A twist of Fath

There’s a little 6-year-old girl sitting in the chair and she’s scared.

No. Not scared.

Terrified.

Her brother has been taunting her all morning in the waiting room, and dental student Bailey Fath has watched it occur, so it’s no surprise that the little girl is now terrified to be sitting in the dental chair.

The dentist walks in and he introduces himself to the patient, whose fears don’t seem to subside. Her little brother had warned her that she was about to receive three shots to numb her gums and her reaction shows that she isn’t ready for it.

Red-faced with watering eyes and sputtering words, the little girl pauses and ponders over the difficult questions the dentist is asking. As she mulls her answers, the doctor gives her three shots to the mouth, unnoticed by the little girl. The little girl keeps asking when the dentist was going to give her the shots, unaware she already received them. After the dentist is finished, the little girls runs up to her brother and says seven words.

“I’m not scared of the dentist anymore.”

And as she stood there watching this scene play out, Bailey Fath knew. She knew she wanted to help children get over their fears.

Fast forward a couple years and she’s in a classroom filled with the most special kids in the building. It’s been a long, hard year and she’s ready to take on the next challenge of becoming a certified special education teacher. Surrounded by the special ed students, she realizes that she’s making a difference.

Fast forward again to 2014, she’s been named Main campus teacher of the year and is one of five finalists to be district secondary teacher of the year, something that could have never have happened if she had continued her pursuit of dental education. Fath called it a huge honor and said it shows how far this campus family has come together when a special education teacher represents the school.

“I cannot even begin to explain the overwhelming acceptance I have personally felt by being selected,” Fath said. “To be recognized enforces the feelings and beliefs I have about teaching and encourages me to continue to integrate myself as part of the learning process.”

If she had decided to become a dentist like she originally planed, Fath said she knows her life would have been extremely different.

“I feel like people in the medical field have a sense of entitlement,” Fath said. “And I’m almost thankful that I didn’t go in that direction. I’m just not like that.”

Like many college attendees, Fath did not want to be in debt for four more years when she was going to dental school. After talking to assistant principal Lionel Soto, she landed the job as a life skills aide to pay for school.

“I remember when the principal told me there was a person who wanted to apply,” Soto said. “She was going to school and she wanted to have some experience working with kids so she was an aide first of all.”

When she was working as an aide in the life skills department as a paraprofessional, Fath said it was a hard year and didn’t know if she was making a difference. It wasn’t until after she left the department when she found out she was.

“I had all these life skills parents asking me, ‘Where did you go?'” Fath said. “‘Why are you not with my students anymore?’ I realized my students couldn’t tell me, but the parents were extremely supportive, and then you realize that you’re important.”

Being a life skills aide was not an easy job, and even now as a special education teacher, things are challenging. But Fath has a way to keep herself going.

“When I get stressed out I have this silly little file in my cabinet its [filled with] thank you cards and things my students have said to me,” Fath said. “And I look through that and I’m like, “Okay, I’m supposed to be here. I’m doing the right thing.”

A twist of fate happened and Fath recognizes this. Although things didn’t happen the way she had expected, she takes the same advice she offers for students who take unexpected turns in their lives: Just go with your gut.

“I think it’s almost more important to live in the moment and really listen to yourself,” Fath said. “‘Is this what you should be doing? Is this what you need to be doing? Is this, you know, your calling?’ Really follow that.”

Editor’s note: This was the third and final part in our series about the campus teachers of the year. Click on the names to read our Q&A’s with Killough’s Steve Badyna and Harmon’s Sherri Hunter.