The Current
D.C. celebrates standouts in the city’s classrooms
By Jessica Gould
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
It was 2005 when Stephanie Day first set her sights on being D.C. Teacher of the Year.
At the time, the Oregon native was a brand-new Teach for America recruit, bracing for her first year in the classroom.
Figuring it would be a while before she found her footing, she gave herself until she was 30 to win.
As it turns out, she’s four years ahead of schedule.
Last week, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education presented Day with the 2010 Teacher of the Year award. She’s 26.
“To be Teacher of the Year means to be surrounded by great mentors and fantastic teachers and colleagues,” she said.
Day teaches pre-kindergarten through second grade at Friendship Public Charter School’s Chamberlain Elementary campus in Southeast, where she’s known for her outside-the-box lesson plans.
When she teaches probability, for example, she sings a math song to the tune of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.”
“It’s a common joke among my friends that I can take a popular song and find my own twist to make it nerdy,” she said.
When she reads books, she and her students dress like the characters.
And when she lectures about snow, she pours cereal and cotton balls on the floor so students can feel the difference between crunchy flakes and soft ones. “I want them to feel crunchy.”
Day, who is a special education teacher, favors experiential learning. She said her philosophy is to use students’ strengths to teach to their weaknesses. Her motivation is simple: her kids.
“My students deserve so much, so much more than they’ve been given,” she said. “I want my students to have the best possible education.”
It’s a sentiment she shares with her fellow D.C. Teacher of the Year finalists – Aris Pangilinan from H.D. Woodson High School, Christopher Bergfalk from John Eaton Elementary School, and Brigham Kiplinger and Nate Franz from E.L. Haynes Public Charter School.
“There’s a great sense of urgency,” said Kiplinger, a fifth-grade literacy teacher who’s known to his students as Mr. Kip. “We want to get them ready for college and beyond. But often they’re coming to us from behind grade level.”
Kiplinger and Franz share adjacent classrooms, a sweeping view of the city, and two classes of fifth-grad students. They both live in Petworth, and they both began teaching at Haynes in 2007.
They said they immediately recognized the similarities between their teaching styles.
“We use something called the responsive teaching model, meting kids where they’re at, and taking them places they didn’t think they could go,” Franz said.
“No excuses, for ourselves or for the kids,” Kiplinger added.
Haynes; principal for fourth through seventh grades, Eric Westendorf, said the two teacher complement each other so well, he couldn’t help but nominate both.
“They’re both relentless,” he said. “When students see an adult who not only believes in their potential for greatness, but also works to hard on their behalf, it’s hard for them not to believe in themselves.”