Dallas Day Three

I began the day having breakfast with my friends from the Teacher Leaders Network! Here I am with Barnett Berry and Alice Williams of the Center for Teaching Quality and Nancy Flanagan, former Michigan Teacher of the Year.

It was another eventful day in Teacher of the Year land! We began the day with a slide show that included pictures of each State Teacher of the Year and each State Coordinator. When our pictures came up on the screen, we had to introduce ourselves and tell what we teach. Of course, teachers always go a little farther. For example, the Arizona and Pennsylvania Teachers of the Year, Sarah (we call her Sarizona) and Rebecca, inserted some comments regarding the little football game coming up on Sunday. So when I introduced myself, I just had to mention that I proudly represent North Carolina, the home of the Carolina Panthers who were spanked by Sarizona's team on January 10th. It was all in good fun, and each teacher tried to outdo the other by saying that his/her coordinator was the best. I introduced the North Carolina Coordinator, Danny Holloman, by saying, "My coordinator can beat up your coordinator." So it's on!


Today I sat with my buddies Cindy Couchman (Kansas) and Chantelle Herchenhahn (Mississippi)

After introductions, we were entertained with an overview of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) who runs the National Teacher of the Year program. We were given a history of the TOY program - the first National Teacher of the Year was named in 1952 - Geraldine Jones from Santa Barbara had only taught school for two years when she was given this national distinction. Next Lois Rodgers from CCSSO presented "Key Issues for Tomorrow's Schools" and we discussed "What We Would Tell Arne Duncan" - the newly named Secretary of Education.

We were in for a treat next when Betsy Rogers, National Teacher of the Year in 2003, spoke with her principal Margie Curry about their school - Brighton School in Alabama. Brighton, a low performing school for years, made a real turnaround after Dr. Rogers became a curriculum specialist there. It was inspiring to hear the stories of the kids at Brighton. One especially compelling story was about a kindergarten class that was overrun with snakes! We all squirmed at that story...


Ms. Curry is talking about her school as Betsy Rogers watches.

Another National Teacher of the Year (2007), Andrea Peterson, told her moving story. She was nine months pregnant when she was named National TOY! She told us, after reading a quote from The Phantom Tollbooth, that we've been "practicing for this all of our lives" - we have been practicing for this leadership role. Both of these former NTOYs were inspirational!

A discussion of education policy is always an eye opener, and Amy Starzynski from the Education Counsel in Washington, D.C. talked to us about the transition between Presidents and about the issues the folks in D.C. are dealing with related to education. After a brisk question and answer session, Jon Quam, our NTOY Director, explained what is coming up in the next year. Not only will we travel to Washington in April to be recognized by President Obama, we'll also travel to Alabama to go to Space Camp and we'll meet in New Jersey to work with the Education Testing Service. This will be our "Next Steps" Conference...we'll discuss what to do after our Teacher of the Year role is over as we continue to lead in our schools.

The question and answer session as we discuss education policy.

Next we broke into groups and went to "Home Rooms" - each National Teacher of the Year facilitated a group, and my group was led by none other than Mike Geisen, the current National Teacher of the Year. We introduced ourselves and talked about our passions in teaching. It was great to be able to share in smaller groups and to get to know each other better.

In the Home Room, Edney Freeman from the Virgin Islands talks while Deb Wickerman from Ohio listens.

Also, in the Home Room, we listen to National Teacher of the Year (2008) Michael Geisen speak about his passions in education.

Our dinner tonight was very special. It was held at the Texas Women's Museum, and when we walked in, we saw huge screens that displayed each of our names one at a time. After a few moments of networking with each other, we sat to listen to a special presentation from the sponsor of the dinner - the University of Phoenix. It wasn't long before we were given some amazing news - as our state's Teacher of the Year we will be able to choose one high school senior to receive a full scholarship to the University. I literally sat there and cried! I have so many former students who need this type of opportunity - now to choose one...

After a lovely dinner and a tour of the museum, we boarded the buses to return to the beautiful Hilton Lincoln Centre. Tomorrow will be another very packed day!