Wakulla Middle School Names Angie Walker as their 2007 Teacher of the Year 

Media Specialist Angie Walker has been named the 2007 Teacher of the Year for Wakulla Middle School.  Walker, who received her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from the Unviversity of Central Florida in Orlando, has been teaching for 19 years.  She received her Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from Florida State University, and is certified in the areas of Elementary Education, Middle School Language Arts, Technology (grades 6 – 12) and Media (grades 6 – 12).  She taught language arts to middle school students her first five years in Sanford, Florida, and moved into the area of technology when she moved to Wakulla County in the early 90’s.

“My job is a unique job because I really and truly get to work with just about every child at school,” said Walker.  “My job is to motivate the kids to read, and I do so by helping them locate books I think they will like, and by using positive reading approaches.  I honestly do not believe that kids don’t like to read; I think they just haven’t found the right book yet.  I love to see a child really get into reading for the first time; it’s great to hear them say, ‘That was a really good book!’  Reading opens up so many doors for the students; it broadens their vocabulary more than just about anything else they can do, and actually allows students to have more intelligent conversation.  Reading can take them away and take them to so many different places; they learn so much by reading.”

As Media Specialist, Walker spends her day juggling a large variety of tasks and activities.  “Just about every period we have a class that comes into the library, and I do a mini lesson with them,” explains Walker.  “Sometimes it involves using equipment; sometimes it’s a book talk; and sometimes I get a kid to come up and talk about a book they’ve read.”  According to Walker, Wakulla Middle School participates in a reading program called the “Sunshine State Young Readers” program.  “There is a list of 15 books in the program,” says Walker.  “It’s a mixed variety of books that the kids might not normally read.  For each six weeks of the school year, if a students reads three books, then they get to attend some sort of social event hosted by us at the end of the six weeks.  We have had at least 575 books that have already been read, and 70 kids have already completed 6 books out of the 15.”

Walker says a large part of her job involves assisting her fellow teachers at WMS.  “The teachers at WMS have a huge load, so I look at my job as assisting them in every way that I can,” says Walker.  “By the same token, there are so many projects going on around the school that I could never get them all done if I didn’t have the teachers helping me, as well!  I also get to work quite a bit with the administrators and the guidance counselors; we do a really good job of collaborating with each other.  I really love my job, and I love the people that I work with.  I especially have to thank Ms. Nellie Frasier, who has been working in our library for years.  I couldn’t get along without her.”

Walker says one of her favorite tasks is video production.  “The students get to learn to use the camera, as well as how to edit and add music to their videos,” says Walker.  “We have a great group of kids right now; they are so motiviated and this makes them better learners.”  Walker’s job also allows her to have teacher assistants (TAs), who are students that actually get to work with her in the library.  “My TAs learn how to use Power Point, how to use digital cameras, how to produce videos, and also how to run the library,” she explains.  “They locate, check out, and process books.  They learn how the system works.”

Walker is also the WMS Student Council sponsor.  “We participate in a canned food and toy drive for needy families at Christmas,” says Walker.  “This year we collected for nine families.  We actually involved all the classes at the school by asking each teacher to place a collection box in his or her room.  Each class filled their box, and then the student council members were responsible for sorting and wrapping the items for each family.  It is one of the most rewarding things we do.”

Walker is also an assistant softball coach as WMS, and has served as the Relay for Life co-chair for the WMS team.  She is also a member of the “Positive Behavior System”, a national behavior system that was adopted by WMS about three years ago.  She and fellow teacher Laura Hudson also host live morning announcements each day, and she is also co-chair of the School Improvement Team.  She is the School Advisory Committee Technology Chair, and is also a member of the County Technology Committee.  She is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, the Florida Association of Media Educators, and the International Technology Association.

When asked what motivated her to become a teacher, Walker explains,”When I was in middle school I had an 8th grade science teacher and a band teacher that took extra time with me.  They made school fun and exciting, and made me feel good about myself.  For the first time I actually thought about learning, and it was because of these people.  I found that I wanted to be like them.  That’s what it’s all about.  You can make kids look forward to coming to your class every single day.  You can let them know that you like them and you respect them.  Of course they need to respect you as well, but you can still laugh and joke.  You have to keep it in perspective.  I’m not going to get upset with a kid for not having a pencil, because you never know what might be going on in their personal lives.”

“The transition to middle school can be a little hard for kids because they have a little more freedom and also more responsibility,” says Walker.  “I feel that as teachers we have to first of all take care of the kids, and then educate them as well as we possibly can.  I believe that the majority of the teachers in our county and especially in our school just do a really, really good job.  If you have pride in what you do then you will do the best you can, and I think that shows here in Wakulla County.  We have good administrators who give us a lot of professional leeway, and that’s not something you get in every school system.  I believe our administrators truly respect our opinions and our abilities to try new things.  It’s a big part of what keeps us going.”

Walker says she also appreciates having such an involved and accessible superintendent.  “If I really want to talk to Mr. Miller, I can just pick up the phone and call him,” says Walker.  “That’s not true of all school districts.”

Walker has two sons, and she says she could not imagine putting them into any other school system besides Wakulla County.  “I feel we have ALWAYS had the ‘No Child Left Behind’ policy here in Wakulla County,” says Walker.  “We are very progressive as far as technology and teaching new and creative ideas.  We are right along with any large school district in the state.”

Walker says she was proud and honored to be named the WMS Teacher of the Year.  “It was a big deal to me because it came from my peers,” said Walker.  “I really appreciate their confidence in me.”

This article originally published on January 8, 2007.

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to post a comment.