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SEPTEMBER 2011 SPIRIT 65

C O M P I L E D B Y T H E E D I T O R S P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A D A M V O O R H E S

America’s Best Teachers, 2011

MS. BONTRAGER, KINDERGARTEN. Mrs. Hobson, fi rst grade. Mrs. Malinowski, second. Ms. Ginsburg, third. Mr. Roman, fourth, fi ft h. Mr. Capozzola. Oh, Mr. Capozzola!My sixth grade teacher at Mayfl ower Elementary School was an unhinged master of corporal punishment. His now-unfathomable disciplinary antics notwithstanding,I can still remember all of their names—the teachers who,decades ago, worked so enthusiastically to give order to my peculiar tangle of talents and whose high expecta-tions of me eventually became my own.

Where would we be without teachers? Their professionmakes all other professions possible. The best of them change the course of our lives, sometimes with a small but perfectly timed act of encouragement, sometimes through a lifetime of mentoring and friendship.

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66 SPIRIT SEPTEMBER 2011

Still, we are regularly confronted with diffi cultstats about slipping educational standards. The

New York Times recently reported that one in fourstudents doesn’t fi nish high school in four years—this at a time when funding for education is on thechopping block and teachers are being scapegoatedfor the fi scal collapse of state governments.

It’s fair to say that, despite these outside forces, and in the face of an entrenched bureaucracy hilariously referred to as “the blob” in last year’s documentary Waiting for

“Superman,” most teach-ers endure for the love of their work and the bett er-ment of their students.

“The moments that stand out the most are the ones that nobody else would notice,” says high school chemistry teacher Michelle Shearer when asked about the most gratifying aspect of her job. Five months ago, Shearer was named National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Offi cers (CCSSO), an honor presented to her at the White House by President Obama.

“For example,” Shearer says, “a few years ago I had a young lady who was really struggling and wanted to drop my class. It took almost seven months into the school year before she raised her

PHIL WILSON

ALABAMAOgletree Elementary School, Auburn

What inspired you

to be a teacher? A teacher encouraged me to be a teacher. My high school band director absolutely turned me on to the music world. When I graduated she encouraged me to go to her alma mater, Troy University. I did, and majored in music. Beethoven or The

Beatles? Both were revolutionary, but I’m going to go with Beethoven. He taught the musical world how to break the rules.If you weren’t

teaching, what do

you think you’d be

doing? I really can’t see myself doing anything other than teaching.

AMANDA

MCADAMS

ARIZONAApollo High School, Glendale

Why high school?

Teenagers keep you young; they keep you on your toes. We have great discussions. I love to go to work every day!What is the most

diffi cult aspect of

teaching? Motivatingthose who don’t under-stand the power of education—people who live in homes where

hand in class to answer a question. It took that long for her to feel confi dent and capable. But that moment when she fi nally raised her hand? I can see it like it was yesterday.”

Each year, candidates for National Teacher of the Year are put forward by individual states, which choose their own State Teacher of the Year. It’s the voices of this diverse group of ace educa-tors—the 2011 State Teachers of the Year—that

you’ll hear on these pages. Their stories will give you a rich understanding of the passion involved in the job; they’ll oft en make you laugh. But most of all, they’ll renew your faith in our kids’ futures.

Teachers are worth celebrating. Certainly, the best of them deserve our admiration. We asked Wisconsin science teacher Maureen Look-Ains-worth if she has an inspirational quote that she likes to scrawl on her blackboard. Her answer speaks to the generous heart of the profession.

“I do,” she said. “It’s from my mom: ‘You need one person to believe in you in your entire life, just one. And that one person will bring hope and love and encouragement.’ I tell my kids, ‘I don’t know who that one person will be for you, but if I’m that person, thank you.’” —John McAlley

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FROM AMANDA McADAMS’ BLACKBOARD

Class of ’11Here are the nation’s best teachers

as chosen by each state. We talked to them all, and, boy, did they school us.

