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Teacher of the Year Blog

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Teacher of the Year Blog
8/24/2013

On August 14th, the Ironbirds held their annual Teacher Appreciation Night.  I, along with two of the other HCPS Teacher of the Year finalists, Kim Harner and Laura Childs, were recognized before the game.  (We missed you, Tara and Kristine!) Then, I got to throw out the first pitch.  Let’s just say, I haven’t received any calls offering me a contract yet!  But it was a wonderful night celebrating teachers and our community at the Ironbirds game!  It was a great win as well!

Like many teachers, I have spent the last few weeks preparing for the school year.  My school had the privilege of hosting many of the new teachers to Harford County and I participated in model classrooms with them.  My coteacher and I led the model classroom for special educators.  The level of enthusiasm and excitement I saw in these new teachers inspired me.  I asked them what they were most looking forward to this year, and every single one of them answered it in one word.  Students.  I think that answer is true whether we are first year teachers or thirty year teachers.  Every year, it is our students that we anticipate and look forward to the most.  It is our students we pour our hearts into.  When I look back over my last ten years as a teacher, it is not the lessons I taught that I remember the most.  It is my students, their names and their stories, that are forever etched on my heart. 

There are moments in teaching that cannot be experienced anywhere else in this world.  In our lifetime as teachers, we witness impossibilities becoming realities.  We have a front row seat to the greatest show on earth.  The more we pour into this job, the more we receive back.   The deeper we go, the more of our heart that we give – the more complex and the more wonderful our job becomes. 

I wish for you a year where you will fall in love with not just teaching, but each student for who they are.  I wish that you will find the time to laugh with your students and cry with them too.  I wish for you this year to be more than you ever thought it would be.  I wish for you to know that even on the hardest day, with the hardest student, you may be the brightest spot in their day.  I wish that one of your students will take the time this year to let you know the difference you are making in him – and even if they don’t, that you will see that difference and know that you are a part of that transformation.  I wish for you immunity from colds, passion that does not dwindle, and a heart that remains tender to those who we teach.  I wish you the best this year.