1. How did you feel when your name was being called in front of all your colleagues for Teacher of the Year?
“At first it was wild, because the people I was sitting around, the description being read could have been about any of them, and I assumed it was somebody else. When I was walking down and looking at all the people that I have learned so much from, I felt very undeserving, because all the people that I walked past made me the teacher that I am. … I wish I could’ve taken a big group up with me, like this is for them, it’s because of them, not like really me.”
2. Once it all sank in, what were you feeling?
“That’s the feeling I sat with for a very long time, and I still do. … You know, I’m just doing my job, and I love my job so much, so so much that I think it’s kind of crazy to get a nice reward for just doing your job. I think it’s cool that the district does this kind of stuff – not every district does it, recognizes people in this way – and it makes me want to keep being a better teacher all the time, because I want to live up to this standard now. The bar is set; I can’t peak here. I have to keep going, I have to keep trying to be the person who won that award, you know? I don’t see how you can walk into this building and not enjoy it. We have good kids, we’ve got a great facility, we’re so lucky. This is the funnest job in the world; it truly is.”
3. What’s the tea party you host every year about?
“Anything to make it fun, you know? There’s a chapter in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ where there’s a tea party and there’s gossip, and so I thought: Why not make a nice day of it? I give the kids things to gossip about so they’re still talking about the book. They get to eat snacks, some of them dress up. Because I’ve been doing the same curriculum forever, I’ve been lucky enough to find different ways to make it interesting in each unit, something to look forward to for them and for me. One year – this was years ago, and this is where the whole dressing up thing started – one class asked: Can we bring a hat? Can we bring an umbrella? I said sure, and then I think that was the most memorable, because I couldn’t believe that they all kind of stuck together and did it. It’s super easy in high school to think you’re too cool to do something fun, but the way they were, like: We’re doing this! [They] owned it, and then for years after, it just stuck.”
4. Outside of school, what are some hobbies you like to do?
“I love reading, I do. I think I let a lot of kids down sometimes, but kids come in and ask: ‘Have you read this?’ or ‘Do you know this author?’ – and I’m like, no, but I’m writing it down, and that way I can come back and say: ‘Oh my gosh, you were right! This is good.’ Not only do I get to have fun, I get to read a new book, but then that kid knows I listen to them and I read the same book. We have something else in common.”
5. What’s a book or movie you think should be taught in school?
“Maybe I’ll say Agatha Christie books, but then again she’s an older author and we have an abundance of old authors, but she wrote a ton of mysteries. She’s like the OG mystery female writer, doing it back in the day when no one else was. She has a ton of great mysteries that they’re making into movies now, so it will be kinda of on the kids’ radar. So maybe that or Tiffany Jackson. Tiffany Jackson is a fantastic author. I don’t think we would be allowed to read her stuff in school, but I wish we could. It’s murder mystery stuff – I guess I have a genre – but she took what’s called the ‘Weight of Blood’ and she took the classic Stephen King story ‘Carrie’ – you know, when she went to prom? [Jackson] took that story but made it having to do with racism and feeding in to all of that, but with the ‘Carrie’ backdrop, and it’s just so smart and so beautifully written. I bought three more of her books because of that. She’s a genius; she’s such a good writer.”
