Kathy Heavers
Colorado Teacher of the Year
Montrose High School, Montrose, CO
Grades 10-12, Senior Seminar, MHS Press, Freshman/Sophomore Seminar

My teaching philosophy
I believe teaching should be individualized; students learn best when they feel recognized as individuals. In terms of curriculum, I believe in hands-on, real world, standards-based learning where students are actively involved and see the relevancy. As an educator I strive to help students master the skills they need to be successful, relate what they are learning to real life, and put their learning into practice. As an integral part of this process, I hope to show the students that learning is rewarding.

My philosophy in action
In Freshman/Sophomore Seminar students assess their abilities and work on improving reading speed, reading comprehension, and study skills dealing with budgeting their time, note-taking and test-taking, all skills that they can use the very next day and throughout the year. They learn vocabulary that improves their reading comprehension, their speaking and their writing. In Senior Seminar, students assess their interests and abilities; match them with careers, fields of study or majors and then post-secondary schools. Students put together a portfolio containing personal and goals essays, educational and job resumes, all of which they have written in class, and letters of recommendations and then they send them to schools and scholarships of their choice. In MHS Press, students use their computer expertise and talents in graphic design to fill job orders from teachers, schools and non-profits in the community. All are learning for real world applications.

My greatest teaching accomplishment
It would be easy to say my greatest accomplishment would be the textbooks I have co-authored over the years, 200,000+ copies sold and in the hands of students all over the United States. That is certainly an accomplishment, but not my greatest. It would be easy to cite the many in-services and graduate classes I’ve taught because those have reached hundreds of teachers who have reached thousands of students. That is certainly a contribution, but not my greatest. Local teacher of the year, the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education and other awards were great accomplishments, but not my greatest. In fact, I rarely mention those. The greatest accomplishments come in the classroom when you begin working one on one with the students. A door opened, a concept grasped, a belligerent student turned around, a better than expected ACT score, a college acceptance letter received, a scholarship won, an end of the semester evaluation with a big “thank you”, a student who stopped by to say I made a difference, an e-mail from an economically-deprived Hispanic girl who just completed her first year in college and wanted to say thanks, an end of semester progress score showing two years gain in reading comprehension, a student who says his test scores have improved dramatically since he started using the test-taking tips he learned in class………those are the greatest accomplishments. Those are the things that make it all worthwhile. Those are the reasons I keep coming back… energized, enthusiastic and ready to begin again.

The most critical issues facing educators today
I believe working to earn public confidence in our schools is the most critical issue facing educators today. With local headlines that proclaim test score results and with talk of vouchers and tuition credits, we must inspire public confidence by convincing the general population that public education is good. We must prove that it is a good investment of their local tax dollars, and it is a good place to send their children and grandchildren. We must prove that students will be engaged, challenged and enriched.

Causes: Newspapers annually cover the results of the testing, and readers are led to a comparison of schools in terms of level of performance for that year. Labels are then attached in many readers’ minds: good teachers, poor teachers, mediocre teachers; good school, poor school, mediocre school; good district, poor district, mediocre district; achievers, non-achievers. Obviously these reports play a big part in the perceptions citizens have about how well our schools are serving children.

Effects: What are the effects of the lack of public confidence in our schools? One is found in the migration of students from public to private schools. Another is manifested in the employment of for-profit companies, like Edison, to operate schools. Most recently the effect of lack of public confidence is found in the total abandonment of structured education and the movement toward home-schooling. An August 4, 2004 newspaper article by the Associated Press carried the headline, “Home schooling rises as parents seek peace of mind.” The article began, “Almost 1.1 million students were home schooled last year…The estimated figure has grown 29 percent since 1999,” according to the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Education Department. In the same article, Ian Slatter, spokesman for the National Center for Home Education, disputed those numbers saying two million is more accurate. “There’s potential for massive growth,” he said. “Home schooling is just getting started.”

