VALDOSTA —
Valdosta City Schools named Sallas Mahone Elementary fourth-grade English/Language Arts and Social Studies teacher Lindsey Fox the 2013 Teacher of the Year at their annual banquet Thursday evening.
Fox, who has taught for five years, completed 11 teacher training programs since 2008 and earned a Masters of Education degree, believes the success of her students is one of her greatest accomplishments.
“I am constantly examining my test results to see how i can improve y instruction for my future students,” Fox wrote in her application. “I strive to create new lessons to allow all students to successfully reach their potential.
“I spend the extra time needed with the students who are struggling, and I push the accelerated students to reach their capabilities as well. I try to instill a passion for learning and I challenge my students to be the best that they can be. My students’ success is my success.”
In spite of having come from a family of educators, according to her application, she originally pursued journalism and marketing degrees during her undergraduate coursework, and spent a year working in business with a junior gold program, but she felt her life lacked passion and creativity, the application stated.
“Even though I was working with children, something seemed to be missing from my job in the business world,” Fox wrote. “I saw that passion in my relatives’ lives and soon realized teaching was the direction that I needed to go.”
Fox claims a deep commitment to her community because, she wrote, she believes understanding the community will make her a better teacher. Her goal is to help her students realize their deepest desires.
“The reward comes when each student develops the desire to excel in some area whether it is academics, the arts, athletics, or community service,” she wrote. “The rewards he earns from the effort, hopefully, will show him that other skills and core knowledge can be mastered with effort.”
In her application, Fox expressed dissatisfaction with the current state accountability system, saying that most educators are preparing their students for life in the 1980s.
“A state curriculum rarely goes beyond core knowledge,” Fox wrote. “Classrooms are full of outdated materials. The teaching strategies that are used were designed for industrial era students. All students deserve an education that helps them to succeed in today’s technology-rich, global economy. But our current system fails to give it to them.”
The solution is to make the Common Core Standards “the baseline for learning, not the ceiling,” she said. Instead of perpetuating government standards, Fox would like to see more teachers advance their knowledge and training before they set foot in public schools and during their employment, she stated.
“I believe that accountability is not necessary if teachers are respected as professionals,” Fox wrote. “A step towards this idea would be to increase the level of preparation in teaching programs.”
With a broad grin on her face, Fox accepted her award, a silver tray, from and delivered a warm speech of thanks to her fellow teachers and administrators with a broad grin on her face.
Fox teaches 43 students broken into two classes, and enjoys all of them.
“I truly love what I do,” Fox said. “My children’s success is my success.”
To win the award, teachers fill out an application and compose an essay detailing their values and teaching philosophies. A total of 11 teachers from the school district were chosen to receive Teacher of the Year awards, while Fox was chosen as the top candidate to move on to the state competition.
The Georgia Teacher of the Year will be anounced spring 2013. The district winner is awarded more than $3,000 in cash and prizes, while each individual finalist is awarded around $1,000 in cash and prizes, Director of Public Relations Jennifer Steedly said.
“We try to do our best to acknowledge the hard work of our staff across the entire district and this is just one of the ways that we are able to highlight the outstanding accomplishments of not only the
individual teachers but also the schools they are representing,” Superintendent Bill Cason said.
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Related Photos
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Valdosta City Schools Teacher of the Year, Lindsey Fox of Sallas Mahone Elementary, accepts congratulations from Principal Gary Glover. Jason Schaefer
Discussion
City schools award Lindsey Fox Teacher of the Year
Banquet honors teaching excellence district-wide
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