Kathleen Jacob
2003 Vermont Teacher of the Year
Ms. Jacob has been teaching Mathematics to students in grades seven and eight for twenty-seven years. She teaches at Mill River Union School in Clarendon, Vermont.

What are your beliefs about teaching?
"Teaching is a partnership. Each partner in the education process - students, teachers, parents and the community - shares equally in the task before him. It is my belief that students and teachers develop a working relationship based on mutual respect and a sharing in the determination to reach a common goal. This bond, formed early in the year, drives the learning process through the rest of the year."

How are your beliefs incorporated in your teaching style?
“I develop a partnership with each of my students built on mutual respect. Students demonstrate to each other and to me the respect they feel. The atmosphere is relaxed but with purpose. We each share in the partnership of learning.”

What is your greatest teaching accomplishment?
"A defining moment of my teaching career was having a former student tell me that I gave him faith in himself to do whatever he chose to do.

What's the most critical issue facing educators?
"Major public education issues today focus less on the school and the classroom and reflect more on society as a whole. Education has moved out of the hallowed halls and into the public arena. The public martyrdom of teaching and the teaching profession seems to be the latest trend. The general perception is that schools are failing."

What do you think can be done to resolve this issue?
"Changing the public’s perception of education is a challenging task. Teachers must maintain a positive attitude and serve as role models for valuing education. We must form partnerships with our communities, making education a responsibility belonging to the community as a whole, thereby giving everyone a stake in the outcome."

One thought to inspire teachers to excel
"Your influence on your students is immeasurable. Your attitudes, your behaviors and how you conduct yourself are as much a part of the teaching you do as the subject you teach. You are the role model with tremendous responsibility."

One lesson every student should learn
"Believe in yourself. Know that you can accomplish the goals that you set for yourself."

Favorite tool
"Unifix cubes and the overhead projector"

Favorite Web site
www.thinkwave.com - Thinkwave