Congratulations to these outstanding educators who were honored as 2020年度教师奖 at the EDDY Awards. For the full list of school-level teachers of the year, click here.
Leena大厅
威廉·米. 雷恩斯高中
2020 Florida Blue Duval County Teacher of the Year
Leena大厅教10th grade language arts at 雷恩斯高中 in Northwest Jacksonville, where she has helped her students improve their reading proficiency by 29 percent. 她担任系主任, helping to create professional learning communities among the teachers at Raines, and supporting first-year teachers. She has also participated in Duval County’s Innovative Educator Program.
“My sole purpose is to be a facilitator in releasing the human potential in every child.”
迈克尔·汉姆
马修·吉尔伯特中学
迈克尔·汉姆教6th grade math at 马修·吉尔伯特中学. His mission as a teacher is to raise expectations for his students and show them that they can achieve great things. 在第一年, he taught lower-performing 6th grade students, and started the year with frank conversations about what had allowed them to reach sixth-grade math without having mastered grade-level skills. That year, 100% of students in the lowest quartile had grown significantly. In his second year, he challenged his students to take on an advanced curriculum. As a result, the school offered a 7th-grade Algebra I class for the first time in nearly a decade. He is actively involved with the Teach for America Alumni Board and JaxPrism, an LGBTQ+ advocacy board for Teach for America and City Year alumni.
“In a world so full of negative discourse and hate-filled language, it can be easy to forget what ‘every student’ means. It’s not just the ones from backgrounds like ours or the ones that look and sound like us. It is every child who walks through our classroom doors no matter the identities, 经历, or baggage they carry in with them.”
蕾妮·麦克纳尔蒂
让·里博高中
蕾妮·麦克纳尔蒂 is a veteran 25-year educator who teaches geometry at 让·里博高中 in Northwest Jacksonville. She has helped her overage students go from 0% graduation ready to 91% graduation ready, and seen double-digit gains in math proficiency with her students. She uses a multi-sensory approach to teaching with music, 运动和颜色, and dances for joy when her students learn a new math skill. 去年, when six students were at risk of failing math and failing to graduate, she opened her home on the weekends to tutor them.
“我敢打赌你会爱你的孩子. If you don’t love them, you’ll do all kinds of stuff wrong. You’ll expect them to meet you at your level, instead of meeting them at theirs. You’ll be blind to their physical and emotional needs, thinking what they need is to learn what you’re teaching. You could even make the mistake of focusing more on the lesson plan on a piece of paper than on the very real people who just walked into your room.”
卡罗尔·托马斯。
丁斯莫尔小学
卡罗尔·托马斯。 teaches first grade at Dinsmore Elementary in Northwest Jacksonville. 在2018-2019学年期间, her students’ average scale score for math had increased 58 points and reading increased 81 points. She has served as the grade level chair for five years, bringing best practices and exchanging tips with teachers across her school. She also hosts a model classroom in her school, which allows new teachers to come observe her instructional and classroom management skills. 在地区一级, she helped create an instructional video that taught teachers across the district how to implement a new phonics program.
Ms. Thomas is a passionate believer in teaching her students 要有成长的心态. Her life story has been an example of this. She worked in a daycare center at minimum wage until a woman at the Jacksonville Children’s Commission encouraged her to go back to school to become a teacher.
“我是一个胜利者! I always teach my students that they, too, are overcomers! I lead by example and teach my students to be confident, 要有成长的心态, 爱自己, 要坚持下去.”
莱斯利白
尤金J领导学院. 巴特勒
莱斯利白 teaches science and biology at the 尤金J领导学院. 巴特勒. She uses data to differentiate her instruction based on students’ achievement level, allowing her to work more closely with students who need extra help. She promotes critical thinking by using the ACE strategy, which prompts her students to “answer,引用证据,和“扩展”.” She also works with her students to set personal goals, which helps them not only in her class but also throughout their education.
教室外, she is the leader of her school’s science department, 曾领导地区训练8年th grade science teachers and participated in the Innovative Educator Program.