Rhode Island elementary school teacher  Aimee Couto has been named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: University of Rhode Island

It is always my pleasure to shine a spotlight on exceptional educators who have earned recognition for their work with young people. One of these is Aimee Couto, an elementary school teacher from Rhode Island. She has been named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

Aimée teaches first grade at Emma G. Whiteknact School located in East Providence, Rhode Island. She has been teaching there for the past 13 years. In her classroom, she is a strong advocate for project-based learning and the development of competent reading practices.

In addition to her work with first graders, the honored educator serves as a teacher leader on her campus and within her district. She helps guide several programs centered around positive social and emotional development at Whiteknact, she serves on the school improvement team, and she is her district’s facilitator for the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) program.

Aimee was raised in a military family, which means that as a child she frequently moved all over the United States. She has lived in the states of Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska, and New Hampshire, to name just a few. As a youngster, Aimee was considered a struggling reader. “Because we moved every two or three years, I always struggled with reading,” Aimee confesses. “As I have studied and taken many courses about the science of reading, I have come to realize that my teachers didn’t have the knowledge to help me progress, especially when it came to those frequent family moves. It’s why it’s so important that we come up with a national right-to-read act so we are all on the same page,” she declares. Today, Aimee has developed a classroom curriculum that fosters strong reading skills for her young students.

Aimee earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Rhode Island in 1996, and a second Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Rhode Island College.

To read more about Aimee Couto, click on this link to an article about her published by the University of Rhode Island.