PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Retired teacher Joyce Abbott, the inspiration behind the hit ABC series "Abbott Elementary," will deliver a keynote at this year’s Pennsylvania Conference for Women .
Abbott has won several awards for her work as a Philadelphia educator. A section of 59th Street at Lancaster Avenue, where her alma mater Overbrook High School is located, was renamed Joyce Abbott Way in her honor . And of course, she was an inspiration to sixth-grade student Quinta Brunson , who would grow up to create an Emmy Award-winning TV show named for her. However, Abbott says, what has always mattered to her most is her work as a teacher.
“I'm just humbly honored, but it's still very shocking,” she said. “Because I'm gonna tell you: When I was doing the work, even through all my years of sacrifice, I never did anything for recognition.”
Abbott taught in the School District of Philadelphia for 27 years. She says she was very demanding of her students and pushed them, because she saw something in them, and she knew they were silently crying out for help: “I need you to believe in me. I need you to continue to push me. Don't give up on me. Believe that I want to do better. Believe that I don't want to be a behavior problem. Believe that I don't always want to be below basic.”
Reflecting on her tenure, Abbott says it’s important for students to see someone like them in charge of their classroom.
“It's important to know the community and population that you serve,” she said. “Because if you're just coming into a school, and you have no clue of that community or the students within that school — and then you go in there and you're like, ‘Wow, this is shocking.’”
Abbott says she’s encouraged by the push in Philadelphia and elsewhere to attract and retain more teachers of color, especially Black men .
“It's so important for them to be able to relate to someone that has lived experience, and a lot of times, they relate to them so much better,” she said.
Abbott says she wants to continue to inspire women, and speaking at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women in November at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, will give her an opportunity to do just that.
“As women, we carry so much, and we're always looked at as being the strong one — especially Black women. You're the strong one, and you're always expected to, you know, walk into a room, not break, just be strong.”
Since retiring, Abbott has published a book, “Teaching, The Ms. Abbott Way: Lessons in Learning Leadership & Life,” sharing the experiences she says helped her arrive at her core values as a teacher. It comes out next month.
Abbott is just one connection between the conference and the TV show that bears her name. Sheryl Lee Ralph, who plays kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard in "Abbott Elementary," has also been named as a keynote speaker at the conference.
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