ROANOKE, Va. – This month, we’re honoring an English teacher who “brings learning to life.”
At Northside Middle School, English teacher Amanda Waldron received a unique poem nomination for June’s Education Impact Award.
“Motivates her students to dream and achieve, real-world lessons she helps them believe,” Larissa Thompson with Blue Eagle Credit Union read. “Smart and sassy, with wisdom to share. Welcomes guest speakers to spark self-aware. Advocates change, takes action with grace. Leads with a passion no one can replace.”
Blue Eagle Credit Union’s Laurissa Thompson delivered the poetry, and Mrs. Waldron is delivering the creativity for Roanoke County schools.
“It makes the classroom a lot more exciting to see children excited to come into the English classroom rather than just to sit and read when we’re doing things that are engaging to them and are a bit nontraditional from a normal English classroom setting, so it’s exciting for me, and it’s exciting for the students, and we like to see the excitement as they’re engaged in those type of projects,” said Waldron.
For a dozen years, Waldron has been delivering her special brand of real-life lesson plans, with Northside teachers, staff and administration working as a team to help their students both believe--and achieve.
“She’s presented at national conferences on authentic learning. I mean, she’s just wonderful with that,” said Dr. Paul Lineburg, Northside Middle School Principal. “She engages our kids in real-life learning, and she teaches English, but she goes beyond just English. She really engages our students, which I think really matches what the county wants with our profile of a graduate, and she really excels at taking kids beyond just English and really brings learning to life.”
“Open their minds to justice and care. Nurturing futures and love everywhere,” read Thompson.
Waldron said the poem submitted on her behalf was very sweet.
“Rarely do we get a poem for a nomination,” said Thompson. “It was creative and fun, probably speaks to the type of teacher that she is as well. Somebody who wanted to honor her with the same creativity.”
WSLS and Blue Eagle Credit Union didn’t just deliver the written word linked to an artistic vision, they also dispatched some real-world currency: $250 each for Amanda and Northside Middle, as her students tale some real-life lessons with them moving forward.
One of Waldron’s creative lessons is to run a ‘shark tank’ in her class for one of the units. They ask students to create a new idea using new technology, then they present it to a panel of adults. They get help with public speaking as well. It is a skill they will use for the rest of their lives.