Mother and daughter tandem Teach For America

KAILUA-KONA — Legacies are traditionally bequeathed from parent to child, but in the case of Maureen and Lindsey Appleton, the opposite is true — well, sort of.

When Lindsey begins teaching English at a low-income school in San Diego through Teach For America (TFA) this fall, she and her mom Maureen will be the only active mother-daughter tandem in the national organization’s corps, which numbers at more than 8,000 members.

“When I hear that, it kind of makes sense,” Lindsey said. “We have done everything together. Anything I participated in, sports or girl scouts or whatever, she has been there with me. We’ve always supported each other, and it’s the perfect fit for both of us at the two different places in our lives that we are.”

Two years ago, Lindsey — who will receive her master’s degree in English from UH-Manoa next weekend — had just finished up her bachelor’s degree in the same field at Hawaii Pacific. She was accepted to the TFA program in Hawaii and was all set to start before UH-Manoa called with an offer for an assistantship that would cover a significant portion of the cost of graduate school.

Lindsey, disappointed she’d be forced to walk back her commitment, was told she could defer her participation in TFA for two years.

One year later, her mother Maureen — who’d been working as an educational assistant at a preschool following her time with Family Support Hawaii’s early intervention program as an administrative assistant — decided she had put off her true calling long enough.

“I didn’t intend to be a teacher, but I was always told I was missing my calling and that I should be one,” said Maureen, whose father and mother-in-law both made their livings as educators. “But I was kind of scared of teaching because it’s such a great responsibility. In my opinion, it’s probably one of the hardest and most important jobs there is.”

Maureen’s time in the nonprofit sector working around learning-disabled children peaked her interest in solution and strategy-oriented special education (SPED). At the encouragement of her husband Joe, who’d also suggested TFA to his daughter the year prior, Maureen joined the program and took a job as a SPED teacher in her home district at Kohala Middle School in Kapaau.

This summer, at the halfway point of her two-year commitment to TFA, Maureen will earn her teaching certification. She plans to stay in the state, where her family has lived since 2003, and continue on in the hard-to-fill, much-needed position of certified SPED educator in rural Hawaii.

“As my mom has gotten older, her career goals have changed a lot,” said Lindsey, adding that her mother is the perfect personality type to teach SPED. “She went back to school a couple years ago and got her BA. Ever since then, she’s been so interested in education and how kids’ minds work. She’s really into the deeper level of it, not just producing a syllabus, but how will the syllabus affect this child’s brain.”

Lindsey, who was accepted to TFA one year prior to her mother and will finish her two-year commitment one year later, also started down the path toward teaching after spending time around people with special needs in a more direct capacity.

During her senior year at Hawaii Pacific and the subsequent summer, Lindsey worked as a communications intern at a marketing firm on Oahu. Upon realizing the for-profit sector didn’t stir passion in her the way she’d hoped, she applied for a position on Craigslist after reading what she called “an ambiguous post.”

The opportunity turned out to be an AmeriCorps position with a nonprofit called Abilities Unlimited. There, Lindsey taught adults with developmental disabilities a variety of skills that included classes involving cooking, dance, computer skills and interviewing skills.

“I’d never done SPED before. I was really intimidated by it, and when my mom joined Teach For America, she was kind of in the same place,” Lindsey said. “I was able to give her some insight into what it’s like working in SPED (in an educational capacity), when it’s outside your comfort zone.”

In little more than a week, Lindsey will head to the same Arizona-based TFA training facility Maureen went through in 2015. Upon her arrival in San Diego, Lindsey plans to pursue secondary education and hopes eventually, if not immediately, to become a high school English teacher.

While Lindsey and her mother, both of whom moved to Waimea in 2003, have chosen the same basic route toward education, each is pursuing a specific path to her own educational niche. Lindsey applied for TFA first, Maureen will finish it first. Lindsey worked with SPED students first, and Maureen will work with them for the rest of her career. Lindsey chose to pursue teaching first, but her mother found herself in an official classroom setting before her daughter and had some prior understanding to fall back on.

Their experiences at various levels of the process have allowed mother and daughter to advise and help one another as they become educators at very different points in their lives.

“We have different teaching styles,” Lindsey said. “She gives me advice that can ground me in producing common core standards and getting solid outcomes. I give her ideas for fun games to play and things like that, so we’re able to benefit each other in that respect.”

The unique way the child has inspired the parent and the parent has inspired the child has brought new meaning to the term legacy in a family of professional educators now three generations strong.

“I think it’s really exciting that Lindsey is going into the field, and it’s valid to say she started the ball rolling first, and I came behind her,” Maureen said. “I’m really proud of her. She’s a smart kid and she’s fun. I think she’s going to be a great teacher. Any school that hires her is going to be thrilled.”