HIGHEST DEGREE EARNED:

Bachelor’s

Master’s

Doctorate

TEACHING CAREER:

Number of years

PRIMARY SUBJECT TAUGHT:

English, Language Arts, Reading, Journalism

U.S. History, Government, Sociology, Social Studies

Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science

Mathematics

Physical Education

Music

Business, Technology

World Languages, ESL

Special Education

Elementary Education

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

—Eleanor Roosevelt

STYLING BY ROBIN FINLAY

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education is not empha-sized—to see how it can take them to a career.

KATHY POWERS

ARKANSASRaymond and Phyllis Simon Intermediate School, Conway

What has teaching

taught you about

yourself? That it’s okay to let go of control.You don’t need to have everything planned out—a discussion can go in another direction

and it can still be just as valuable. In a sentence, how

would you sum-

marize the role of

a teacher? A teacher is an encourager, a facilitator, and a guide, who holds your hand and leads you to new information.

DARIN CURTIS

CALIFORNIATierra Del Sol Middle School, Lakeside

Why did you choose

physical education?

Sports and fitness have always been part of my life, but getting kids to want to make it part of theirs is the reason I’m a PE teacher. What’s your favorite

class activity? Cross- country. Seeing studentspush themselves further than they ever thought they could is the ulti-mate reward for me. What is the most


teaching? Saying good-bye at the end of the year.

MICHELLE

PEARSON

COLORADOHulstrom Options School K-8, Northglenn

What inspired you

to be a teacher?

In middle school, my mother was very involved with the Smith-sonian Institution’s Museum of American History. She told me, “You’re going to come volunteer.” And I fought and fought and kicked and screamed—and

ended up loving every second of it. After seeing history alive in front of me, I realized I wanted to give that experience to other kids. It was then that I decided I wanted to teach. I later told my mom, “The best thing you ever did was force me to go to the Smithso-nian on Saturdays.”

KRISTEN

RECORD

CONNECTICUTFrank Scott Bunnell High School, Stratford

What one moment

with a student

has been the most

gratifying of your

teaching career?

I got a text from a student

L O R R I E H E A GY, A L A S K AWHAT ONE MOMENT WITH A STUDENT HAS BEEN THE MOST GRATIFYING OF YOUR TEACHING CAREER?

“I had a fourth-grader who was a challenge in her academic classes. She started playing the flute and her whole attitude changed. One day I saw her coming out of a classroom and she said, ‘Music is my life.’ She saw me, and it just came out of her. I knew, in that moment, that she thought about music, she loved it, and that it transferred into the other parts of her day.”

“Adversity doesn’t build character; it reveals it.”—Anonymous

FROM MATINGA RAGATZ’S BLACKBOARD

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about two years after he graduated that said, “I’m about to walk into my first community col-lege class, and I never would have gone back to school if it hadn’t been for you.” That was worth double my salary.

JOSEPH

MASIELLO

DELAWARE Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Wilmington

What is the most


teaching? Keeping your ego out of it. You have to be ready to be chewed up and spit out, then pick yourself up again and say, “That was fun! I’m doing it all again tomorrow.”If you weren’t

teaching, what do

you think you’d be

doing? Dancing. When I was young, I wanted to be a dancer. Had I not been so afraid of what other people thought, I would have done it. But I don’t think dancing would have served me as well as teaching.I think the universe gave me exactly what I needed—I’ve touched a lot of lives as a teacher.

CHERYL CONLEY

FLORIDAOsceola Magnet Elementary School, Vero Beach

What is the most

essential thing

parents can do to

help their children

succeed in school?

Parents should share experiences with their children. They should go to the zoo, take nature walks, and question their kids when they see an airplane in the air. “Where do you think that plane is going? Who do you think is on it?” Those experiences encourage a child’s curi-osity and imagination. Kids should be inspired to look at the world through the eyes of a scientist and question everything, to wonder What if? and How could this be different?

PAM WILLIAMS

GEORGIAAppling County High School, Baxley

What life lessons do

you strive to impart

to your students?

