Tag Archives: Elementary Teachers

Kindergarten teacher Connie Hall named Nevada’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

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Kindergarten teacher Connie Hall of Sparks, Nevada, has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Nevada State Department of Education

Our country’s kindergarten kids are truly fortunate to have so many dedicated and compassionate teachers in their lives. Teachers such as Connie Hall, an educator from Sparks, Nevada. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Connie teaches at Lloyd Diedrichsen Elementary School. She says her primary goal is to build meaningful relationships with not only her students, but also everyone in the school community, including parents and colleagues. In a career that spans 29 years, she has taught children from nursery school to third grade.

Connie is well-respected by those who work on her campus. “Mrs. Hall is a passionate educator who puts her students first,” says Ryan Doetch, principal of Diedrichsen Elementary. “She is motivated by student success and is dedicated to creating lasting relationships with every child,” he continued.

The honored teacher has even garnered national attention for her work. Her classroom was filmed and featured in articles for several district and national projects. One project demonstrated her culturally responsive classroom for teacher training in her district. In addition, Connie’s class was one of five classrooms chosen nationally to be featured in The New Teacher Project Room to Run project. The intent of the program was to show what kids can accomplish with challenging, inspiring schoolwork.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Connie serves on her school’s Leadership Team, and she is a member of the Washoe County Early Childhood Advisory Council.

Her award as Nevada’s Teacher of the Year is not the only recognition Connie has earned. She was named the 2019 Certified Employee of the Year for the Washoe County School District, and she has received two certificates of commendation from Nevada state Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.

Connie earned a Bachelor’s degree in both Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education from Oakwood University. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a minor in Common Core State Standards from Concordia University. She has been teaching since 1994.

To read more about Connie Hall, click on this link to Pacific Union Conference.

 

As 2023 Michigan State Teacher of the Year, Candice Jackson will focus on students’ mental health

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Candice Jackson, a third grade teacher in Detroit, Michigan, has been named the 2023 Michigan State Teacher of the Year. In this role, she plans to focus on students’ mental health issues. Photo credit: Riley Hodder, Bridge Michigan

Congratulations to elementary school teacher Candice Jackson of Detroit, Michigan, who was named her state’s 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year last month.

Candice teaches at the Mann Learning Community in the Detroit Public Schools Community District. In a career that has spanned 21 years, she has taught at the facility for the past six years. In addition to her work with students, Candice has spent five years mentoring other Detroit teachers in a professional development program called Master Teachers.

Candice says her decision to go into the teaching profession was an easy one. “I grew up in Macomb County, and I had very few teachers that looked like me,” she reveals. “My third grade teacher Mrs. Harrington was African American, and she was the epitome of grace, poise, and sophistication,” she says. “Unfortunately, that was one of the few encounters I had with a teacher that looked like me. That made me want to be what I did not have,” she explains. According to statistics compiled by the Michigan Department of Education in 2018, about 9% of teachers in Michigan were Black, while about 33% of students in the state are Black.

As her state’s Teacher of the Year, Candice will hold a non-voting seat at the State Board of Education meetings every month. She will also serve as a member of the governor’s Educator Advisory Council. In her new role, the honored educator hopes to increase focus on students’ mental health. “Kids are dealing with a lot,” Candice observes. “I think mental health is one of those things we ignore. And what ends up happening is things spiral out of control. If we pay attention to those risk factors, we can intervene early, and provide the necessary treatment,” she continues.And Candice believes that an increased focus on mental health will also help improve school safety.

Candice earned her Bachelor’s degree in 2001 and her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction in 2004, both from Michigan State University.

Each year, the Michigan Department of Education recognizes the state’s top teacher. The honor is selected for their dedication to the teaching profession, commitment to students, and professional accomplishments. The selection process begins with nominations from students, staff, and community members.

Teacher Ina Dillard Russell served as Georgia’s First Lady

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Elementary teacher Ina Dillard Russell, known as “Mother Russell” by many people in Georgia, served as the state’s First Lady during the years her son was Governor. Photo credit: New Georgia Encyclopedia

Many excellent educators also become very capable politicians. One of these was Ina (Bandana) Dillard Russell, an elementary school teacher who served as Georgia’s First Lady during the years her son, Richard Russell, Jr., served as the state’s governor.

Ina was born in rural Oglethorpe County, Georgia, on Feb. 18, 1868, and raised during the Reconstruction Period. As a young girl, she attended local schools, and  as a young woman she enrolled at first the Palmer Institute in Oxford and then the Lucy Cobb Institute in Athens, Georgia. In 1889, Ina inaugurated her career as a third grade teacher at the Washington Street School in Athens, where she taught for several years.

