Michelle Kelly\u2019s room at Kent Elementary is a hub of activity.<\/p>\n
Home to a split grade-level class of highly capable third- and fourth-graders there is constant activity around the room, with Kelly moving from group to group, helping the students focus on whatever project they are attacking this week (carnivorous plants, for example).<\/p>\n
But on Wednesday at a small ceremony at the beginning of the school day, the focus was not on the kids, but on Kelly herself, as she was presented with the 2009 Kent School District Teacher of the Year Award.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was completely overwhelming,\u201d said Kelly, a 17-year teacher who has taught the highly capable program for the past six years.<\/p>\n
Kelly said she has a simple philosophy about teaching, a job she absolutely loves doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe all students deserve high-quality teachers,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cLearning should be absolutely fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
And to talk to the 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds in her third and fourth grade classroom, Kelly is doing exactly that.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe makes all the subjects and projects fun,\u201d said Megan Birkel, 9.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven math she makes fun,\u201d added Kevin Rhodes, 10.<\/p>\n
Kelly grew up in Auburn and graduated from Auburn High School before attending Central Washington University and then Washington State University for her master\u2019s degree. After college, Kelly took a job in Tri-Cities because she spoke Spanish and wanted to work with the children of migrant workers.<\/p>\n
Kelly said she had an easy, happy childhood herself and felt the need to pass that on to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel I need to give something back to the world for that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After coming back to Western Washington, Kelly said she wanted to work at a school with relatively high-needs and Kent Elementary fits the bill.<\/p>\n
But in her classroom of highly capable students, it\u2019s a different vibe than a standard classroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re different in some ways and not in others,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t need to spend time on basic skills.\u201d<\/p>\n
But ask the kids and they are eager to share their opinion of their teacher.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s the best teacher ever,\u201d said Paris Smith, 9.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo thumbs up!\u201d said Sean Love, 8.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe makes stuff challenging but in a fun way,\u201d added Grant Staton, 9.<\/p>\n
Aside from making everything fun, the kids say Kelly grabs their attention, teaching with games and other devices that almost trick them into learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t ever realize it\u2019s that hard,\u201d said Kailee Roldan, 9.<\/p>\n
As for the award, they too are very proud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could tell she was really excited,\u201d said Smith, who was on hand when she got word of the award.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor for her. She\u2019s a very good teacher,\u201d said Ammara Touch, 10.<\/p>\n
Even her principal sounds like one of the kids in describing Kelly.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s highly dedicated to the profession and the children,\u201d said principal Sherilyn Ulland. \u201cShe\u2019s one of those teachers that\u2019s always advocated for her children.\u201d<\/p>\n
But perhaps Max Fredell, 9, sums it up best.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe deserves it for putting up with us!\u201d he said, grinning.<\/p>\n
As for Kelly, she is thrilled for the honor, but said she works with many other teachers who also deserve this honor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI teach with such good people in this district,\u201d she said. \u201cWere just a representative of so many others.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while the National Board-certified teacher may someday move out of the classroom and onto helping with education on a larger scale, such as perhaps a legislative role, for now she is not only content but happy to be in a room full of students.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think spending the day with children is the best anyone can hope for,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Michelle Kelly\u2019s room at Kent Elementary is a hub of activity. Home to a split grade-level class of highly capable third- and fourth-graders there is constant activity around the room, with Kelly moving from group to group, helping the students focus on whatever project they are attacking this week (carnivorous plants, for example). But on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":223,"featured_media":13283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-13282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13282"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=13282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}