Published Tuesday, April 01, 2008 2:08 PM
Updated Tuesday, April 01, 2008 2:10 PM

 

Dorchester School District Two names finalists for 2008 District Teacher of the Year

Dorchester School District Two has named five teachers as finalists in the district’s 2008 Teacher of the Year selection process.  Elizabeth Crotty, first grade teacher at Summerville Elementary School; Jade Howard, English teacher at Summerville High School; Diana Hudgens, Spanish teacher at Oakbrook Middle School; Cathy McClam, chemistry teacher at Fort Dorchester High School, and Timothy Thompson, piano teacher at Rollings Middle School of the Arts, have been selected as district Honor Teachers.

*Students in Honor Teacher Elizabeth Crotty’s first grade class at Summerville Elementary begin each day with a community meeting to discuss the instructional plans for the day.  In these daily meetings, Crotty stresses that the classroom belongs to all, and everyone needs to support one another. Crotty relocated to the area from Williamsburg, Virginia in 2002.  She first taught at Fort Dorchester Elementary before moving to Summerville Elementary two years ago. A veteran teacher of more than 17 years, Crotty has quickly become a leader among her colleagues as she shares reports on educational research, as well as ideas and lessons. In 2006 she earned her National Board Certification. Principal Dr. Gene Sires describes Elizabeth Crotty as a wonderfully positive, industrious, and highly competent educator.

*Life has come full-circle for Jade Howard.  She has taught 10th and 11th grade English for more than eight years at the school where she graduated in 1992 - Summerville High School. Howard identifies building relationships and creating classroom communities as her greatest strengths.  In addition to striving to make each day more special for her students than the day before, Howard has created her own student intervention program and piloted an English Essentials course in order to better serve students.  Howard’s leadership and influence goes beyond her classroom, as she is involved with numerous community service organizations.  This National Board Certified teacher describes teachers as the ultimate patriots.  She passionately believes that education is the great equalizer in providing an opportunity for individuals to pursue a happy life as promised in the United States Constitution.  

*In her Spanish classes at Oakbrook Middle School, teacher Diana Hudgens teaches far more that the subject matter.  Students leave her classroom knowing that success is the result of discipline, focus and hard work. Believing that enthusiasm is contagious, Hudgens approaches each class with enthusiasm and a passion for what she does. Her teaching philosophy is simple but based on seven years as a professional educator.  Hudgens believes that all students can be taught, but they cannot all be taught in the same way.  Her greatest wish for her students is that they see her as someone they would like to become.  Principal Garland Crump describes Hudgens as being a role model for her students as well as her peers.  “Diana has taken the obstacles she experienced in her younger years and developed an incredible gift of giving and never counts the cost,” said Crump.

    *Chemistry teacher Cathy McClam was tapped to lead the science department at Fort Dorchester High School when it opened its doors in August 1992.    A veteran teacher of 21 years, she cites this career benchmark of creating the science department team at the new school as one of her greatest accomplishments.  Over the last fifteen years McClam has seen her science department family grow from five to twenty teachers.  Her colleagues describe her as an outstanding teacher leader and mentor.  Recently she was given a greater mentoring role when she was named to chair the school’s Mentoring New Teachers Committee.  McClam tackles this latest assignment with a commitment to nurture those new to teaching and to do her utmost to keep them in the profession. Cathy McClam feels that she is “gifted” in the area of service to her fellow teachers.

    *With more than eighteen years as an educator, Timothy Thompson has taught in Dorchester District Two since March 1994.  His first assignment was teaching chorus and music at DuBose Middle School. In 2002 he joined the faculty of Rollings Middle School of the Arts to teach piano.  Thompson takes great pride in his professional decision to promote the art of music through teaching and the opportunity it affords him to nurture growing musicians.  Principal Elena Furnari praises Thompson for creating opportunities for students beyond the walls of his classroom.  This year he began an exchange program with his piano students at Rollings and a group of piano students from New York.  Those students visited Thompson and his classes and performed for the entire school. At the beginning of February, his eighth grade piano students traveled to New York City to perform a combined piano recital with those students at the historic Riverside Church in Manhattan.  Thompson said he has learned through his experiences of working with young people that success in performance and the building of character go hand in hand.

 A final selection committee of community members and educators will interview these teachers in April and one of the five will be named 2008 District Teacher of the Year.  Announcement of that selection will be made at the Teacher of the Year Banquet and Celebration on May 8th at Summerville High School.  This annual banquet held during Teacher Appreciation Week will honor all twenty-one 2008 Teachers of the Year.