Your life is yours, and the decisions you make impact it. You’ve got to step forward, because you have as much value as anybody else. I love what I do, and I’m a big believer that if you don’t love what you do, you’re not going to do it to the best of your abilities. So I try to help my students discover what they’re good at and what they love, then meld those two to find what they can do with their lives to make a difference.

J O N R O L L E , D.C .WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BE A TEACHER?

“Growing up, I did not have very many African American male teachers. The idea of going into a community that was heavily African American, where I could possibly incite change among young boys who may have had a similar experience to mine, was something really motivational to me.”

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of people polled chose

Anderson Cooper

as the person they’d

most like to have as

a substitute teacher.

43%

husband proposed

to you in front of

your class? Yes. It was a total surprise—he walked in during the last five minutes of the day. He couldn’t have done it in a place where people would get more excited. I knew it was coming, but I didn’t think he would do it in front of my students! But that was the best proposal he could have done. It made it so special to have my kids there.

STEFANI COOK

IDAHORigby High School, Rigby

Tell us about your

involvement in

extracurriculars.

I help out with home-coming activities, I’m the student council advisor, and I stay in-volved in all the sporting events, choir concerts, and plays. I have three young children myself, and my husband often

KRISTEN

BRUMMEL

HAWAIINoelani Elementary School, Honolulu

What is your favor-

ite subject to teach?

Language arts , because it’s so exciting to hear the students’ voices come through in their writing. Writing is something they’ll keep with them for the rest of their lives. Is it true that your ST

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asks me why I’m so involved in high school activities. I just have a philosophy that if I care, there’s going to be someone else out there who will care and be a great teacher for my own children.

ANNICE M. BRAVE

ILLINOISAlton High School, Alton

What’s the most

gratifying part of

being a teacher? It’s the reminders from my students that they re-member me. I get phone calls from kids saying things like “Mrs. Brave, I’m graduating from college,” or “I’m starting my student teaching today,” or “I just became a nuclear engineer and got my first job with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission!” or “Today while I was teaching class, I heard myself quoting you.”

STACY

MCCORMACK

INDIANAPenn High School, Mishawaka

What has teaching

taught you about

yourself ? That it’s OK to have goals, but there are times that you just have to drop everything to stop and have ameaningful conversa-tion with someone.Personal relationships are so important. Ever had a class-

room mishap? Once, in front of the class, I opened a box I had received. I thought it was something I had ordered from a science company, but it was actually from the biol-ogy teacher next door. When I opened it, giant crickets hopped across the room. I screamed and went up against the blackboard, and my stu-dents just went crazy.

MOLLY BOYLE

IOWABrookview Elementary School, West Des Moines

Who was your favor-

ite teacher and why?

I have two—one, a col-lege professor, really pushed me as a learner. Her expectations made me learn more than I thought I needed to know. The other was my high school English teacher. She would kneel down by my desk to talk to me, one-on-one, about my perfor-mance. Now, I do that with my own students.

CURTIS

CHANDLER

KANSASWamego Middle School, Wamego

How do you take

teaching outside the

classroom? A student of mine recently asked me if birds have a sense of smell. She had been told not to disturb a

just emerging adults. I take them very seriously.

JULIA

WILLIAMS

LOUISIANALafayette High School,Lafayette

How do you get stu-

dents excited about

a subject they’re

disinterested in?

Show your enthusi-asm for it.Every day I’m excited about what I teach. I show them the bigger picture: You may not solve an algebraic expression every day of your life, but you areusing reasoning skills to reach solutions when you solve problems that occur in your life. Using technology is also important. Now that we have SMART Boards and students have handheld voters, nobody has an excuse not to be part of the lesson.

SHELLY MOODY

MAINEWilliams Elementary School, Oakland

What inspired you

to be a teacher?

