Excellence in Education

Finalists for Teacher of the Year share love for learning

By Michelle Wallace

Tamra Lambert teaches students Brook Kenney, from left, Sawyer Nichols, Ryan Watson and Jenna Bruick about American history at Bryant Middle School. Lambert's popularity among her students sky-rocketed earlier this year when they were treated to ice cream in honor of Lambert being named an Arkansas Teacher of the Year finalist. Greg Benenati 2008-05-09 14:06:00

LITTLE ROCK — Going to school is an enlightening experience thanks to Tamra Lambert, Shea Gregory and Christine Holzer.

The three teachers from the Tri-Lakes area were named finalists for the Arkansas Teacher of the Year honor and were recognized at the Arkansas State Capitol earlier this year.

“It was pretty humbling to be in that room,” said Holzer, who teaches fourth grade at Langston Aerospace and Environmental Studies Magnet School in Hot Springs.

All three teachers, along with the other finalists - 12 in total - were recognized during the ceremony by Gov. Mike Beebe and Education Commissioner Ken James. The teachers were presented with $1,000 each, made possible through a grant from the Walton Family Foundation.

Their students were just as excited as the teachers were humbled.

“My kids were very, very excited,” Holzer said with a smile.

They kept saying, “We’ve got the best teacher!” They really loved her when all the students in the school were treated to ice cream from Blue Bell because of her status as a Teacher of the Year finalist. She went from being the “best teacher” to the “ice cream lady,” which is a loftier position in the eyes of a fourth-grader.

The students at Mountain Pine High School where Gregory teaches seventh- and eighth-grade language arts and at Bryant Middle School where Lambert teaches history and geography enjoyed an ice cream treat because of their teachers’ outstanding abilities as well.

Gregory’s name emblazoned the school marquis for a couple of weeks after the ceremony so the entire community could appreciate her.

The honor - and all the paperwork, personal reflections and classroom observations that came with it - came for Lambert after being named first the Bryant Middle School teacher of the year and then Bryant School District’s teacher of the year.

“The big surprise was the district part,” she said.

Right in the middle of class, Lambert was surprised with the announcement and all the fanfare that came with it. She had come to school prepared for a special event, but she had no idea what it really was.

“My husband had me dress up that day. He told me he was going to take me out.”

Just two years ago Lambert became certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

“That is the hardest thing I’ve ever done ... It was twice as hard [as getting] my master’s degree,” she said.

The application for both the national certification and teacher-of-the-year award came with mounds of paperwork.

“I was kind of overwhelmed,” she said of applying for the teacher of the year so soon after the National Board certification. She made it through, though, and is the pride of her school and the entire district right now.

These teachers, like so many of their peers, are idealists who come to school each day with the lofty notion of pushing, guiding and nurturing their students to excellence. They are constantly looking for innovative methods to make the material they teach exciting and meaningful.

“True learning takes place when students become personally engaged with the material and perceive the subject matter to be relevant to their lives,” Lambert noted in the lengthy application she filled out. Gregory and Holzer filled out the pages-long application as well.

Lambert, Gregory and Holzer have discovered that there are many opportunities to make information pertinent, even stimulating.

When Lambert teaches economics in her pre-AP class, she incorporates the Arkansas State Stock Market Game into the lesson using the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette and other tools. Since 2003 her students have consistently won in this competition. They are getting the point because they see how it affects them personally.

“[An] obstacle to learning is making material relevant and comprehensible,” Holzer said. “The students must be engaged in their learning. The cookiecutter curriculum I was taught with no longer is effective. We live in a fast-paced world with flashing lights, loud noises and instant gratification.”

Holzer incorporates many types of learning activities in her classroom.

“You will see my students drawing in the floor, producing movies or writing readers’ theater script,” she said.

These teachers see the importance of connecting with their students and searchingfor new ways to reach the children in their daily lives. They believe it is important to have a classroom that builds the whole child.

“I strive to make my classroom as welcoming of an environment as possible,” Gregory said.

She is strict with her students, and they seem to thrive on the structure and high expectations that exist in her classroom.

“Students know on a daily basis what they can expect from me and what I expect from them both in and out of my classroom,” she said.

Holzer, who makes it a point to get to know each of her students personally and lets them get to know her as a person as well, said, “My classroom environment is one where it is safe to make mistakes. Yet students are never allowed to give up, and I don’t give up on them. I pick them up, dust them off and help them try again until they are successful. I never degrade a student, but encourage them each step of the way. We work together as a team.”

Lambert is thrilled about a dopt i ng a ne w prog r a m called the “Power of I” in her classroom. Students are held to higher standards and are learning to take responsibility for their work and themselves. Her class theme is “Failure is Not an Option.”

Some of the measures she uses are consequences and allowing students to retest on the same subject matter.

“I will not allow my students to fail; I care too much about them and their future.”

These teachers have dedicated their entire selves to educating their students.

“I embrace teaching as an opportunity to educate, inspire and empower young students,” Lambert said.

She frequently spends her summer months in school herself and taking educational trips abroad. She has studied about and visited South Africa, China and Russia. This summer she will study the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and will travel to Egypt and Jordan as a culmination to the class.

Gregory and Holzer also devote a considerable amount of time improving their instructional abilities through educating themselves.

“Teaching is the most rewarding job I could ever have. I don’t mean monetarily. They could never compensate me for the endless hours I spend doing my job. My rewards come in a different form - the smile on a child’s face as he accomplishes something new, the growth in a child’s confidence, and the knowledge of a job well done keep me going on a daily basis,” Holzer said.

Gregory echoed Holzer’s sentiments.

“I look for ward to going to work every day because I love what I do and I love my kids,” she said. “I think about my students wherever I go. I am constantly looking for new ways to motivate them and increase their knowledge. I not only want them to be the best student they can be but also the best person they can be,” Gregory said. “If I can make a difference in even one student’s life then teaching is worthwhile to me ... I am very lucky to be able to get up every morning, come to work and do what I love doing, teaching our future.”

Tri-Lakes, Pages 132, 139 on 05/11/2008