TEACHER SPOTLIGHT
The best in the system
By Mo Jackson, Times Staff Writer
Published May 9, 2006
Two Etowah County school system teachers were named by their peers as the best teachers in the system. Patti Shields of Hokes Bluff Elementary School and Kellye McDowell of Southside High School won teacher of the year honors at the elementary and secondary levels, respectively.
Each year teachers nominate one teacher from their schools as Etowah County teacher of the year. Three finalists are chosen and, after a closed panel interview conducted by three Etowah County school administrators, an overall winner is chosen.
Shields, who has taught at Hokes Bluff for more than 23 years, said she was honored to be chosen by fellow teachers. She said she "got a little emotional" when assistant principal Billy Jenkins read some of the compliments other teachers had written about her on their nomination forms.
"It was just some wonderful comments," Shields said. "It made me feel good that they nominated me. I couldn't help it. I cried. It was very emotional." Shields said she was even more surprised when she became a finalist and eventually won the award. The other finalists for teacher of the year were LaChelle Gibbs of Glencoe Elementary and Alison Roberts of Glencoe Middle. "I was just blown away. It was a lot of teachers I respected (there). I knew them through different workshops and things like that," Shields said.
Shields, who has taught kindergarten, first and second grades and is a first-year reading coach, part of the Alabama Reading Initiative, said this year has been challenging, but rewarding. It's been a whirlwind but I've really enjoyed it," she said.
Jenkins said he knew Shields would "wow" the judges during her interview and eventually win overall. "She's a go-getter," he said. "She has a true teacher's heart. She cares about the students and she goes above and beyond anything the teachers or administration ask of her. It wasn't even close."
Hokes Bluff second-grade teacher Jennifer Troncale was the recipient of last year's elementary teacher of the year award.
"It just shows our teachers are doing something right and they love the profession," Jenkins said. "She works hard. This is her first year as a reading coach (and) it's one of the hardest jobs here. It just goes to show the teachers respect her as far as improving reading here. She's very deserving of it. It means a lot."
Shields said the faculty at Hokes Bluff has been helpful while she adjusted to her new role and excited she won the award.
"They've been so supportive this year," she said. "They were proud. We have a great faculty. I feel like I'm a liaison between the teachers and the administrators. They've both been wonderful." Shields said she was proud to work in an environment that stresses a collaborative approach to learning. "I take ownership in every one of the kids here at Hokes Bluff," she said. "You worry about how they are going to do from one year to the next year. I want them to do well."
Winning the secondary teacher of the year award was just one of many great happenings in the life of 21-year veteran teacher Kellye McDowell, she said.
McDowell, who left Southside High in January, shares her chemistry expertise as a part of Jacksonville State University's Science in Motion Program. McDowell said the choice to leave Southside was a bittersweet one. "It was very difficult to decide to take my new job," she said. "I really do enjoy working with students. My husband convinced me I would still be working with students just in seven different counties."
McDowell has many ties to Southside. She graduated from Southside High in 1976. Her son, Michael, is a 10th-grader there and her daughter, Sydney, graduated from Southside last year. "I hope I will enjoy this new job as much as I enjoy teaching," McDowell said. "I had a wonderful year and a half there."
McDowell said she enjoyed teaching science because it was enjoyable for students and incorporated many other classroom subjects.
"Where else do you get to blow something up? That's the first thing students want to know," McDowell said. "We have so many materials to bring lessons alive for the kids. One of my passions was using toys to teach. It's just easy. You already have a captive audience and if you present it right and don't lose them ... it's great."
Charles Gardner, Southside High principal, said McDowell is missed and everyone wishes her well at her new job. "She's just been a fabulous teacher," he said. "She's done an excellent job. She works well with the students. She really struggled with that decision to leave. I hated losing her. "She's an outstanding teacher and I wish her the best. We miss her to death here at Southside High School."
Gardner said he was proud to have worked with McDowell and winning teacher of the year was a testament to the quality of the teachers at Southside High. "It's a reflection on our school and the type of education you can get here at Southside High School," he said. "It's an honor."
McDowell said, "They made it clear they didn't want me to leave, but this was a pretty big opportunity. They said if this didn't work out, I could come back. They were just really great. It was hardest leaving my students."
McDowell, who won teacher of the year honors when she taught at Anniston High, said she was surprised to win this year because she rarely left her classroom. "(Winning) was a really big surprise because I had not been there that long," she said. "I'm pretty much a homebody in my room ... getting labs ready (and) grading papers. Southside is a very big school and I didn't get out of my room that much. So to be chosen, it was really surprising. It was a real honor because I love teaching."
Finalists for secondary teacher of the year were Kary Roberts of Highland School and Lisa Hicks of Sardis High School.
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