I Hope She Wins!

This is my coworker, child's teacher, running buddy, motivator, and friend....

She teachers first grade at the same school as me.  She is currently my youngest son's teacher, but has also taught both of my other boys.

She won "Teacher of the Year" at our school this year.

Then she won for our county.

Now, she has been nominated for "Teacher of the Year" for the whole district.

I was asked to write a letter to accompany her application.  I think highly of her.  Here is what I wrote in my letter....

To Whom It May Concern;

As you are reading this letter, you are trying to make a decision. You are making a decision to recognize a teacher for an outstanding job. It will be a decision that will not be an easy one, I am sure. You are choosing between some very worth candidates, but I want to explain to you why Ronda Posey is the teacher who deserves to be your choice.

I have had the great pleasure of working with Ronda for over 11 years. For several years, Ronda was directly across the hall from my classroom and I was able to witness first hand her teaching strategies. She is a very talented teacher who uses hands-on strategies and has a wonderful rapport with her students. Her classroom environment is kept neat and she has great classroom management. Ronda is never content with mediocrity. She is always looking for new ideas to improve the success of her students, and she is always happy to share her ideas. Ronda is a teacher who is a ‘team player’ and is an excellent colleague to work with.

Although knowing Ronda as a colleague is enough to earn my respect, I am even more convinced as a parent. I have had the honor of experiencing Mrs. Posey as the parent in her class three different times! All three of my sons got the great privilege of being in Mrs. Posey’s class their first grade year. As a parent and teacher, I feel that I have fairly high expectations from my children’s teachers. I expect them to be firm, yet fair. I expect good communication from school to home. I expect my sons’ teachers to be loving and fun, while still getting great academic growth from the students. All of my expectations are met with Mrs. Posey. Perhaps my greatest delight in her as a parent is that she pushes each child to achieve their maximum potential. As the parent of three intellectually gifted children, it is always a concern that they will not be pushed to reach the maximum growth possible within the school day. This is not a concern for me with Mrs. Posey as their teacher. She not only has great success with weak students, but has proven to propel all three of my sons into fantastic academic growth.

I am honored to work alongside such elite talent as Mrs. Posey and am absolutely delighted to have her in my children’s lives as a foundation for their early education.

You will find no better candidate to receive the great honor of “Teacher of the Year” than Mrs. Ronda Posey.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Heptinstall

I guess this is kind of a weird thing to blog about, except that my kids teachers are so engrained into the fabric of our lives.  And I have been so fortunate to have superb teachers for my boys

I hope she wins. She deserves it.

Ronda...if you are reading this...Good luck! 

(And if you are not reading it...then...what kind of friend are you anyway?)