Recently, the school administration has implemented a district-wide program to recognize teachers for all the work they do for the school. Teachers spend numerous hours throughout the school year teaching their classes, prepping work and grading activities. The teachers are recognized based on how their students perform; however, the school administration is aiming to change the recognition teachers get, so they understand how appreciated they are.
Every month, a Google Form opens up to all students, parents and staff, to give an opportunity to vote for a teacher that they believe has made an impact. Any teacher in the district can be nominated. Once all votes are collected, the names are put onto a computerized wheel and spun to randomly draw a winner. Once the winner is chosen, he/she is surprised by members of the school administration and Parlor Doughnuts.
Assistant Superintendent Haley Fleegle hopes to empower teachers with this program.
“We [school administration] wanted to do something for the teachers and have an opportunity for kids, parents and colleagues of teachers to surprise someone once a month to brighten their day and show them how much we appreciate them,” Fleegle said.
According to Fleegle, teachers can go days without hearing a “thank you,” so having students vote was a way to show teachers the voices of their students that go unnoticed.
“I think student voices sometimes get missed,” Fleegle said. “To hear from students about their perspective is nice. Sometimes teachers don’t hear from students directly, so it was important for us to have the opportunity to have students nominate so their teachers can hear from their students’ perspectives.”
The winner for December was biology teacher Emily Bullard. The recognition showed her that her work is appreciated.
“I was incredibly honored to know that my students appreciated my efforts in the way that I had hoped that they did,” Bullard said. “I’m glad that we all have the connection where they feel confident enough to to say those things about me because I would say the exact same things about them.”
For Bullard, winning shows her that the work she has done has paid off.
“It solidifies the reason I chose teaching, because the big part of teaching for me is building those relationships and making sure the kids feel safe,” Bullard said.
Bullard builds connections with her students so they feel comfortable with her as a teacher.
“We’ve got games, we’ve got questions that we just ask each other, openness of conversations to an extent, but getting to know each other as much as possible, and trying to make an open-door policy so that everyone knows that they’re welcome here,” Bullard said.
The relationships Bullard builds with her students correspond with the effort she puts into teaching.
“I think she is a really positive person,” freshman Levelle Andrews said. “I do not have another teacher that could compare to her energy. She’s a very happy person and very energetic. When I walk in she’s always saying, ‘Lavelle, what’s up? How was your day? How was your weekend?’”
With the Teacher of The Month program being opened to the whole district, many teachers get nominated but do not win. The school administration still wants them to know their recognition. Teachers who were nominated, but do not win, are given a list of all the reasons they were nominated and recognized. Even without winning, it allows teachers to realize what they are appreciated for.
Jacob Wilt was nominated for this award, but was ultimately not chosen as the winner. He received a card from the school administration that showed him what people had to say.
“I got a card from the district,” Wilt said. “’You got nominated but didn’t win. Here are some words that people had to say.’ It was really cool. When I opened it up it was a really great way to start the day.”
