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Three Renton teachers honored; each will use $250 grant for classroom supports
Summary
Renton School District recognized Derek Holt, Jonathan Perry and William Herd for classroom work; each described challenges in their roles and how they will spend a $250 classroom grant on audio equipment, non-fiction books and adaptive tools, respectively.
Derek Holt, a math teacher at Limberg High School and leader in the district’s Teacher Academy, said he plans to use a $250 classroom grant to add audio equipment that will help differentiate instruction for students.
Holt told the audience he currently teaches three sections of freshman algebra and helps run the “grow our own” Teacher Academy led by Carla Smith. He said he stepped back from coaching to create study halls and academic advising for students whose grades hovered around the 2.0 eligibility threshold so they could continue participating in after-school activities. “I love to see the value of math every day,” Holt said. “I’m also really really grateful to be leading the next generation of young Educators into our community.”
The district’s fourth-grade teacher at Brinmar Elementary, Jonathan Perry, said social-emotional learning is the most rewarding part of his work, and he identified social media and its effects on children as his biggest classroom challenge. Perry said he will use his $250 grant to buy non-fiction books tied to science units and reading units on Indigenous peoples and weather to better engage students. “Kids get really engaged in that and they want to know more,” Perry said.
Annie Parker, an administrator who introduced Perry, said his relationship-building and intentional focus on social-emotional skills made him an easy choice for recognition and noted his years of work on the school’s data team.
William Herd, the instructional learning community special education teacher at Hilltop Heritage Elementary, said he works with kindergarten through second-grade students who have intensive academic and functional needs. Herd said he currently has 13 students in his class — four kindergarteners, two first-graders and seven second-graders — and plans to use the $250 for adaptive tools such as pencil grips and reading supports so those students can better access general education instruction. “Really want to do appreciate Rent and Rotary for acknowledging me for this award,” Herd said.
The moderator thanked the honorees, mentioned the value of men in elementary classrooms and closed the recognition segment. The event did not include formal actions or votes; it was a recognition and brief Q&A about classroom needs and grant usage.
