Teacher surprised with school’s Educator of the Year honor at assembly

A teacher was surprised with an "Educator of the Year" recognition during a school assembly held the day before spring break, colleagues and students said.

The recognition occurred suddenly during the assembly, the teacher recounted: "It was the day before spring break, and our principal called in assembly in the morning. And, you know, I had a bunch of stuff planned that day trying to get stuff done before spring break, and I was like, oh, man. This assembly is gonna cut into my time. And then I went down and I was saying hi to my kids, and all of a sudden I I start hearing him talk about educator of the year. I was like, that's weird." The teacher said family members — "my wife, my parents, my grandma" — then emerged with flowers and students produced streamers and confetti.

Supporters in the assembly described the awardee's classroom approach. A colleague said the teacher "is a phenomenal teacher" who is "inclusive, deliberative, and quite intentional" and who "differentiates instruction for all of his students." The colleague added that the teacher seeks immediate feedback after observations: "As soon as we do an observation in his class, he comes right to me and say, how did it go? What can I improve? What did I do good?" A student commented, "He's always super nice. He always does fun things for us. And every time that someone doesn't understand something, then they can just come up and ask him, and he will, like, explain it. So no 1 is, like, confused about the topic."

The teacher described building rapport by learning students' interests and talking with them about those interests, citing the example of students who were "obsessed" with the movie Wicked: "When Wicked the movie came out, I had a bunch of kids obsessed with that movie. So I went and I saw the movie and I came back and I like got to talk to a bunch of them about it and we made a connection that way." The teacher added that making those personal connections helps students feel comfortable in the classroom.

Remarks in the assembly emphasized the teacher's planning and classroom management: "He is a very intentional planner, a very, very open minded person, and very, very keen on the interest of his students," a colleague said, noting attention to seating charts and assignment design as part of that planning.

No formal motion, vote, or district action was recorded during the remarks; the transcript reflects a recognition and celebration during the assembly and descriptive comments by colleagues and students. The date, school name, and district were not specified in the transcript.