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Heather Marr, Boise, ID, Teacher Wins NWPE Scholarship
posted by: Cindy Omlin | November 19, 2013, 01:46 AM   


Congratulations to Heather Marr,
a Boise High School Student Council, English, and Advanced Placement Literature teacher in Boise, ID, who has been awarded a $500 scholarship from Northwest Professional Educators (NWPE).  Ms. Leah Guelker, NWPE representative, presented the award at a Language Arts Department meeting.  Ms. Marr will utilize the funds to attend and present at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) conference in Boston, MA.  Her presentation will focus on how to engage reluctant readers and writers in middle school using stereotype analysis which focuses on teen interests while working to explode misconceptions and helping teens gain a sense of personal and community identity.  She will demonstrate how teachers can interact effectively and respectfully with struggling students while incorporating the new Common Core State Standards in a meaningful and rigorous way.

 

heather marr leah guelker snipMs. Marr’s award is certainly well-deserved as she seeks ways to increase student achievement by engaging in relevant, timely professional development, an activity which she believes is critical to advancing respect for the education profession.  As she noted in her application, “Professionalism breeds professionalism, and the teaching field is no different than any other.  The more teachers who stand up for best professional practice, the better we all become. Like any other organization, the educational community can become something greater by putting a little extra effort, being reflective, and learning how to adapt to our changing world. By engaging in professional development on local and national scales, teachers show how much they value improvement, which is always passed on to the students. The more teachers can show the work they are doing outside of their buildings, the more the community will see how much we value their children.”  NWPE is proud to reward Ms. Marr for her hard work advancing the professionalism of educators.

 

Ms. Marr (shown on left) whose first year of teaching was in Harlem, a fact that which she says dramatically shaped the path she would take in her career, notes that Boise has a surprisingly large refugee population and that her school struggles to build a unified community.  At the NCTE conference, she plans to not only attend reading and writing workshops to hone her teaching skill development, but she also plans to take courses that emphasize multicultural lesson planning and social justice teaching.  She hopes that she can help create a more accepting community of diverse learners at Boise High School.

 

NWPE awards $500 teacher scholarships and classroom grants twice a year. Teachers who are new to the profession or their classroom are also eligible for $250 New Classroom Start-Up Grants.  All educators are eligible for the awards although NWPE members receive first preference.  The next application deadline for the $500 awards is March 1, 2013.  The application for the $250 New Classroom Start-Up Grants is December 31.

 

For more information, see www.nwpe.org.

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