After a much needed office day on Monday, I attended the Education Policy Fellowship Program Graduation on Tuesday. This gala event honored the Fellows from last year's EPFP group, among them the NC Teacher of the Year for 07-08, James Bell. The event was held in the Cardinal Club, a beautiful venue with a breathtaking view of Wake County (from the 28th floor). The food was amazing, and the program was entertaining...including our education Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. as the speaker. Of course he needed no introduction, this signer of the Excellent Schools Act and former Chair of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and he delighted the audience with his ideas about education and his occasional reference to the upcoming election and the candidates. I made my way across the room to shake his hand, as did a couple of dozen others, and when I told him that I'm a teacher, he said, "Well, let me hug your neck!" And he did. This man really cares about educators, as was apparent during the many years he held office in NC.
On Wednesday, my State Car was rolling..starting the day in Johnston County at the announcement of the Milken Educator award. This honor, bestowed upon Teaching Fellow alum and fourth year teacher Bryan Holley, is a always a complete surprise to the recipient and the school. They only knew that there would be an "announcement." There were camera crews everywhere; also, congressmen, commissioners, school board members, State Superintendent June Atkinson, and other dignitaries were present. But the most fun to watch were the students of Corinth Holders Elementary School who sat patiently and waited, not even knowing why...until the announcement came that one of their teachers would be given a check for $25,000! Of course Bryan was humbled beyond words, and I do believe the tears were genuine. We were all crying!
Here the third graders at Corinth Holders sing for the audience. They were precious!
Superintendent Atkinson speaks to the students, congratulating them on their math scores.
Congressman Bob Etheridge announces the Milken recepient. The students hold up the "numbers" to show the prize, and the new Milken Educator holds the "check."I skeedaddled out of Johnston County to make it to a conference seven counties away - I was the scheduled luncheon speaker for the NC Alternative Schools Conference! I made it just in time to eat a lovely meal, speak to the group about the important jobs that Alternative Schools do by giving students a "chance," and then the best part of all happened: a teacher from my very own school system, Stan Farrington, was named the Alternative School Teacher of the Year. Of course, Stan teaches some of my former students who are now at the Alternative School so I was extremely excited for him!
Here he is, Stan Farrington, the North Carolina Alternative School Teacher of the Year.
On Thursday, I met with the Public School Forum Board as we continued our Study Group work. This group, which is working like a legislative committee, has been charged with determining ways to ensure that education is seamless in NC - from P-12 and between the university system, the community college system, and the P-12 community. My hope is that I will be as bright as the veteran educators on this committee one day in my future.
The highlight of the week was yet to come - the Teacher of the Year team held a sleepover at Trisha Muse's house on Thursday night. Trisha lives a stone's throw from the zoo - I told her that I believed I saw an elephant in her backyard! After the fun sleepover, we met at the zoo to plan our 2009 Teacher of the Year Symposium. But first...we were able to witness some fun Halloween festivities. The gorillas were given paper mache pumpkins filled with treats - carrots, apples, cheese, etc. and they were so cute digging into them. The elephants were also given real pumpkins which they stomped and lifted with their trunks. There were news crews around and cameras everywhere. We were excited to be a part of this event.
Bernard models our shirts, a gift from Paige. The front reads "North Carolina Teacher of the Year Team, and the back says, "What's Your Superpower? I Teach." Awesome.
Bernard hangs out with our team mascot, Alvin, who was adorable in his pumpkin costume (Alvin, not Bernard.)
Paige and RuthAnn relax before our big day at the zoo!
There's Sonya, RuthAnn, Janice (with husband Ron) as we take the tram to the gorillas!
This gorilla was pretty curious about the paper pumpkin. Later, he noticed another one in a tree.
Another exciting part of our visit to the zoo was the fact that we were able to tour Zoo School. The Zoo School is part of Asheboro High School and is a hands-on, authentic learning environment that enables students to focus on science studies in an outdoors environment. Every child should be able to learn this way!
Here we are, the North Carolina Teacher of the Year Team (but we were missing Renee and Freida who couldn't be with us.)
This has to be the coolest note I've ever seen left for a class!!!
This was another awesome week in TOY-land, but it's not over yet! Tomorrow I'll be walking in the Reading Rocks Walkathon in Fayetteville. Over 20,000 people participate in this event, from babies in strollers to wheelchair participants to rest home residents who "rock" in rocking chairs. The walk raises over $150,000, all for literacy materials for Cumberland County Schools. As a reading teacher, I can tell you that nothing excites me more! Now as for the walking part...well, I guess I'll make it the whole mile and a half. Hmmm...maybe the rocking chair would be a good idea for me, too!
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