Published Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Williams is 2010 Coweta Teacher of the Year

The Newnan Times-Herald

Nancy Williams, a sixth grade teacher at Madras Middle School, has been named Coweta County School System Teacher of the Year for the second time in six years.

The school system's 2010 Teacher of the Year program, sponsored by the Coweta County Board of Education and the Newnan Pilot Club, was held Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts.

Williams teaches grades 6, 7, and 8 at Madras Middle School, following stints at Willis Road Elementary and six other schools. Williams earned her undergraduate and master's degrees at Nova University.

She was previously named Coweta Teacher of the Year in 2004.

Williams urged her fellow teachers and parents to "get angry" and become advocates for children when it comes to current state and national legislation affecting education.

"I tell my students that it's OK to feel anger. It's a natural emotion," said Williams after receiving the recognition Tuesday night.

"We all need to be angry right now," she said. "But we need to turn that anger into constructive action."

She said that there will be an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 teacher layoffs in the U.S. this year.

"Classroom size will increase dramatically," she said, which may lead to flagging student achievement. If merit pay becomes a reality, teachers may soon have fewer resources even as they're required to take on more and more responsibility.

Meanwhile, students of various abilities and backgrounds are all expected to perform on the same standardized tests by a "pompous government," Williams said.

"It's a disgrace," she said, and many students find the situation "demoralizing" or even "cruel."

"The reality is that all students are not going to go to college," she said. "Not everyone is going to fit into the neat little mold that the government has stamped out."

Williams said she knows of one student who wanted to become a mechanic, but "he hated school," and dropped out before finishing the 8th grade.

If he'd had some vocational options in middle school, she said, "I feel like he would still be in school today."

She encouraged everyone to "become an advocate for what you believe. Stand up and speak out to your political leaders ... get angry, stand up, speak loud, and fight for education. Thank you."

Madras Middle School Principal Lorraine Johnson said that "Nancy is the standard for which even the most dedicated teacher can aspire to reach." What sets her apart are the "unselfish, innovative, and sometimes non-traditional approaches she takes to reach, inspire, and motivate her students."

The other two finalists for system-wide TOTY were Natalie Sibley, fifth grade at Willis Road Elementary, and Angie Whitlock, psychology/ AP psychology, Newnan High School.

Sibley teaches fifth grade math and language arts at Willis Road Elementary. This is the third school at which Sibley has taught. She earned her middle level education degree from Clayton State College and her master's in education from Graceland University. She also has a specialist degree in Brain-Based Learning from Nova Southeastern University.

"From the time I was a small child, I wanted to be a teacher," she said in her application.

Successful teachers "build relationships with their students," said Sibley.

"A student will do almost anything that a teacher asks them to do if they think they are cared for and loved... We should always be mindful of how we interact with a child."

Sibley's "professionalism and interaction with the students is second to none," said Dr. Charles Smith, Willis Road Elementary principal. Sibley's "positive attitude and professionalism are reflected daily in her classroom."

Whitlock teaches 11th and 12th grade psychology and sociology at Newnan High. She earned her BS in education and master's of education in School Counseling from the University of Georgia.

She taught at five different schools before coming to Newnan.

"When I was 6, I played school in the backyard of my house with the neighborhood children, and I was always the teacher," she said in her application.

The greatest sign of success for a teacher is for a teacher to be able to say "the children are now working as if I did not exist," she said.

Every teacher's philosophy is "a reflection of her beliefs, experience, and training," she said.

"I see education as being the key to our society's success." When 70 percent of a society's prisoners are illiterate, "that is more than just a correlation," she said. "That is cause and effect."

Her teaching philosophy is a student-centered one.

"I strongly relate to the adage of serving as the guide on the side, rather than the sage on the stage," she said.

Dr. Douglas Moore, principal of Newnan High, said that "psychology is never dull in Mrs. Whitlock's class." She "constantly challenges students" with "meaningful hands-on activities and authentic experiences."

She is "a leader in the school and in her department," he said.

"This year's Teachers of the Year and their applications were excellent and the scoring -- as usual -- was very close," said Dean Jackson, spokesman for the Coweta County School System.

"Congratulations to our three finalists and to all of our 2010 Teachers of the Year," he said.

All 31 teachers, accompanied by their principals, were introduced and honored by school board members, Superintendent Blake Bass, and by 2009 Teacher of the Year Angela Brown.