Being a mom isn’t easy, and neither is being a teacher, but Margaret Robinson makes it look effortless.
From raising three exceptional children – a Grammy-nominated musician, a 4.0 Ohio State engineering student and, well, me – to shaping hundreds of young minds as a kindergarten teacher-turned-gifted intervention specialist (GIS), Dublin is so much better for having Robinson.
“She’s so calm, easy to talk to and you automatically feel comfortable when you’re talking to her,” says Bailey Elementary School first grade teacher Catherine Farny. “She’s the kind of person that, even if you don’t know her that well, she makes you feel so calm and heard, and she’s such a good listener.”
In her recent switch from teaching kindergarten at Bailey to serving as the school’s GIS, Robinson has been able to have a few students twice – once in kindergarten and again in her cognitive education (cog) or accelerated math classes.
“I remember the fun activities that we did (in kindergarten) and how nice Mrs. Robinson was,” says Zoe Taylor, a fourth-grader in Robinson’s cog class and former kindergarten student. “She is so kind and smart.”
Zoe’s mom, Gretchen Taylor, is also a Dublin City Schools employee and worked with Robinson as a literacy coach a few years before Zoe started school.
“(Robinson) has such a blend of that calm personality and understanding of the importance of structure and routine and kids knowing what to expect when they come to her classroom every day,” says Taylor. “That really puts kids at ease. She is just so warm and so empathetic, and that’s why you see kids really thrive with her. I know that Zoe did and continues to.”
In her cog classes, Robinson teaches the habits of mind and challenges her students with enriching and engaging activities like learning American Sign Language or creating virtual escape rooms.
“She has the most fun activities and there always is so much creativity in each and every project,” says Zoe. “My favorite project is probably when we made rock elevators!”
Robinson playing gaga ball with students during end of year Super Games in 2014.
A recent unit involved learning about kids and people who are differently abled. For Zoe’s mom, that meant a lot.
“That unit is so important because Zoe’s youngest sibling has special needs and has a developmental disability,” says Taylor, “and so (Robinson) has created a really wonderful, nurturing atmosphere for Zoe to explore some of that with some other classmates who don’t have that kind of exposure in their own lives with someone who has different ways of learning.”
This school year, a lot changed due to COVID-19. For Robinson, that meant serving Chapman Elementary as well as Bailey.
“She’s just gone above and beyond the call of duty,” says Marge Mulcahy, gifted services coordinator for the district. “She’s so professional and she’s so dedicated that never was there a question, it was just, ‘How can I make this work?’ and, ‘How can I do it to the best of my ability?’”
With school switching between remote, hybrid and in-person learning, Robinson has kept open lines of communication with both students and parents.
“She’s sharing what they’re doing, and a lot of the why behind it,” says Taylor. “She’s helping us understand her commitment to our kids as whole human beings, not just as kids who identified as being cognitively gifted.”
Her dedication extends beyond just her students and parents, though.
“A school environment is a team and every member within that school environment, from the superintendent all the way through coordinators and principals and assistant principals, custodial staff and parents and PTO, and all of that,” says Mulcahy. “(Robinson) treats everyone equally and with the same respect.”
Robinson with then-student teacher Shruti Mehta.
“She will jump over the moon for the kids, anything for the kids,” adds Bailey kindergarten teacher Shruti Mehta, “and that extends to the teachers as well. No matter how late it is, if it’s five o’clock or 5:30, she’s willing to stay and help.”
During the 2018-2019 school year, Mehta was the student teacher in Robinson’s kindergarten classroom and says she was challenged to think outside of the box and do things differently.
“She pushed me. I mean, things were hard. I was nervous and scared, but she really pushed me, and I think that made me a strong teacher,” says Mehta. “I truly believe that it’s because of her that I’m working at Bailey. She really advocated for me.”
When transitioning her role from kindergarten teacher to GIS, Robinson still had tons of classroom materials from her kindergarten classroom. Knowing Mehta was stepping into the newly vacated kindergarten position and remembering the time, effort and money it took to acquire all those materials as a new teacher, Robinson passed her collection to her successor.
“Being a new teacher at a new school is very frightening, but I think the relationships and the background that she had given me really set a good stage," says Mehta. “On top of that, she gave me everything in her classroom. She was like, ‘Here, you can have everything.’”
Working with the teachers in the building has always been a cornerstone of Robinson’s teaching experience. From having buddy classes for her kindergarteners to presenting at the Dublin Literacy Conference, sharing ideas and collaborating with other teachers is important to her.
“She’s so collaborative. She always wants to work in a collegial manner with other staff members, whether she’s sharing with them or is taking ideas from others and using them to meet the needs of her students,” says Mulcahy. “To me, that speaks about the strength of the individual because you can’t be collaborative like that unless you are highly professional and highly dedicated.”
“She’s a reader and a learner, so she always brings new ideas and thoughts that helped me become a better and stronger educator and more reflective in our practice together,” adds Bailey fifth grade teacher Maria Caplin. “And she’s fun.”
One of Robinson’s favorite parts about being a Dublin City Schools employee was the opportunity to hand high school diplomas to each of her three children.
Beyond the Classroom
Outside of school, Robinson is a baker, a reader, a swim instructor and a musician.
“And (Robinson) is quite a cook,” says Caplin. “The biggest thing I know about her is that she’s a learner and she loves to have conversations around education. More recently, she’s taught (through Zoom) myself and another teacher how to cook bread.”
Another important part of Robinson’s life is aquatics. As a Red Cross certified swim instructor, she can often be found teaching lessons during the summers at Northwest Swim Club, giving pointers to friends and swimming laps for exercise.
“I wanted to actually learn how to swim as a workout. I was talking to (Robinson) one day after school, … and she goes, ‘Oh yeah, I teach swim,’” says Farny. “I was extremely open to it because I knew she would make me feel comfortable and she would show me the steps of where I needed to go to progress with my swimming.”
Robinson has also been an active member of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church for more than 20 years, singing in the choir, teaching Sunday school and playing in the handheld bell choir.
Wherever she goes, she inspires others to live life more kindly, more thoughtfully and with more purpose.
Left to right: Rick, Michael, Matthew, Sarah and Margaret Robinson.
She inspired and nurtured my older brother Michael’s passion for music, and at age 24 he has his first Grammy nomination under his belt.
She encouraged my younger brother Matthew’s interest in math, science and cooking and now his crispy potatoes are a family favorite and he has a promising engineering internship lined up as just a sophomore in college.
She shows us the importance of love, loyalty and having fun in a relationship, and is celebrating 30 happy years of marriage this year with our dad, Rick.
As her favorite (and only) daughter, I can say with confidence that I am the strong woman I am today because of her.
So, Mom, this one’s for you.
And to all the Dublin moms out there, the ones who raised us, encouraged us and, most importantly, love us, happy (early) Mother’s Day. We couldn’t do it without you.
Robinson had the pleasure of being present for the engagement of daughter Sarah and future-son-in-law Kyle Fischer.
Robinson’s Mom-isms
- It’s better to be kind than to be right
- To have a friend you have to be a friend
- Education is never wasted
- If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all
“A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.” –Gaspard Mermillod
Sarah Robinson is an associate editor. Feedback welcome at srobinson@cityscenemediagroup.com.
