Wow, these four days have flown by! We started the day with compelling conversations about education policy – always a hot topic with Teachers of the Year.
Scott Palmer of the Education Counsel group in Washington, DC provided a presentation entitled “Brave New World: Transforming Teaching and Learning.” He explained that education reform really started back in 1983 with the A Nation at Risk report. Prior to that time ESEA and state level governance provided the only education mandates. Palmer shared that there could be a third “moment” in education – after ESEA in the 60’s and NCLB in the 90’s – and that moment is driven by the “College and Career Ready” emergence. It’s no longer just about raising the rigor; it’s also about critical thinking, problem solving, creativity…
We’ve moved from agrarian…to industrial…and now to knowledge-based shifts that require fundamental changes in teaching and learning – personalized, project-based, competency-based, data-driven, use of technology (blended, hybrid), use of time, collective capacity of educators…all these are examples of the way teaching and learning has changed and are based on the science of learning as well as research on youth development. Scott Palmer provided much food for thought and discussion among the State Teachers of the Year!
Next, the TOYs were introduced to the National Network of State Teachers of the Year. Katherine Bassett, 2000 New Jersey Teacher of the Year, is the Executive Director of the NNSTOY, and she presented with Justin Minkel, 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, and Sarah Brown Wessling, 2010 National Teacher of the Year. The network is based on three focal points: policy, practice, and advocacy, and Teachers of the Year are excited to have a professional home as part of the NNSTOY network.
After a few break-out meetings (TOYs in one room; coordinators in another), the gala dinnertime arrived. In this case, pictures speak better than words!
Here I am with the North Carolina Teacher of the Year, the lovely Darcy Grimes!
2013 State Teachers of the Year before the Gala Dinner
Another pre-dinner pose!
Dinner!
I don’t even know what to say about these three Southern Belles. They were inseparable! North Carolina’s Darcy, Alabama’s Suzanne, and Virginia’s Kathy = Beautiful teachers!
Max, a retired Greyhound racing dog, became the TOY mascot this week. He really belongs to Heidi Atkinson, the Department of Defense TOY Coordinator, and is her well-trained service dog.
Who will be the next National Teacher of the Year? Here are the finalists: Alex Lopes, a Florida pre-K teacher, Rhonda Holmes-Blankenship, a Maryland high school English teacher, Heidi Welch, a New Hampshire music teacher, and Jeffrey Charbonneau, a Washington chemistry, physics, and engineering teacher.
Congratulations to all and thank you to Darcy Grimes for being an amazing representative for North Carolina teachers!