5 Essential Lessons I Learned From the Teachers and Staff in ‘Abbott Elementary’
Thank you Abbott Elementary
Spoilers to the first season of Abbott Elementary
Abbott Elementary has closed its doors for the season. Created by Quinta Brunson (who stars as Janine Teagues), the mockumentary sitcom focuses on a group of Philadelphia-based teachers doing their best to educate their students despite being overworked and underfunded. The series has been a favorite of mine this season, delivering episodes that provided a perfect blend of comedy and moments that made me go, “Oh … wow I really needed to hear that piece of advice.”
From crucial lessons about dealing with burnout to a REAL poignant lesson about the dreams we have for ourselves, these are five things I’m keeping close to my heart until season two inevitably gives me more to process.
Barbara deserves to get her nails done
Barbara Howard, played by one of my favorite TV moms (Sheryl Lee Ralph) has been at Abbott Elementary for a long time. If anyone understands the fine art of working within your means because you aren’t going to get better resources anytime soon, it’s her. Barbara is like a mother figure to Janine, the kind who tells her what she NEEDS to hear instead of coddling her. This doesn’t mean she doesn’t support or believe in Janine, though. Over time, she warms up to her, and even champions her optimism while also knowing when to bring her back down to earth.
All that being said, when I look back at the series the thing I appreciate most about Barbara is that she’s been there, done that, and ALWAYS makes time for herself. Being a teacher at Abbott Elementary ain’t easy, and swallowing the hard reality of “I’ve applied for this thing I deserve for years and go unheard” and “they can’t even get us good rugs” warrants some self-care. That’s why I love the fact that Barbara schedules a nail appointment to take time for herself. If you’re going to wake up every day and walk into a situation that can weigh on your spirit, you deserve to do a little something for yourself, and you deserve to do it without being made to feel guilty about it.
Take care of yourself to prevent burnout before it happens
Janine is a character I can relate to. I was (and still kinda am) the type to take on too much. I would often feel the need to prove that I could do something, and if someone had done something that disappointed me, I would internalize it instead of confronting them. This would, inevitably, bubble up and make situations worse, such as Janine trying to fix a lightbulb, which leads to a blackout, which leads to her passing out because she didn’t eat.
I recognized Janine’s burnout immediately because I’ve been there so many times—despite being a strong believer in mental health days (because we all know it’s easier to encourage everyone else but yourself). Janine looks to fellow teacher Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter) for advice, wondering how Melissa and Barbara can stop themselves from caring so much about the frustrating things that happen around them.
Melissa tells her that it’s not that they don’t care, it’s that they care too much. “We care so much we refuse to burn out. If we burn out, who’s there for these kids? That’s why you gotta take care of yourself.” What I love about this is that instead of telling Janine to push her feelings aside and ignore burnout, Melissa is telling her to take care of herself to help prevent burnout. The solution isn’t to ignore your feelings or try not to feel anything at all, it’s to take care of yourself so you can handle the feelings you have.
Working with what you have doesn’t mean you don’t deserve better
I feel like this is one of the biggest takeaways from the series as a whole. While watching the characters develop and delve into important lessons, there’s always a moment where they have to overcome the odds to do better for their students. While the longtime teachers know to not expect much from the school district, newer teachers still hold onto the hope that, maybe, better will come.
What happens is an interesting, and valuable, dynamic where the older teachers push for better with the newer teachers, but they also encourage the newer teachers to work with what they have right now for the sake of their students. Change isn’t going to come immediately, and you can’t just sit and wait for the powers that be to actually answer your email and give you funding. So you have to work with what you have, but while you’re doing that, you can absolutely point out the crummy conditions and demand better.
Sometimes you outgrow people you love and that’s OK
When Janine finds out that her friend and coworker, Jacob Hill (Chris Perfetti), has a boyfriend, she’s devastated because he didn’t tell her about his relationship. She finds out, later in the episode, that he didn’t tell her because he didn’t want to have to talk about relationships with her. It’s a pretty significant conversation to have with a friend, and truthfully? Jacob hasn’t been a fan of Janine’s boyfriend, Tariq Temple (Zack Fox), no matter how cute their handshake is.
As a viewer, it’s easy to see that Tariq doesn’t realize that his actions upset Janine. She’s the one doing the heavy lifting in their relationship, and the simple solution would be for her to move on to better things, or at the very least, walk away from the thing that’s holding you back. However, it’s hard for Janine to take that step because she and Tariq have been together for so long. Despite the way he treats her, being with him is comfortable because it’s what she’s used to. This leads to Jacob reassuring her that sometimes, we outgrow people, and it’s okay if that happens because “Maybe give yourself a chance to be the best Janine you can be.”
“A dream can be a distraction just as easily as it can be a goal”
Out of all of the lessons this show has delivered, this talk Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) has about dreams with Gregory Eddie (Tyler James Williams) hit me the hardest.
At this point in the series, Gregory is beyond done. The principal job he wanted slipped his grasp because the current principal, Ava “I shouldn’t be laughing at you cuz you’re a whole ass mess but Janelle James is charming AF” Coleman had dirt on the superintendent. Combining that with what we learned about Gregory earlier (his father isn’t a fan of him wanting to become a principal) and it makes sense that he feels like there’s no point to go any further.
Enter Mr. Johnson, who offers up some extremely profound advice about how being so focused on your dream can cause you to miss out on the good things in front of you. “A dream can be a distraction just as easily as it can be a goal,” he says, and as someone who has big writer-like dreams that feel so far away, this quote took me right out. We’re often encouraged to pursue our dreams, told about things like rejection being part of the process, and taking care of ourselves when those moments hit so we can move forward. However, it’s rare that someone will tell you to look where you are RIGHT NOW and to not be so hyperfocused on a single dream that you, potentially, miss out on the good that’s around you.
Gregory’s made a lot of progress this season, has become more comfortable with himself as a teacher, and has opened up in ways that, arguably, wouldn’t have happened had he not started out as a substitute teacher first.
Gregory has a much better understanding of how the school works, has built some fantastic bonds and is really coming into his own. Mr. Johnson isn’t telling him to stop having his dream, but he is telling him to not be so concerned about it that he doesn’t realize what he HAS accomplished, and what he could CONTINUE to accomplish. If anything, the things he’s learning as a teacher could very well build him up in ways that’ll make him a better principal when the time comes.
It just reminded me so much of how I always, in my heart of hearts, wanted to be a writer who created a book series that’s read all around the world, but if I stayed solely on that path? Well, I wouldn’t be writing this article right now. You’re allowed to do all sorts of things while pursuing a dream, and all of those things you do help to make you a better person.
Seriously, thank you, Abbott Elementary.
(Image: ABC)
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