the families and make sure they were okay. She also helped organize a collection and distribution of donations for these families.
“It was just something I wanted to do because I love our kids and our families,” she said. “But it’s also something I was able to do because I was lucky enough to conserve my resources.”
Ortega’s dedication to making school a safe place for her students is why she was chosen as the first Amazing Teacher of The News-Press, a series where the newspaper and website spotlight educators Lee County Exceptionals. The teachers are nominated by the community and the winner is selected by specialist journalist Nikki Ross.
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“She is a great asset to our school and we are grateful to have such a dedicated music teacher,” said Michele Batista, Outstanding Primary School Student Education Teacher, who nominated Ortega. “Not only is she amazing at teaching music, but she’s great at working with kids with their emotional needs.”
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Music for elementary school students
The first thing Ortega does upon entering a classroom with his music cart is break out into a song to say hello to his students.
The children began to sing alongside her as she set up her laptop.
Ortega’s music class is now a traveling class. She moves her trolley filled with toys, musical instruments and accessories from one grade level to another.
Elementary-level music lessons help establish the basics of music, like finding rhythm, what’s loud and what’s soft, what’s fast and what’s slow, according to Ortega.
“Just getting that initial love for music, like really involving them in what we’re doing,” she said. “Make them confident in music, get them used to their voice and to experimentation.”
She gathers her second graders in a circle on the floor, where she claps them to the beat of the song.
Through his lessons there is singing, movement, rhythm, learning pitches and telling stories through song. Older students begin to play instruments.
“Music is important not just for primary school, but for all children,” she said. “It uses both sides of the brain. It also integrates academics. Studies show that children who are interested in music do better academically.
Then she asks everyone to stand up and jump into the classroom to the beat of the song.
Since Hurricane Ian, Ortega has changed some of the way she teaches her students.
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“I tried to add a lot more conversational elements into my lesson plans,” she said. “I tried to make time to sit with them and maybe it’s not music related, maybe it’s just how your weekend went.”
During class, she asked her students what their favorite breakfast dish was. Next, what is their least favorite breakfast dish. She turned those conversations into a song with coordinated movements to the beat.
She checks on her students more often now, watches for out-of-the-ordinary behavior and keeps it up.
“I know a lot of them tend to close,” she said. “Our first week back was not about learning, it was just about making sure the kids knew they could tell us about their experiences and that whatever they had been through, that it whether small or large, everything was fine.”
When the students shared their experiences after the hurricane, Ortega said she had to get out of the room.
“I remember them being so open and honest about their experiences and I just had to leave because I was crying,” she said. “They’re just able to talk about it and I can’t imagine. It always touches me, the things they went through.
Batista said Ortega is always available to help his students.
From music to education
Ortega went to school for music education with the dream of teaching an orchestra in middle school.
But when she worked her way up to her dream job, she realized it wasn’t for her.
“It takes very special people to teach middle school,” she said. “I actually quit teaching for a little while, working with a local band and an orchestra store to figure out what I really wanted to do.”
During this time, she had three children and was looking for a part-time job in order to work while raising her children. That’s how she landed the job of music teacher at Fort Myers Beach Elementary School in the fall of 2020, which allowed her to work Mondays and Tuesdays only.
“Since then, I love it, I never wanted to leave,” she said.
According to Ortega, working for a small school like Fort Myers Beach Elementary is different from a typical school. There is only one class for each level.
Her favorite part is that she’s about to have relationships with each of her students.
“I’m able to really watch a class and understand what they like and dislike about music in particular,” she said. She is then able to modify her lesson plans to meet the needs of each grade level.
The close relationship she has with each student is what facilitates the second part of her work. Starting last school year, she also became the beach school response specialist from Wednesday to Friday, as she needed a full-time job for pay and benefits.
“They all know me and it’s really easy for me to walk into any class and help them academically as well,” she said.
In this role, she helps identify students who need more academic or behavioral support. This includes tracking student data, attendance, communicating with teachers, and general student observation.
“We identify children who need more support, we hold meetings with parents, we put plans in place, we track the data and we get them where they need to be,” Ortega said. “It’s much more a little individual support with children who need it behaviorally and academically.”
Many of his students in intervention left school after Hurricane Ian displaced them, according to Ortega. But she was surprised that most students weren’t slipping academically after the hurricane.
“We haven’t slipped, there aren’t a lot of behavioral issues,” she said. “We’re seeing a lot more kids who need mental health checks.”
The road ahead
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The biggest hurdle to overcome for Ortega, and the beach school in general, is whether or not they will be able to return. The school district will decide this month whether to rebuild or disband the school entirely.
The uncertainty is something Ortega said students are well aware of.
“Most of their parents are fighting for it, which is a shame they’re in a position where they’ve lost everything and now they also have to fight to keep their kids in school,” Ortega said. “Teachers are also in the fight.”
At school, Ortega said they try to keep it light and on topics away from the uncertainty of the future.
“We try to keep the focus on learning and away from all that because we all know school is the safe place for most kids,” she said. “We focus on our normal routine because it gives the kids normality.”
After working at Beach School, Ortega said she wanted to stay as long as she could.
“I want to be that person to help rebuild the school and rebuild the music program and end this fight for children and families,” she said. “And if I ever left for any reason, I would stay in education.”
The News-Press is now accepting nominations for Amazing Teacher from February until January 26th.To nominate a teacher, visit naplesnews.com.
