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Social Circle names top teacher
Published November 18, 2009
SOCIAL CIRCLE — Michelle Scott was more than a little surprised when she was named Teacher of the Year for Social Circle Primary School.
“This school is packed with excellent teachers,” Scott said. “Any one of them could have been the teacher of the year. I’m surprised to be in that category.”
Her surprise was magnified when she was also named Teacher of the Year for the entire Social Circle City Schools district.
“I’m still shocked,” Scott said. “It’s just overwhelming.”
Yet Scott almost missed out on her calling as a teacher. She finished college at Stetson University in Florida with a degree in business and marketing, but soon found she was unmotivated by the field.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Scott said. “People had told me before I should be a teacher and I always said, ‘No, never.’”
Yet tired of the marketing field and looking for a change, Scott decided to give teaching a try and soon finished her teaching degree and master’s at Arizona State University.
“I found I liked teaching,” Scott said.
After time working with third graders and then kindergartners after moving to Social Circle Primary, Scott found herself working hard with students in the Early Intervention Program. Rather than teaching one particular classroom of one grade, Scott now works with dozens of children throughout the day in all grade levels at the primary school.
“We pull out small groups of students who are below grade level in reading and math,” Scott said. “It’s not special education. These are just students who need extra help.”
As the EIP team leader, Scott not only teaches different break-out sessions of eight students throughout the day, but also has to work with other teachers to select students for inclusion in the program. That helps determine which students could be moved up or down to different skill levels or out of the program entirely.
“Our groups are constantly changing,” Scott said. “You see such growth. When I taught kindergarten, you’d get kids who came in knowing very little and they would be reading by the end of the year. You see that level of growth even more in EIP.
“They gain such confidence. They start learning and they start getting excited and achieve so much academic and personal growth.”
Scott said the EIP program was especially important for children at the primary school level who needed a helping hand.
“If we get to them now, that’s the best time to catch them up,” Scott said. “If we can’t reach them before the elementary level, it could be too late for some students to ever really close the gap.”
Still shocked by her selection as the district Teacher of the Year, Scott said much of her success could be attributed to the environment at the primary school.
“It’s such a great place,” Scott said. “This is my second family. I’m just overwhelmed my peers think I’m doing a good job.”
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