Teaching kids has always come natural to me. In high school,I taught swimming lessons. My mom was a sixth-grade math teacher, and every night we would talk about teaching over dinner.

bird’s nest at her house because the mother bird would neglect the chicks if they had been handled by a human. Rather than answering, I asked her what she thought and then challenged her to find out for herself. She decided she needed to ask a bird expert. We searched online and found an ornithologist at Cornell University, who told us that most birds do not have a well-developed olfactorysense. In my class, teachable moments are the result of daily learning structures that require students to ask questions, formulate hypotheses, and vali-date information.

ERIKA SCHMEL-

ZER WEBB

KENTUCKYEast Jessamine High School, Nicholasville

Why English? I’ve always loved it. After getting a BFA in acting, I went back to get an English degree so I could teach. It’s so easy to talk about the human expe-rience through literature and to teach students that they can use their own voice to evaluate the world around them. Why high school? People make a face whenI tell them I teach high school, but it’s a really good age! Teenagers aren’t terrible; they’re

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confi dence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gift ed for something and that this thing must be att ained.”

—Marie Curie

FROM KRISTEN RECORD’S BLACKBOARD

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M I C H E L L E S H E A R E R , M A R Y L A N DYOU’VE BEEN SELECTED 2011’S NATIONAL TEACHER OF THEYEAR. WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE ABOUT EDUCATION?

“Our country wants to be the world leader in education, but are we putting into public schoolsthe resources and energy to make that happen? My message is, be involved in public education.Tutor a student, support an after-school program,or participate in productive debates to help solvethe problems that we all face. We need the publicin public education.”


FLORIS WILMA

ORTIZ

MASSACHUSETTSAmherst Regional Middle School, Amherst

Why middle school?

The early adolescent years—the “rollercoast-er years,” I call them—are the most critical years in a student’s life. Kids need a lot of love and support to gain confidence before they go to high school.What motivates you

to keep teaching?

My students. In spite of the difficulties I face every day, I wake up thinking about my stu-dents. I know every child is capable of reaching her dreams, and know-ing that I can implant hope—which some-times they have lost—is what keeps me going.

MATINGA

RAGATZ

MICHIGANGrand Ledge High School, Grand Ledge

What inspired you

to be a teacher? My mother was the first woman in her country to graduate college. She was from Equatorial Guinea, and she became a teacher, so she was also the first profess-ional female teacher in the country. She inspired many women.What part of his-

tory do you enjoy

teaching the most?

We study rebellions— intellectual rebellions, positive and destructive rebellions—to see which ones worked better. It allows kids to be thoughtful about their own sense of rebellion.

RYAN VERNOSH

MINNESOTAMaxfield Magnet School, Saint Paul

What one moment

with a student

has been the most

gratifying of your

essential thing par-

ents can do to help

their children suc-

ceed in school? Par-ents need to emphasize that education doesn’t end with the school year. It ends with children be-ing productive in life.

ROBERT BECKER

MISSOURIKirkwood High School, Kirkwood

What inspired you

to be a teacher? I took a poetry seminar as a college sophomore. I was kind of proud of the stuff I was writing, so I sent it to my high school creative writing

teaching career?

I had a class of sixth gradeboys, and one came in at a second-grade reading level. He didn’t want to bother learning because he thought he’d end up in jail or dead like his broth-ers. In one year, he grew two and a half years in terms of his ability. Now he speaks of hope and resilience. His future is his own, and he can learn from the mistakes of others.

BRAD SHONK

MISSISSIPPIGorenflo Elementary School, Biloxi

What is the most

teacher. He got very ex-cited about it, and asked, “Hey, how would you like to come and present this as a visiting poet to my current class?” I agreed, but I was very appre-hensive about the idea of being the expert and leading a class. After that, though, I was sold. I knew I wanted to be a high school teacher.

How do you moti-

vate students who

have checked out

from learning?

I mix it up a lot. If I’m not getting through to them with a certain technique, I try something else. It keeps it exciting for me,too, which is important—if it’s old to me, I’m not going to be able to sell it as exciting to them.

“Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”

—Oliver Wendell Holmes

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PAUL

ANDERSEN

MONTANABozeman High School, Bozeman

How do you use

technology in your

classroom? One way is that I use cell phones for polls. I ask a question and the students text the answer. The answers are instantly transmit-ted to my computer in the front of the room. This allows me to get feedback from kids who aren’t always willing to talk in class. Kids live such digital lives, and it’s important that we’re competent, that we can

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show them that we know what’s up. What’s your funni-

est classroom expe-

rience? I had my son in class this year, which was funny. He didn’t quite know what to call me, so he pretty much just called me nothing because he didn’t want to call me Dad in front of the other kids, and he didn’t want to call me Mr. Andersen.

•••BOB FEURER

NEBRASKANorth Bend Central Pub-lic Schools, North Bend

What’s it like teach-

ing a wide variety of

age groups? Seventh-graders come in with all sorts of excitement. They want to learn things. Juniors and seniors are a little more cynical. They dare you to teach them anything.Ever had a science

lab mishap? Back when big hair was in, I had a couple kids catch their bouffants on fire. They didn’t even realize they were singeing their hair over the Bunsen burners. Fortunately, no one got hurt. We can laugh about it now, but it was a catastrophe at the time.

CHERYL MACY

NEVADACarson High School, Carson City

Who was your fa-

vorite teacher and

why? Mr. Glansman, a math teacher I had in high school. He made us all feel that, no matter what, we were capable of doing any math prob-lem he put in front of us. He gave me a lot of confidence, not by tell-ing me that I was great, but simply by giving me the skills I needed to be successful. What’s the most

rewarding part of

your school year?

Seniors have to do a research project that involves giving an oral presentation at the end of the year in front of teachers and commu-nity members. At the beginning of the year, they tell me there’s no way they can talk for eight to 12 minutes in front of an audience, that it’s impossible. But on the day of their presentations, they’re so proud of themselves. Most of the time, they’ll tell me that the oral presentation was actu-ally the easiest part of the project. To see them understand that some-thing they thought was insurmountable was actually very easy is so rewarding.

ANGIE MILLER

NEW HAMPSHIREHolderness Central School, Holderness

Why middle school? A high-school teacher friend of mine and I conclude that you have to figure out what you’re good at: channeling or drumming. In high school, you have to drum up the energy because they sit and stare at you with slack jaws. In middle school, you have to channel the energy. I love the energy that meets me at the door every single day. I don’t have to create it, it’s there—I just have to make it productive.

DANIELLE

KOVACH

NEW JERSEYTulsa Trail Elementary School, Hopatcong

What’s the funniest

thing a child’s ever

said to you? Because of their disabilities, my students often have trouble with handwrit-ing. I always tell them, “When you’re writing, think of it like driving a car. You have to keep your car between the lines—do the same with your writing.” Once, when one of the kids was writing outside the lines, I said, “Look at your letters. What would

happen if mom drove her car out of the lines on the road?” And one of the kids in the back of the room said, “Onstar!”

DIANA

FESMIRE

NEW MEXICOChaparral Middle School, Alamogordo

What inspired you

to be a teacher? I’ve wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. When I was in high school, I told my counselor that and his response was, “Gifted people don’t become teachers.” He convinced me that because I was good at math and sci-ence, I should be an engineer. I got through two and a half years of an engineering degree before I realized that my true joy was the Sunday School class I was teaching and the Girl Scout troop I was helping out with. So I switched my major and gave up my scholarship.

JEFF PENESTON

NEW YORKLiverpool High School, Liverpool

In a sentence, how

would you sum-

marize the role of a

teacher? Education is an owner’s manual to growing up on this

applications were

received in 2010 by

Teach For America,

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the largest corp in

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NATALIE

WESTER

OHIOGearity Professional Development School,University Heights

Why elementary

school? As a parent of a child who struggled and who is now on the honor roll, I approach teaching with a different perspec-tive. I understand the need to embrace every child as a genius.What’s the funniest

thing that’s ever

happened in your

class? At the end of the year, all the students write chapter books to next year’s incoming class to prepare them for third grade. It’s always funny to read what they write about me: “Mrs. Wester is on espresso every day. She’s crazy, but in a good way. If you get an answer right, she might run out into the hallway screaming in excitement. Have your earplugs ready.”

ELIZABETH

SMITH

OKLAHOMAByng Junior High School, Ada

Why is teaching

so important? For many students, you are their way out. So many of them lack parental involvement and sup-port, and teachers have had to take that on and become advocates for those kids. I do a lot more than just teach my curriculum.

COLLEEN WORKS

OREGONCorvallis High School,Corvallis

What is the most


ents can do to help

their children suc-

ceed in school? Live a life that shows that being well-educated makes the world more fun. I don’t think our

They range from the seminal To Sir, With Love to, unex-pectedly, Sister Act 2. But three films about classroom life consistently get top grades from our teachers.

STAND AND DELIVER (1988), STARRING EDWARD JAMES OLMOS “All kids are able to learn. If we can give them direction by finding a path to match their learning styles, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. This film reminds me to keep searching for that every day.” —Jeffrey Chou, PennsylvaniaDEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989), STARRING ROBIN WILLIAMS (ABOVE) “My mind goes to the scene where they’re standing on the desks, ripping out the pages of their textbooks. The movie speaks to the idea that real teaching is about pushing kids to think outside of the box. The answers aren’t always in textbooks; they’re in what we teach kids about thinking.” —Jennifer Facciolini, North CarolinaFREEDOM WRITERS (2007), STARRING HILARY SWANK “What’s great about it is, the teacher in the film never gives up on her students. When everyone else does, in all aspects of their lives, she doesn’t.” —Stefani Cook, Idaho

culture necessarily con-veys that message to students—the message that says it’s actually more fun to go travel the world than to sit in front of your television, or that reading a newspaper is really engaging when you truly understand what’s being talked about.

JEFFREY

CHOU

PENNSYLVANIAHighland Elementary School, Abington

What is the most


teaching? One of the most difficult things to balance is time. The push to focus so much of

back and letting kids learn on their own. A lot of times when you present new concepts to kids, they’ll struggle, and you can see that they’re getting frus-trated. You want to step in and be that guiding mentor, but the magic really lies in letting them figure it out on their own. Knowing when to step in and help and when to back off and let the struggle happen is a hard choice to make.

can’t work with ninth grade high school stu-dents unless you kind of like 14- and 15-year-olds—or at least have learned to respect their idiosyncracies.

KAREN TOAVS

NORTH DAKOTAWilliston Middle School,Williston

What is the most


teaching? Standing

planet, and the teacher is the tour guide. Why science? I’ve become kind of sensitive to that question over the years because I think the true answer is, “I teach young people and I try to help them grow up.” I can’t be a science teacher just because I love science. The reality is that the vast majority of the job is working with young people. I don’t care how in love with literature you are, you

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our attention on reading and math has detracted from other important subjects. We have to find a balance, to make sure we’re teaching every-thing, not just focusing on what’s being man-dated by legislation.In a sentence, how

would you sum-

marize the role of

a teacher? Teachers have to impart knowl-edge, but we also have to help our students, parents, and community

come together and see a vision for the future.

SHANNON

DONOVAN

RHODE ISLANDScituate High School,North Scituate

Who was your favor-

ite teacher and why?

My sixth grade teacher Betty Creelman. Until I met her, I was one of those kids who was al-ways getting in trouble.

But she made me the captain of the safety patrol, and I realized my potential. As soon as she put me in charge of something, I saw myself in a whole new way. That changed my life. We’re still in touch today.

KELLY NALLEY

SOUTH CAROLINAFork Shoals School,Pelzer

What has teaching

taught you about

yourself? To be a lot more patient and understanding of differ-ences in people. For half of my career, I didn’t have children of my own, and now that I do, I realize that teaching has

also prepared me to be a better parent. When you see the way children learn and grow from a teacher’s perspective, the world becomes a little bit wider.What one moment

with a student

has been the most

gratifying of your

teaching career? A bright moment is when something clicks, and a student is able to say something in Spanishout of the context of what we’re talking about. One day we were practicing saying things like, “There is a bird on the tree,” and “There is a tree in the forest.” I was pregnant at the time, and one girl raised her hand and said, in

Spanish, “There is a baby in Miss Nalley’s stomach!” I was so proud of her.

SUSAN

TURNIPSEED

SOUTH DAKOTACamelot Intermediate School, Brookings

What is the most


teaching? As teachers, we continue to struggle with the emphasis that’s put on high-stakes test-ing. It’s a lot of pressure for kids. And as much as we reassure them that it will be fine, they feel it. Learning and education should be more than just filling in a circle.What has teaching

“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.”

—Eugene Ionesco

FROM CHERYL CONLEY’S BLACKBOARD

J E N N I F E R FA C C I O L I N I , N O R T H C A R O L I N AWHAT’S THE MOST DIFFICULT ASPECT OF TEACHING?

“You want to save every kid. The children that may go home hungry, you want to feed them. This isn’t a job that we leave sitting on the desk. It’s not a job we call in sick to if we don’t feel well. It’s a job that encompasses us personally and professionally, emotionally and physically. You make an emotional investment in everystudent who enters your room. That’s difficult.”

B 13

M 10

M 14

B 32



taught you about

yourself ? I don’t know that I would have ever identified myself as a creative person. But I’ve found that to be a great teacher you have to be creative. You have to think outside the box and constantly look for new ways to engage students.

CHERYL

DEATON

TENNESSEEPigeon Forge Primary School, Sevierville

What is the most


ents can do to help

their children suc-

ceed in school? Read to them. Read, read, read. Start early, and never stop.What is the most dif-

fi cult aspect of

teaching? As a teacher,you develop a plan for each and every child. Of course, sometimes there are children who have difficulties with be-havior. But actually, I like working with them the best. I try to show them that there are ways to get attention that aren’t negative. My goal is to help them conquer the issues that stand in their way of success.

GAY BECK

UTAHHighland Elementary School, Highland

Why kindergarten?

It’s the first exposureto the public schoolsystem. I love to be ableto make a positive impactright off the bat. It sets a

really good foundation for them for the rest of their school experience.What has been the

most unexpected

part of the teaching

experience? My in-credible love for and en-joyment of the parents as well as the students. I have developed great friendships, and I just didn’t anticipate that.

JENNIFER

LAWSON

VERMONT Vergennes Union High School, Vergennes

What one moment

with a student has

been the most grati-

fying of your teach-

ing career? Earlier this year I had a young woman going through gender-identity issues. We worked together after school as she com-posed a speech that she presented to the whole school called “A Girl Named Boy.” She got up there in her basketball shoes and cut-off shorts and told the story in third person. At the end she said, “That girl is me. I am a girl. And this is who I am.” Everyone stood up and started applauding. Just seeing her do that, having a voice and being proud, was amazing.

LATONYA E.

WALLER

VIRGINIALucille M. Brown Middle School, Richmond

Who was your fa-

vorite teacher and

why? Sandra Moore

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D A N I E L L E I J A , T E X A SWHAT IS THE MOST ESSENTIAL THING PARENTS CAN DO TO HELP THEIR CHILDREN SUCCEED IN SCHOOL?

“As a society, we’re so wrapped up in not hurtinga child’s self-esteem. But if parents don’t chal-lenge kids and allow them to fail once in a while,they’re going to fall flat on their faces when theyget out in the real world. I’m not talking about being overly harsh; I’m talking about gettingkids to focus and see things through.”

Clarke, my elementary school science teacher. She thought it was so important to teach in a hands-on, engagingway. She said, “You know what? We’re going to have a greenhouse at our school.” That was 25 years before the do-it-yourself craze. We would go in there and study science, and we became scientists.

of current public

school teachers are

male. That refl ects

a 40-year low.

24%

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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, com-mitt ed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

—Margaret Mead

FROM SHANNON DONOVAN’S BLACKBOARD

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M 28

M 10



parents with specific in-formation on what we’re doing in the classroom. It’s more than just “we are reading”—it’s what specifically we’re read-ing. That way, parents can ask, “How do you like that book?” and “How is that essay due on Thursday coming?” I see a huge difference in the children of par-ents who do that.

JAY MAEBORI

WASHINGTONKentwood High School, Covington

What is the most

essential thing

parents can do to

help their children

succeed in school?

They can hold them accountable. I send out a weekly newsletter to

DREMA MCNEAL

WEST VIRGINIAPark Middle School,Beckley

In what way have

you taught your

students real-world

skills? I’ve noticed that many people lack the skills to write a proper business letter, so a few years ago, when my husband was in the hos-pital and I had to be away from class, I told the substitute to have the kids write me end-of-the-year letters about what they had learned. They had to be format-ted correctly, with each student’s home address included. In the letters, I could see the skills I taught them. I wrote personal responses to all 66 kids, telling them how having them as students changed my life.

MAUREEN LOOK-

AINSWORTH

WISCONSINHorning Middle School, Waukesha

What has teaching

taught you about

yourself ? To be there in these moments when your students are mak-ing critical decisions about their future is so fascinating and so fun. It’s life-changing. It tells me every day, “Keep on going, brain; keep on teaching like your hair’s on fire, like there’s no ending.”

LAURIE GRAVES

WYOMINGBig Horn Elementary School, Big Horn

What do you love

most about your job?

Witnessing my students become passionate about learning—espe-cially those who haven’t experienced a lot of suc-cess prior to my class. I discover how each of my students learns, and every day, I renew my passion for learning.

GINGERLEI

MAGA UILI

AMERICAN SAMOA Lauli’i Elementary School, Pago Pago

What inspired

you to become a

teacher? The truth is, I became a teacher because I was newly married, needed a job, and teaching was one of the few opportunities available. In hindsight, though, I believe that it is a family heritage that began when my ma-ternal grandfather and paternal grandmother became educators. We currently have a total of 10 teachers in our family who are serving in our local Department of Education.

ANGELICA

JORDAN

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EDUCATION ACTIVITYMannheim ElementarySchool; Mannheim, Germany

How did you get

involved with teach-

ing overseas? Eight years ago, I lost my mother to cancer, and that was about the same time that the war on ter-ror was really starting. I saw an opportunity: All of a sudden I had some-thing in common with these military children whose parents are in harm’s way every day. It dawned on me that, rather than continue to teach in the suburbs, maybe I could make a difference in the life of a military child.

RAENA S.

BERMUDES

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School, Saipan

What’s the funniest

thing a student has

ever said to you?

Just this year, one of my third-graders wrote me a note: “Dear Ms. Ber-mudes, you are so lucky you get to go to space. I will miss you!” He wrote this thinking I was actually going to outer space, when in fact I was going to Space Camp.

DANIELA C.

ROUMOU

VIRGIN ISLANDS Lockhart Elementary School, St. Thomas

In a sentence, how

would you sum-

marize the role of a

teacher? Teachers are everything in the life of a child: parent, counselor, lawyer, doctor, engineer.What’s the most


teaching? The out-side factors. There are certain parental con-straints, as well as things that happen within the administration, that make it difficult to make a total difference in a child’s life. How do you over-

come those chal-

lenges? By capitalizing on every second I’m afforded with a child. I focus on quality of time, rather than quantity, then help each child create a dream and de-velop a plan to go after it.

GEOGRAPHY CLASS

CCSSO also recognizes appointed teachers from the following four juris-dictions. Here are the 2011 winners:

B 11

M 10 M 24

M 24

B 16

M 16

B 9

M 7.5 B 5


america’s best teachers, 2011 - amazon web services€¦ · america’s best teachers, 2011 ms....

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