Among her more notable students are CNN news anchor Carol Lin and Mike LaBonge, Los Angeles city councilmember Tom LaBonge’s younger brother. It’s hard for her to believe how much her pupils have grown.
“The first students I taught are now 53 years old,” she said “That gets to be a little scary.”
With Ireland’s experience also comes a unique perspective on where the education system has been in the last 45 years and where it’s going. “It’s better now, because how can you not get better with experience,” she said. “When I entered we didn’t have all the supplies we have now.”
Ireland believes in the old adage that no matter how different things become, the more they stay the same.
“Changes go in a circle,” she said. “I’ve seen things change to one method and then a few years later it’s back to the old method. . . it really isn’t anything new, they just give it a new name and new acronym; same thing but with new and flashy words.”
Despite having received an administrator credential, Ireland remained in the classroom. She cites her love of the passion for teaching as the reason.
“I was out of the classroom one year and said this is not for me, I don’t want this. I want to be in the room with the kids. Some people ask ‘Why are you still in the classroom?’ and I say my heart is here with the kids, not as an administrator. Trying to supervise adults is not where I am.”
When asked what advice Ireland would give new teachers starting out in the field, Ireland gave sage advice.
“If you don’t love it, it’s not for you, find something else to do,” she said.
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