In 1891, Ina married Richard Brevard Russell, a lawyer from Athens, and the couple settled on their family farm in Winder. Thirteen children were born to the pair, and Ina home-schooled them all. She also ran the farm and supervised their tenant farmers. Meanwhile, her husband pursued a career as a politician, serving a number of years as a member of the Washington Street School Board and eventually rising to the position of Chief Justice of the Georgia State Supreme Court. The family grew to be well-known and influential throughout the state.

As her children grew to adulthood, Ina wrote copious detailed letters to them. She would typically write these letters in the mornings before her household was awake or in the evenings while everyone was asleep. Spanning her life from the turn of the century to the early years of the Great Depression, these missives provide an insight of what life was like for many women in the South during a time of great political and social upheaval, and the varied roles women were expected to fill. It’s estimated that she wrote at least 3,000 letters to her children. Many of the letters were published in 1999 in a volume entitled Roots and Ever Green: The Selected Letters of Ina Dillard Russell, edited by Sally Russell.

All of Ina’s children were successful in their career pursuits, especially her oldest son, Richard Russell, Jr., who was elected the Governor of Georgia in 1930. His tenure in that office spanned the years from 1931 to 1933. During these years, Ina and her husband lived in the Governor’s Mansion in Atlanta, where the popular lady, known as “Mother Russell” by many Georgians, served as the state’s First Lady.

Sadly, Ina suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and passed away on Aug. 30, 1953. She was 85 years old. To honor her contributions to her community and to the state, flags all over Georgia were flown at half-mast. This was an unusual honor for a public figure who had never been elected to a political office. In 1932, the library at Georgia State College for Women, today known as Georgia College and State University, was renamed in her honor.

 

SD teacher Naomi Last Horse Black Elk serves Native American students

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Teacher Naomi Last Horse Black Elk speaks with one of her students at a unique school that integrates Native American culture, history, and language into lesson plans. Photo Credit: South Dakota News Watch

Many excellent Native American educators serve students of their own culture very well. One of these is Naomi Last Horse Black Elk, a teacher of Oglala Lakota descent. Naomi serves as an educator of Native American culture at the Oceti Sakowin Community Academy located in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Naomi was born and raised in Kyle, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in K-12th Lakota Studies Education from Oglala Lakota College. Raised by her grandparents in a traditional setting, the Lakota language was always spoken in the home. As a young girl, many things were taught to the children in her community, including beading, sewing, preparing traditional foods, foraging, harvesting, and butchering meat, She has been teaching Lakota language for over 11 years.

In her classroom, Naomi uses evidence-based, culturally-focused teaching methods, curriculum, and environments that are intended to improve the academic performance of her young students.

Naomi takes her position as a role model very seriously. “I became an educator to inspire, promote and contribute to the seventh generation, through language, culture and values,” she explains. “I promote indigenous education through speaking always, listening always, and encouraging always to our young ones to learn our language whenever and wherever, the goal is to never stop,” she continues.

In Naomi’s classroom, students encounter an environment that is decorated with Lakota numbers, letters, and translations. She creates lessons from books by Native authors and Native folk tales. She encourages a spirit of kinship among her students, who often refer to one another as “cousins.”

To learn more about Naomi and the unique school where she teaches, click on this link to an article about her published by South Dakota News Watch.

Washington educator Gina Behens builds literacy through books

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Elementary school educator Gina Behrens from the state of Washington helps. her students build literacy through books. Photo credit: Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

There are many excellent teachers who work in our nation’s classrooms, and one of them is Gina Behens, an elementary school educator from the state of Washington. She helps her students build literacy through books.

Gina is an academic interventionist and instructional coach at Seth Woodard Elementary School in the West Valley School District in Spokane. In a career that spans 29 years, she’s worked at Woodard Elementary since 2013. Over the years, Gina has earned universal  respect from her students, families, and co-workers. She is described by her peers as an energetic, creative, hard-working professional who delivers high-quality instruction to struggling students.

This dedicated educator is a passionate literacy leader who works very hard to build a culture of reading, both inside and outside of the classroom. She has secured numerous grants in her efforts to create greater access to books for students, families, and classroom libraries. Many students in the school regularly visit her classroom’s lending library, which is available to everyone. Often students will find a hand-delivered book left on their desk with a personal note from Gina that encourages them to try a book she selected especially for them. And she has hosted over 50 family engagement events she organized to increase knowledge, confidence, and skills in literacy.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Gina is a member of her school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) leadership team, the school leadership team, and the child study team.

For her work as an educator, Gina has been named the 2023 NorthEast Washington Educational School District 101 (NEWESD) Teacher of the Year. She also earned the Above and Beyond Award in 2021, an accolade that recognized her for being an outstanding educator.