Dec. 10, 2018 ~ A first-grade teacher, a literacy teacher, and a math teacher have been chosen to represent Olathe Public Schools in statewide teaching award programs. A district selection committee reviewed classroom video and interviews with 10 candidates for three different state-level awards: 2020 Kansas Teacher of the Year Award (elementary and secondary categories) and 2020 Emporia State University Master Teacher Award.
“We are proud to have Nancy, Amy, and Patrick as our district nominees for the Kansas Teacher of the Year and Master Teacher awards,” said Cathy Donovan, director of staffing and talent acquisition. “Olathe has many quality teachers, so it is an honor for teachers to be selected. Nancy, Amy, and Patrick always put their students first and go above and beyond to creatively meet the individual needs of their students. They make learning fun, authentic, and ensure students make connections with the world in which they live.
“These three educators are preparing students for their future. We are proud to have them teaching our Olathe students!”
The following are excerpts from interview questions in the semifinalist stage of the district’s nomination process.
Nancy Smith, first-grade teacher teacher at Bentwood Elementary School, Kansas Teacher of the Year (elementary) nominee
What prompted you to go into education?
My family always valued education. My dad was on the school board. It was always an expectation that we would go on with our education. From the time I was little, I always wanted to be a teacher. I loved my teachers and I loved my school.
What would you consider your greatest accomplishment in education?
My greatest accomplishment in my classroom happened last year when I received an agricultural grant. I did a lot of agricultural activities throughout the year and decided to hatch baby chicks. We started doing research on chickens and learned everything we could. I was able to reach every single child in my classroom in some way. They were all fully engaged in everything we were doing. (It was a multi-faceted project to build “playground equipment” for a colleague’s chickens who were bored and causing trouble in the chicken coop.) My greatest accomplishment professionally, this past summer I received the Presidential Award in Mathematics and Science. I’m very proud of that accomplishment.
Describe how your beliefs about teaching are demonstrated in your personal teaching style.
Engagement is the big word in my classroom. I feel that students learn best when they are hands on and engaged. That is one of the reasons why I do a lot of S.T.E.M. activities
If you could give advice to a new educator, what would it be?
One of my co-workers is a first-year teacher and my other co-worker is a second-year teacher. I tell them to be a B.E.A.R. (Be proactive, Engage with your students, Ask questions, Respect what the people before you have done and ideas that have worked in the past).
What are the biggest obstacles facing public education today?
I would say that time is one of the biggest. We have our planning periods, but that time goes so fast because I’m trying to plan exciting, hands-on and engaging lessons for my students. Another obstacle is the lack of S.T.E.M. education for primary learners. I go to a lot of workshops and conferences and sometimes I struggle to find sessions that are geared toward primary S.T.E.M. education.
Amy Hillman, sixth-grade Project-Based Learning, and Achieving through Individual Motivation (AIM) teacher at Santa Fe Trail Middle School, Kansas Teacher of the Year (secondary) nominee
What prompted you to go into education?
I come from a long line of educators. I wanted to become a cop. In a conversation with my pop, he said you’re either going to become part of the solution or you’re going to have to get them at the other end where they’ve already made the decisions. I realized I had to be part of the solution from the beginning, and that’s where education comes in. It’s literally in every part of my life. I’m blessed to be an educator.
What would you consider your greatest accomplishment in education?
The residual effect of one powerful moment and pushing it through and realizing that it got into them, that the lesson stuck in some way. The residual effect moves forward with them. To be Hillman-ized means that you’ve been affected; you do good things for good purpose, you are strong even in your weakest moments, you can conquer anything. Not just the fact that we teach with that idealism, but the fact that someone got to us and we get to pass it forward.
Describe how your beliefs about teaching are demonstrated in your personal teaching style.
My personal teaching style is not content-based, it’s the way in which we learn. My teaching style is ever-evolving but it truly has to do with keeping the kids safe within themselves to be who they are. It’s the way in which we release the information and the kids can retrieve the information and then grow in their own experiences.
If you could give advice to a new educator, what would it be?
Embrace change. Be willing and courageous to do that next level. Do your homework, figure out what has worked, have purpose behind your decision, but today’s a new day. Students 10 years ago are not the students in our classroom today.
What are the biggest obstacles facing public education today?
Opportunity and equity. Not all students come to us with the same shoe box of information. Great educators know to learn the culture behind the student, to have the full picture because if we don’t have a strong relationship with our students we’re not going to honor their need to fill up their shoe box of experiences. Not all students have the same opportunity to learn, to grow, to be empowered. Equity is where education has to focus.
Patrick Flynn, math teacher at Olathe West High School, Emporia State University Master Teacher nominee
What prompted you to go into education?
Watching students grow as they learn new and exciting material. Watching them develop into fully functional adults. Watching them problem solve their way through difficult situations. Trying to be there for that student so they can become a better person.
What would you consider your greatest accomplishment in education?
Watching the educational landscape change and still being effective with all the different changes that we’ve encountered.
Describe how your beliefs about teaching are demonstrated in your personal teaching style.
I believe that everyone can learn. Sometimes students are not ready at that time, and they need additional practice to become better. I let students continually re-test and practice materials that they might not be familiar with or have mastered yet. It might take one person two weeks to understand something whereas it takes another person only a couple of days.
If you could give advice to a new educator, what would it be?
Always smile; remember that your mood sets the tone for the class. If it weren’t for students, you wouldn’t have a job. We want students to do the best they can. Some students need more help than others. Always have a Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, sometimes all the way down to a Plan Z depending on what happens.
What are the biggest obstacles facing public education today?
A lot of people say they value public education, but when you look at how people vote or how they think funding should go, it is clear that education is not valued. Schools are not being funded like they have been in the past. Educators are constantly expected to do a better job with less time and money which is a huge challenge. I am proud of how educators have risen to meet the challenge, but worried about what the future may hold.
