CUSHING — If you see Kristina Moro with a camera in hand, it is likely the fifth grade teacher at Cushing Community School is either in the process of vlogging her experience as a teacher for her YouTube channel, or capturing the breathtaking Midcoast Maine views for her photography business. 

Moro is a New Jersey native who relocated to Rockland in 2012 to pursue her passion of being an elementary school teacher. 

“I fell in love with the beautiful rugged coast, and that easy, slow-paced way of life and decided to remain here permanently,” she said of her decision to stay in the Midcoast, though she did briefly teach in Alaska since moving to the Midcoast in 2012. 

For Moro, becoming a teacher was an easy decision as her mother, sister and brother-in-law work in the profession and have imparted their education passions onto Moro since a young age. 

“I pretty much grew up in the classroom,” said Moro. “I was often a guinea pig for their lessons, and I was an extra set of hands when it came time to set up classrooms in August. I fell in love with everything about education.” 

In fact, Moro spent much of her childhood fascinated with the educational field and sunk herself into the world of playing school with her friends every possible chance — ensuring, of course, she was always playing the role of teacher. 

“I would create tests and worksheets, complete with answer keys, in my spare time,” Moro recalled about the days when even in the summer she insisted her mother teach her new skills. 

Ultimately, Moro says she elected to join the teaching ranks to be a positive influence on her students and show learning can be enjoyable and is now also showing other teachers, especially newer teachers, the unmasked version of the profession through YouTube vlogs. 

Moro launched her YouTube channel, The Teacup Teacher, with the intention of simply sharing what she had to say about the teaching profession, including her experiences. 

Since she began uploading more regularly at the start of this academic year, however, she has shifted towards enlightening others about the raw reality of the teaching profession. 

“As educators, we’re always keeping portfolios and such for our students that document growth, and I wanted a creative way to document my own personal growth,” Moro said. “I wanted a way to reflect where I could look back on events or lessons and say, ‘How can I improve this for next time?’ Filming gave me that opportunity and so I began to realize that, and it also got me thinking if maybe others are feeling the same way, so I took to YouTube to share my experiences and document my growth as a teacher.”

Moro uploaded her first video to the social media platform on July 21, 2017 and has collected more than 800 subscribers and 35,000 combined views on her 20 videos. One of her videos, in which she documents being able to decorate her first classroom, has nearly 14,000 views. 

“I’m a small-town teacher, so I figured I’d get five or 10 views on videos that I post,” she stated. “I never imagined it would amass to as many views or followers in such a short period of time.”

Each of her videos, now being uploaded weekly, provides insight into the life of a teacher. She shares her experiences with the ups-and-downs of being a teacher with each video resulting in discussions between her and teachers across the nation sharing advice and memories with one another. 

“Putting yourself on a public forum leaves a lot of room for criticism, but it’s been an inspiring experience thus far,” Moro said about the positive reactions she has received.  “It’s [a] wonderful platform for people, including those not even in the teaching profession, to share their trials and tribulations of working with kids, as well as their successes, and their tips and tricks.”

In one video, for instance, Moro vents to viewers about how her ordinarily well-behaved students were not on their usual best behavior for a substitute teacher. Moro documented her thoughts on the incident throughout the week and addressed how she handled the situation and received several comments and messages from teachers providing insight on how they have dealt with similar situations. 

“It’s been amazing to see people collaborating with myself and others on how to combat behavior issues or time management problems and so many other things, or someone may just offer up some words of encouragement,” she said. “It’s really been amazing to witness. I never thought I’d get to a point where complete strangers would thank me for the tips and tricks I share on my channel, let alone reach out to me for advice with things they’re struggling with in their classroom.” 

When not in the classroom or vlogging her teaching experiences, Moro can be found still be found with a camera in hand as part of her photography business, a passion she discovered at age 15 at Acadia National Parking during her first Maine trip. 

“My dad is a photographer and due to a lack of cell reception in Acadia, I picked up his spare camera body to entertain myself and I was hooked from then on,” she stated. 

Through her photography business, Moro started in landscape photography before expanding into capturing portraits of weddings, pets, high school seniors and newborns. She had a landscape photo published by Down East Magazine and turned into a two-page centerfold for the magazine’s “Best Places to Live” issue. 

Despite her jam-packed schedule, Moro plans to keep uploading vlogs and assisting teachers along the way as her subscribers are her motivation for posting to the social media giant. 

“I get comments, messages, and emails from teachers and non-teachers thanking me for sharing the ups and downs of my daily life,” she said. “I’ve been thanked for tips that made someone’s life easier, I’ve been thanked by a teacher for posting an idea for a lesson that resulted in her students understanding a lesson without a hitch.” 

Reach George Harvey at sports@penbaypilot.com.