by Jen Myers

(Each month, Wellpoint, InsideLowell and Lowell Public Schools honor a Lowell teacher for their exemplary work in the classroom and for going the extra mile to serve as a positive influence in their students’ lives. Wellpoint awards each honoree a $250 gift card to be used for school supplies)

The large black lab benches in Quentin Spinney’s seventh-grade science class at the Bartlett Community Partnership School are covered in notebooks and worksheets; the walls filled with posters depicting planets, the sun, and stars, and tragic teacher-turned-astronaut Christa McAuliffe; hand-written notes about plant structures; the rules of a respectful classroom. 

In the corner, a single full skeleton chills out. 

Mr. Spinney walks the room, leading a discussion about how protein builds muscle and how the structures within a muscle contribute to its function. 

With the exception of the giant smartboard, this scene could have taken place in any middle school science lab in 2006, 2016, or 2026. 

The difference? In 2006, you’d find Quentin Spinney mastering his ollies and heelflips at the Hadley Park skate park, sometimes even sleeping in the halfpipe with his buddies; in 2016, you wouldn’t find him teaching a class, you’d find him sweeping the hallway outside of the class.  

Before becoming a teacher, Spinney worked for Lowell Public Schools for 12 years – as a custodian. 

Quentin Spinney was born and raised in Lowell, attending the Washington Elementary and Daley Middle School and graduating from Greater Lowell Technical High School in 2011. 

“Originally, after graduating there were ZERO plans,” Spinney said, adding he just wanted to make music. “My bass teacher and I were prepping me to audition for UMass Lowell so that I could be admitted into their performing arts program, but the practice was so deliberate and meticulous that I checked out of it.”

Still feeling the pressure to go to college, he enrolled as a philosophy major; an experiment that did not last long. 

“The professor was drab, soft spoken, and couldn’t ever be bothered to stand up ever; the room was so wooden, and the floors made louder noises when you stepped on them than the professor would speak,” he recalled about his intro to philosophy class.  “I was staring out the window while everyone else was furiously writing notes to keep up, and I just thought to myself how this just wasn’t it.”

Spinney stood up and headed for the door. The professor stopped droning on long enough to inquire as to where the young man was headed. He told him he had to drop out. He kept walking, figured out how to drop out, and called his friends to meet him at Hadley to skate. 

Nearly a year later, still trying to figure out what he wanted to do, Spinney became the night shift custodian at the Morey Elementary School. He landed the job with help from Pat Harrigan, who was the custodian at the Daley when he was a student. 

He also enrolled at Middlesex Community College as a liberal arts major. 

On his 20th birthday, a snowy December night, he found himself at a crossroads. 

“I was finishing writing a paper when I got the spins,” he said. “I decided I’d walk it off, so off I go, and I land at Tyler Park. There was this one bench with a lamp right next to it, the bushes covered the left side, and when you sit on the right side, you can see most of the park. It felt open, but private, so I sat.”

Spinney said over the next few hours, sitting and thinking with the snow swirling around him, he came to the realization that he was making a lot of life decisions on a whim. He needed direction. He needed a goal. He needed a deadline. 

“I wondered if myself and many others live their lives not meeting their potential because they weren’t approached the right way, and that’s when it dawned on me that teachers are in such an ideal position in a person’s life to do just that,” he said. 

He made a deal with himself. 

“If I wasn’t a teacher after the age of 30, I would quit, and there was no follow-up plan; just quit,” he said. 

Fast forward – nearly 11 years later – the sand in the hourglass he had set was quickly running out. 

Spinney was now the senior custodian at the Robinson Middle School, having worked at the Morey, Sullivan, Reilly, Lowell High, Daley, and Wang over the years. 

He was also in graduate school, having previously earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. The school year was ending and positions were opening up for the fall. He was feeling the pressure to take the leap. He applied wherever he could. 

Then he received a call from the Bartlett. Since he had no teaching experience, his audition was to teach a lesson to a class of fifth-graders. 

“I just remember how much planning and rehearsing I did– this was THE moment,” he said.  “I remember teaching that lesson– it was an entire 55 minute class– walking out of the school, and thinking about how even if this doesn’t end in a teaching job, at least I finally made it into a classroom to teach. After a follow-up interview, I was offered the job; I couldn’t believe it.”

But, when it really hit him was on his 31st birthday – the day he was supposed to give up – the day before winter break. 

“That group of kids I taught the mock lesson to were now my 6th graders, and I remember us celebrating my birthday,” he said. “I was wearing a pink birthday tiara, the kids were giving me candies as gifts, and the singing was SO LOUD… The moment they left I started to cry– this was the day I was supposed to give up, and here I was, surrounded by these amazing kids, sitting exactly where I hoped to be.”

Although his road was long and a bit windy, he wouldn’t change it. Being a custodian for so long gave him a perspective being a teacher cannot. 

“The part that I enjoyed the most about being a custodian was seeing schools from the other side,” he said. “You become privy to the smallest of logistics, and play a role that others in the school may never realize are happening.”

Additionally, he loved building relationships with students – especially those struggling.

“Oftentimes, the students that gravitated towards us were struggling emotionally, socially, academically, some combination of the former, or all of the above,” Spinney said. “These kids would work beside us, cleaning the cafe, taking out the trash, or whatever. It created a stress free environment to give them a platform to speak and be themselves. It was therapeutic for them, and I know this feeling because I was one of those kids. Pat Harrigan, who got me the job, was the custodian I followed around and helped out. A lot of the guidance I had in life was thanks to him, and I was now returning the favor.”

Additionally, the structure of working as a custodian helped him learn a lot about himself. 

“I was forced to maintain routines which contradicted my spontaneous and usually irresponsible decision making,” Spinney said. “I learned how much of a reflection your work is of yourself. It’s the idea of putting your name on something and owning it. Each day I cleaned reflected my commitment and care for what I did. That lesson translates into everything we do.” 

In the classroom, Spinney said he makes an effort to deliver every lesson with enthusiasm.  

“Phenomena is what drives student learning in my room,” he said. “Students seem to enjoy the act of investigating the most, though they are still developing the stamina for pursuits of knowledge that are rewarded in a short period of time. Discussions, inquiry, and investigations are the best parts of science.”

He also understands that middle school can be a tough time for many kids and a lot of students are dealing with outside forces at home and elsewhere that impact their behavior and ability to learn. 

“When trying to relate, admitting that you don’t know what they are going through could be more effective than trying desperately to find common ground; presently, I feel that it’s more about helping their voices be heard and working with their perspective,” he said.  “Of course, if you can relate to what they are going through, that’s a bonus, but at the end of the day, the focus is about the kids, not us. It’s a job of sacrifice, so to do this job well, you need to be able to make them to some degree.”

When students leave his class and head off to high school, Spinney wants them to realize that learning is not just memorizing facts – it is a way to gain control of their lives. 

“The skills they learn will allow them to keep learning even after they have long parted school,” he said. “I wanted direction in my life, and I went about it carelessly because I expected things to just fall into place. It wasn’t until I started actively learning in school that I found what I was always looking for.”

All About Mr. Spinney

Hobbies: Skateboarding, playing guitar, video games, and reading.
Dream Vacation: Cappadocia, Turkey
Favorite song to sing in the car: Morning Train- Sheena Easton
Favorite meal: Haddock Chowder
Favorite snack: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Favorite Movie: The Mummy
Favorite Book: City of Thieves
Favorite TV Show: Game of Thrones
Favorite Fictional Character: Hodor