Episode 15: Back to School Special with the 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 Washington State Teachers of the Year

Katie Brown, 2014 Teacher of the Year, holds a BA in anthropology and taught 7th grade English before moving into ELL (English Language Learners). Not only is Katie an amazing educator, she won a silver medal in World Championship Shuai Chiao (Chinese Wrestling.)

Lyon Terry, 2015 Teacher of the Year, 4th grade educator and lover of children believes that the way to strengthen learning is through human connections. Lyon structured Seattle’s “walking school bus program.” In 2014, he sat on a committee to regulate Common Core for reading and writing.

Camille Jones, 2017 Teacher of the Year, teaches K-3 in a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) class. Camille is a self-proclaimed Millennial that teaches in the rural town from which she grew up. She believes that every student has the opportunity to grow and learn, given the chance.

On this episode, Washington’s Teacher of the Year recipients of the previous four years sit and discuss their teaching philosophies, how they view their students, and educating in the very rural contrasting with the highly urban.

The diverse background of these professionals lends to some interesting conversation regarding books, policy, white supremacy, and accountability. They have a hard discussion surrounding the profession and get real on how they feel about the vocation they love so much.

From the different backgrounds the teachers discuss the teacher shortage and how to perpetuate growth in that opportunity. Solution? highlight the joy of teaching, produce readers, create voters.

For the next Teacher of the Year and, in our opinion, everyone:

Be who you are. Say what you believe. Speak the truth and ground it in love.
Think about who is the person you want to project? Ensure that you’re projecting your values.

Hopes for the year: