Wednesday, February 6, 2002
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Wednesday, February 6, 2002 |
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Three teachers are finalists for top honors
The prize patrol surprised three unsuspecting teachers with some big news. Although the teachers were not the million dollar winners of the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, they all felt like a million when they learned they had been selected as finalists for 2001-2002 Fayette County Teacher of the Year. The prize patrol, made up of Fayette County school board members, along with Superintendent John DeCotis and staff development coordinator Terri Gaspierik, paid an unannounced visit Jan. 30 to the classrooms of Joy Martin, Fayette Middle School; Bill Melton, Whitewater Middle School, and Lucy Wicker, Peeples Elementary School, to deliver the good news along with balloons and flowers. Each year, Fayette schools each select a teacher as their individual school's teacher of the year. Those winners are invited to submit an application to vie for one of the three finalist positions from which one teacher will be named Fayette County Teacher of the Year. "This is a true celebration of the profession of teaching. Being selected by their peers is one of the highest honors teachers in our district receive because they are being recognized as masters of their craft and as professionals," said Gaspierik. On the teacher of the year application, educators must answer questions regarding their teaching practices, philosophies and goals. The applications are reviewed by a panel of four judges made up of community members and the previous year's Teacher of the Year. Teachers submitting the applications receiving the top three total scores become the finalists for one of education's highest honors. While being selected as a finalist is no easy feat, the process to determine who will become teacher of the year is even tougher. Each finalist is observed in his or her classroom by the four judges. Judges carefully watch how the teachers interact with their students and note ways in which they foster a positive and challenging learning environment. After the observation, the judges interview each finalist. During the interview process, the teachers can talk about their teaching philosophies, profession and future goals and aspirations. Based on the information gathered from the observations and interviews, judges individually score each finalist. The educator with the highest total score becomes the Teacher of the Year. The winner of this year's honor will find out April 16 during a special banquet and ceremony to honor all 23 teachers of the year from each of the county's schools. The banquet will be at Flat Creek Baptist Church at 7 p.m.
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