The issue now becomes how can we set high standards and, at the same time, improve student achievement and thus build public confidence and keep students in our public schools? The enormity of this issue has made educators’ jobs much more stressful. But to say that is to ignore the basic soul of a good educator, one who acknowledges the challenges and responds by looking for solutions.

Ways to resolve this issue
So the issue then becomes, how can we respond? How can we do a better job, not just for the betterment of test scores or Adequate Yearly Progress ratings, but, more importantly, for the betterment of students, and build public confidence at the same time? I believe our resolution should include the following:

Improve student mastery of basic skills in the early grades. When this occurs, students are equipped to handle increasingly difficult material as they progress through the remaining grades. Too often I have students in Freshman/Sophomore Seminar reading at the 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th grade levels. How can they succeed in high school classes with a textbook written on the 9th or 10th grade level? We must work hard in the elementary schools to eliminate low basic skill levels.
Intervene Early. This means early intervention with students who are struggling, smaller class sizes K-3, and one-on-one work with non-proficient students. Screening of pre-school age children becomes important. Early identification, a plan for remediation, and implementation of the plan become essential. The district must continue to budget for smaller class sizes K-3 and additional educators (English as a Second Language teachers and designated literacy teachers) to work with those who need the help. Teachers will solicit volunteers from the community to do one-on-one time with struggling students and make accommodations for such volunteers. (My Senior Seminar students currently volunteer their time reading with struggling K-3 students and find the one-on-one experience mutually beneficial.)

Provide on-going remediation opportunities for students who need them. A quick fix is often not the answer. Some students need more time and attention to improve, as evidenced by test results in my Freshman/Sophomore Seminar class. Families are transient. Students move away and new students come. These new students may not have had the intervention/remediation described above. Students are faced with trials in their lives. Parents get divorced. Mom and dad now live in different towns and state or, if they remain in the same town, students are shuffled back and forth. School gets lost in the mix. Students get behind. They miss important concepts. To succeed, they need to learn those concepts. Remediation needs to be available K-12.

Find additional ways to reach and teach the “federally designated subgroups”. Statistics tell us the minority population continues to grow. As a result, we will continue to be faced with greater challenges in our goal to educate all. We must persevere in finding additional ways to reach and teach the “federally designated subgroups” so that they feel a part of the mainstream in our schools and perform as well. Attending school is especially important for these students.

Offer enrichment and challenges to those who are proficient and above. Yes, we must design curriculum that remediate; yes, we must design curriculum that develops; but we must also design curriculum that enriches. Our high school has partnered with the Denver Museum of Natural Science, some 300 miles away, to set up a program called All Sky. Through a grant, we were given a powerful telescope and tracking devises/computers so that students are able to monitor the activity in the heavens 24 hours a day. Our students have been able to track, identify and report two important meteor crashes in our area this year for the statewide All Sky project. That's an example of the kind of enrichment students need.

We must work to convince all parents and students that education is important, that high standards are important, that attending school every day is important, and that acquiring the skills necessary to be successful is important. Then we must follow through with curriculum that meets those high standards and accomplishes our goals. The test scores will come and so will public confidence.

One thought to inspire teachers to succeed
Every day you have the opportunity to make a difference. Those are not just words. You have the opportunity to see that happen almost on a daily basis. Therein lay the rewards of being a teacher.
Success is found in your classroom, first of all, because you have a substantial knowledge of the subject matter, a passion for what you are doing in the classroom and a real desire to help each student. If you let each student know he is important, if you outline the standards for performance and behavior, model the effort you expect from each student and give life to the subject matter, students will respond accordingly. You will see the results and so will each of the students, and you will know there is no better use of your talents, time and energy than reaching out to teach a child because YOU DID make a difference.

One lesson every student should learn
The potential for success is in the hands of each student. In school each student matters. Each student has talents and abilities. Each student is responsible for using those talents and abilities to their maximum potential, no matter the subject. And if that happens, the student will experience success.

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