7 Indiana teachers honored with School of Education award

Seven Indiana public school teachers are beaming with pride after being awarded the IU School of Education’s Martha Lea and Bill Armstrong Teacher Educator Award for the 2007-08 academic year.\nThe award, which has been around since 1997, is given to outstanding educators who are chosen based on their teaching and leadership skills and ability to work as a mentor and role model to IU students studying to become teachers.\n“Winners are selected by a panel that consists of some former winners and faculty members in the School of Education. They are nominated by superintendents or principals and then submit an application, and from there they are chosen,” said Diana Lambdin, Armstrong Chairwoman for Teacher Education.\nThis year’s recipients are Pam Fischer, an English teacher at Lawrence Central High School; Sue Keene, a teacher at Decatur Township; Angela Kelich, an elementary teacher in Anderson Community Schools; Greg Lineweaver, a ninth-grade English and humanities teacher at Herron High School; Susan Mattocks, a teacher at Tri-County Middle Senior High School; Lori Sampson, a teacher at Avon Community School Corporation; and Stephen Wilson, a Spanish teacher at Kokomo’s Northwestern High School.\n“I was extremely excited and quite humbled by the honor. I know a couple of previous winners, and when I read the biography of the other winners, I was very humbled again,” Fischer said. “I was blown away by their expertise and almost didn’t feel like I matched up with their talent.”\nEach year, winners work with IU students, lending their expertise and experience. Along with helping future students to better understand the world of education, Armstrong winners have the opportunity to work on projects that further their fields of interest. Michael Fassold, a seventh-grade social-studies teacher and 2004-05 Armstrong Educator, worked with students going into social studies who had not yet experienced student teaching. Even after his year was up, he continued to mentor students and even helped several get hired into his school district.\n“I kind of felt like I was earning my dinner,” he said. “I like that I was giving something back.”\nAlong with interacting with IU faculty and students throughout the year, award-winners attend several events during their time as an Armstrong Educator. They include the April Celebration of Teaching in Bloomington and an initial summer retreat where they become familiarized with the IUB Teacher Education Program by meeting alumni and hearing of their experiences. Finally, after their year as educators is up, winners will be expected to return to the summer retreat to make a presentation on their experiences in the program to alumni and new inductees.\n“(The retreat) was a lot of fun,” Fassold said. “They feed you, you get to attend workshops, talk to colleagues and build relationships with people. I most enjoyed the fellowship with other teachers that were not necessarily in my discipline. I enjoyed being with science teachers, language teachers and art teachers from all different grades.”\nAs for now, the 2006-07 Armstrong Educators are finishing their year as mentors, while each of the 2007-08 award-winners are eagerly awaiting their time to further influence the world of teaching.\n“I am very much looking forward to this summer. I am looking forward to meeting my peers (and) the other people awarded and to see what type of students are at IU,” Fischer said. “I am hoping to do a lot with the overseas program, but I am totally open to whatever opportunities come up. I am game for anything.”