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| 6/7/2010 10:52:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Susan Allen of China Elementary was a 2010 recipient of a Reaud Excellence in Education award |
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Teaching is a noble profession
Reaud Excellence in Education awards honor classroom heroes
James Shannon
Mid & South County Editor
The word "education" does not appear in the U.S. Constitution, but the education ideal was embraced by many of the Founding Fathers. Although Benjamin Franklin had only slight formal education, he became a printer, author, diplomat, philosopher and scientist - and a strong advocate of education as a necessary ingredient for the new republic.
The nearly 300 years since Franklin founded the first public library in America have seen education in this country grow beyond anything gentle Ben could have imagined, but one thing has not changed - the central role of the teacher.
In some modern societies, teachers are revered, well compensated and hold a position of stature and respect in the community. In America, not so much.
There are signs that may be changing, however, as the demands of an increasingly competitive global economy underscore the need for an educational system that works better for both students and society - and it all begins with teachers.
There is a school of thought that says if you reward teachers handsomely with increased pay and benefits, you can attract more quality minds to the profession - people who would otherwise be lost to private sector jobs that pay a lot more. While there is an element of truth to that proposition, the fact is there are legions of high quality teachers already on the job in classrooms across the nation.
The occasion of the annual Reaud Excellence in Education awards from the Beaumont Foundation provided an opportunity to talk with some of the honored educators about the work they do with our children.
Art or science?
When determining what makes a good teacher, it is important to recognize what they are being asked to do. Is teaching an art, where the individual creative impulse of the instructor is essential in engaging young minds, or is it science with a proscribed curriculum that must be presented with order and accuracy?
"Teaching is an art," said Faye Parish, secondary math coordinator at Bridge City High School. "You must love the students and have a talent for instructing them to be a good teacher. Just knowing your content matter or attending instruction technique classes does not make a good teacher. Teaching is an avocation, not just a vocation. A good teacher has an instinctive feel for when a student is 'getting it' or not. The good teacher knows when to switch gears and try another approach. I am a teacher who happens to teach math, not a math teacher."
Candice Zummo Haggard, an instructional specialist at Central Middle School in Nederland, has a slightly different view.
"Teaching is definitely a combination of art and science," she said. "You have to know your subject matter thoroughly if you want the kids to respect you. However, some of the smartest people I know make some of the worst teachers. We must never confuse knowledge with wisdom. You have to love teaching to be effective. The days of handing out worksheets are gone. Kids can tell in an instant if you're there for a paycheck or because you really want to be there to teach them."
Maryann DeMayo, an English teacher at Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School in Beaumont, echoes that view and provides additional details.
"Teaching is a combination of art and science," said DeMayo. "Science identifies how to reach students. For example, some students are auditory, visual or kinesthetic learners; identifying their learning style facilitates the learning process. The implementation of the technique or the manner in which these techniques are incorporated into the curriculum are associated with art. Beyond the curriculum, creating a nurturing esteem-building environment supersedes the mechanics and science of teaching."
Ask any teacher and they will tell you that so many of the problems in the society at large do not stop at the schoolhouse door. But few claim this as an excuse, seeing it as just another challenge.
"You must show your students that you care about them and what they are learning," said Parish. "You must be passionate about what you teach. After all, if school and your content matter is not fun and exciting to you, how can it be important to your students? As a secondary teacher, I attend as many extracurricular activities as I can to show my support of the students. I work with my counselors to find out what my students' interests are and try to work those into my lessons. I talk to my classes about the future and try to show them that education will make their lives better."
Haggard embraces the power of positive thinking to a degree that might have made Norman Vincent Peale blush. "One of my favorite phrases is 'Kids don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.' You cannot be an effective teacher until the kids believe in their hearts that they are important to you," Haggard said.
In many cases, it is not some technique that reaches a student but simple human empathy.
"I have also shared with my kids that I, too, have some learning challenges that made school so hard for me," recalled Haggard. "Furthermore, when I was their age, I was in a devastating car accident that left me with shattered legs, jaws, scars and liver damage. By sharing my story with the kids, they can see that no matter what life has given them, they can still be successful."
Susan Allen, a technology and math specialist at China Elementary, shares these beliefs but is upfront about the current state of affairs.
"I feel the biggest issue facing educators today is the challenge of dealing with the number of students with serious problems and the varied proficiency levels of students in a self contained classroom," said Allen. "We are seeing more students with learning disabilities, emotional issues, autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADD, ADHD and other physical and mental problems that get in the way of their learning. Many children, through no fault of their own, enter school with backgrounds that preclude them from benefiting fully from what the schools have to offer. These students are now in the mainstream classroom, and it is very challenging for teachers to meet the needs of all of her students."
