Meet the Master Teacher
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 12:47 p.m., November 13, 2007
Updated 12:47 p.m., November 13, 2007
Teachers at Emporia High School were called to meet in the library at 7:30 this morning for a short meeting to announce Glenda Priest as the 2008 Emporia Master Teacher of the Year. Priest was chosen for the annual honor by members of the Emporia National Education Association.
She will represent Emporia for the Kansas Master Teacher Award to be presented early next year. A committee will choose seven award recipients in February, according to information from the Emporia school district.
The award had been kept a secret except for a few staff members who needed to know in order to plan for the announcement.
Priest has 28 years of teaching experience in five different states, according to Marilyn McComber, winner of last year’s award.
“This educator is an administrator’s dream,” McComber said. “She doesn’t make waves, is politically correct and is dedicated to the needs of her students.”
As McComber spoke, about a dozen people filed into the library from an anteroom moments before Priest’s name was announced as winner. All were members of her family, including her parents, Glendon and Eula Barrett of Cottonwood Falls.
“I love what I do and I think you know that,” Priest told the audience.
Priest said that her family had come from Illinois and Oklahoma to attend her daughter’s senior recital last night at Kansas State University, which enabled them to surprise her this morning.
“My parents have barely been to bed,” she said.
Accepting hugs and handshakes after the brief ceremony, Priest said that she had been aware of the nomination.
“We know when we’re nominated, and that happened about a month ago,” Priest said, “but there are so many teachers in this district who are amazing, and the math department that I teach in is awesome.”
Priest has taught high school math in Emporia since 1999. She also has taught Algebra I in a two-year curriculum model for the past seven years.
“Many of her students begin the class below grade level, and many are English Language Learners,” according to information from Nancy Horst, community relations director for the school district.
Priest said her philosophy is that “all students should have the opportunity to reach their full potential in a supportive and nurturing environment. I must be sure to give the students an opportunity to read, write and participate in discussions in order to improve their language skills,” Horst quoted Priest as saying .
“I have utilized cooperative learning groups to stimulate dialogue and to help students learn to reason mathematically,” she said. “I have tried to reduce my students’ math anxiety by encouraging a variety of problem-solving strategies, differentiating instruction and focusing on student causes.”
Priest received a bachelor’s degree from Emporia State University, a master’s degree from Southern Illinois University, and an English as a Second Language endorsement from Kansas State University. Before joining the EHS faculty, she taught high school in Oklahoma. She also has taught at the middle school level as well as at the community college and university levels.
At Emporia High School, she has been the math co-chairperson for the North Central Accreditation self-study and has served on the District Instructional Council. She also is a member of the Adult Basic Education Board and is active in church and community service projects.
Emporia State University established the Kansas Master Teacher awards in 1953. The awards are presented annually to teachers who have served the profession long and well and who also typify the good qualities of earnest and conscientious teachers, Horst stated.
Candidates for the awards are typically nominated by local teacher associations and school faculties, Horst said.
lynnie_p (anonymous) says...
yahoooooooooooooooooooooooo Mrs. Priest is the best!!!
November 14, 2007 at 12:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )