Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for April 26, 2006 TEACHER OF THE YEAR

From CNN.com...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- She may have just 15 students in her Maryland kindergarten class, but the students Kimberly Oliver teaches represent nearly every continent on the globe.

She has Vietnamese, Latino, African, African-American and Haitian students. All but one speak a language other than English. Their school, Broad Acres Elementary in Silver Spring, Maryland, is largely low-income, with 90 percent of students receiving free or reduced meals, and it was at risk of state takeover when Oliver arrived six years ago.

Yet despite the apparent barriers, Oliver has helped boost her students' scores, involved their parents in their education and gotten youngsters engaged in their school.

"My students are full of energy and they are excited about learning and coming to school," she said. "They really have great potential."

For those accomplishments, Oliver, 29, was named Teacher of the Year on Tuesday by The Council of Chief State School Officers.

She was the 56th teacher to win the annual award, selected from the state teachers of the year. After meeting President Bush on Wednesday, she will serve as a teacher advocate for the coming year.

Oliver credits her interest in teaching to a daycare teacher in her hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, who knew how to make a young child feel special. It was an ability she wanted to emulate when she chose to become a kindergarten teacher.

After college at Hampton University and graduate school at Wilmington College, she took a position at Broad Acres.

At the time, test scores at Broad Acres were dismal, with only 11.8 percent of third-graders demonstrating proficiency in reading on state tests. But after restructuring, which included smaller class sizes and full-day kindergarten, roughly 75 percent of third graders are now considered proficient.

Much of that improvement can be linked to programs Oliver and her colleagues implemented.

Oliver received grants to buy electronic tablets that the children could take home and use to work on their reading skills. Teachers now stay late on Wednesdays to coordinate their curricula. Four nights each year, parents are invited to school to eat a meal and spend time reading with their children.

For Oliver, getting parents involved is critical. She meets with parents at the beginning of each year to discuss what they want to see their children learn and what she thinks is important for the year. Making that connection is important, especially with those who come from cultures where parents often aren't involved in schools.

"Some cultures believe that school is the job of the educators," she said. "I believe it is about building a relationship with those parents."

Oliver becomes most animated when she talks about her class. Her calm and clear voice is the sign of a person experienced at speaking to energetic five- and six-year-olds.

"They just ring with energy and creativity," she said. "I am a nurturer. I want to just work with young children, shape and influence them and build strong people."

Earlier story from the Washington Post...

Top Instructor Finalist From Silver Spring Is State's First Since 1992

By Lori Aratani
Washington Post Staff Writer

To her peers, Kimberly Oliver is Montgomery County's 2005 Teacher of the Year. She's also Maryland's 2005 Teacher of the Year. And it's just possible that come tomorrow, she could be the 2006 National Teacher of the Year.

But to the mostly 5-year-old students in her class at Broad Acres Elementary School, she is just Ms. Oliver, kindergarten teacher, occasional nurse, frequent comforter, sometimes mother.

They treat her as such. They demand her attention. They share stories of what they did over the weekend -- some that seemingly take that long to recount. And sometimes they don't listen when she tells them to.

But there are a lot of big people who do want to listen to Oliver, 29. They want to learn about her teaching philosophy. They want to know her secrets. They want to know how they can be more like her.

As one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year award to be announced by President Bush in a Rose Garden ceremony, it's possible that even more people will want information about the educator, who graduated from Hampton University and received her master's degree in elementary education from Wilmington College in Delaware.

Last month, she spent three days interviewing with 14 judges responsible for making the final selection. They asked her about herself, her students and why she likes her job.

"The best part is just getting to work with children -- helping them develop academically and socially," she said.

Oliver began teaching in 2000 at the Silver Spring campus, which she picked because it served a population of students -- mostly poor and minority -- that she felt passionate about reaching. She is certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, which means she has taken extra steps to prove she has mastered her profession, and she has mentored 10 of her colleagues. In a sense, she's as much a teacher's teacher as she is children's teacher.

So it seems more than a bit ironic that if she becomes National Teacher of the Year, she'll spend an entire year not teaching.

"It's an honor that comes with the responsibility of having to represent all of America's teachers at well over 150 events throughout the year," program spokesman Jon Quam explained. "It's a full-time position. Instead of being in her classroom, the national teacher would have the world as her classroom."

As the state's teacher of the year, she has gotten a small sampling of what life could be like should she win the national award: visits to various schools, conferences, receptions and dinners.

Oliver's competition includes a fifth-grade teacher from Florida, a community service teacher from Kansas and a language arts teacher at an alternative high school in Washington state. If she should win, she would be the second Washington area educator in a row to capture the honor. Last year's winner, Jason Kamras, is a math teacher at John Philip Sousa Middle School in the District.

Win or lose, Maryland folks are excited because Oliver is the first teacher from the state to reach the national competition since 1992.

"I feel very honored," Oliver said. "Just being Montgomery County Teacher of the Year was an amazing accomplishment."

As Maryland Teacher of the Year, she won a hybrid car, $5,000 in cash and various items to make her teaching life easier. She also won a big silver bowl that sits in an undisclosed location at her home. She can keep the car, but the bowl she'll have to return so next year's winner can enjoy it.

She still spends time working with students at Broad Acres but no longer has her own class. A teacher intern has taken over most of her duties so Oliver can travel and attend to her new duties -- all part of being nominated for the national award.

"It's been a learning experience," she said.