These heart-felt sentiments are from the award-winners, teachers singled out by their students and peers as the best of the best. While gratified by the attention and the cash award, each will tell you of the dedication and skill of so many of the teachers they work alongside every day.
Excellence in Education
The Beaumont Foundation, which bestows the annual Reaud Excellence in Education awards, grew out of the settlement of an historic $2.1 billion nationwide class action case in 1999 involving Toshiba computers. Three Beaumont lawyers - Wayne A. Reaud, Gilbert I. "Buddy" Low and Hubert Oxford - conceived of an ingenious approach to use the settlement for public good. Plaintiffs' lead attorney Reaud insisted the unclaimed portion of the guaranteed settlement fund be used to form a charitable foundation to finance a five-year program designed to distribute computer technology among underprivileged Americans.
U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield agreed. "Children growing up in homes without computers or attending schools without computers and computer training are substantially disadvantaged with respect to education and future employment," the judge opined. "This imbalance, referred to as the 'digital divide,' has received nationwide attention and study. The goal of eradicating it is an important public priority."
During the foundation's technology phase, more than $63 million was donated for computer technology, including wireless, Internet-enabled laptop computers to thousands of schools, hospitals, individuals, community organizations and other deserving institutions and programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The attorneys later appealed to the federal court to use the remaining portion of the funds for the public good. In 2006, an agreement was reached to extend the foundation's lifespan indefinitely and to broaden its operation to include all charitable purposes rather than exclusively technology programs. Nearly $40 million in grants have been awarded to a broad range of charitable, religious and educational organizations across the United States since that agreement was reached.
One important function is the annual program that began in 2009 with the Reaud Excellence in Education Awards in Southeast Texas. Teachers, nominated by their peers and students, who are selected for the award are honored at a gala banquet where each receives a check for $10,000,
Beginning in 2010, the Reaud Excellence in Education awards were expanded to include the Newton Excellence in Education Awards for teachers from schools in Lubbock County; the "Buddy" Low Excellence in Education Awards for teachers from schools throughout East Texas; and the Donley Excellence in Education Awards for teachers from schools in Lea County, N.M.
The motivation for establishing this awards program is simple, even though its impact is already proving to be profound.
"Education is the key to a better future and great teachers are the key to education. Our winners are outstanding representatives of excellence in education," said Reaud, chairman of the Beaumont Foundation.
It's about the teacher
American taxpayers spend a collective fortune on education - building new schools and athletic complexes, designing curricula to be taught in classrooms whether modest or lavish, and designing tests that may or may not measure the effectiveness of that teaching. But in the end, it comes down to the teacher.
Schools blessed with good teachers are, almost without fail, good schools. This is how these men and women make their living, but their presence in the classroom is so much more than that. Call it a labor of love.
"One of the factors I feel sustains a teacher's level of commitment is the pure joy of witnessing a child beam with pride over an accomplishment and the rewarding feeling that you, as a teacher, have knowing you have accommodated this child in making him or her feel successful," said Allen.
Often it was the inspiration of a special teacher during their own school years that causes them to embrace this noble profession.
"I was blessed with wonderful, inventive teachers," said Parish. "My fourth grade math teacher made multiplication and division fun with games long before games in the classroom were heard of. The reason that I am a math teacher is because of my high school geometry teacher, Mr. Roy Ryan; he made knowledge fun. He told really corny jokes but I saw that he loved math and wanted us to love it also. The teachers I remember the most cared about us and about their subject matter. That is what I want students to remember about me. I want them to understand math but I want them to remember that someone cared about them."
Haggard takes lessons from her own schooling into the classroom every day.
"The most important quality that my teachers had that I admired more than anything else was their sincere concern for my success. These wonderful teachers were there to help me in class as well as after school. They showed me that they really and truly cared for me," she remembered. "The other quality that I admired so much was their ability to make it fun. I looked forward to going to their class to learn something new. I sooo want my students to enjoy my class, too. We need a lot more laughter in school today. This is not to say that I let my kids goof off a lot in my class. Actually I am quite a strict disciplinarian. But there is always a way to incorporate a little fun into almost every lesson!"
The reactions of these educators to winning a Reaud Excellence in Education Award basically ranges from joy to ecstasy. Haggard said the day she received the FedEx letter announcing the win "was the happiest day of my 37 years of teaching."
Parish was a little more prosaic about winning.
"It is so nice of Wayne Reaud to recognize teachers in this way. Teachers certainly don't enter education for the money but it is nice to be recognized with money," she said, then added, "I am getting new flooring with my award."
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