The Poway Unified School District proudly recognizes our teachers and announces that Barbara Fletcher, Lynne Harvey, and Sarah Woolley have been chosen as Poway Unified School District Teachers of the Year for 2007-2008 from a very distinguished list of school site teachers of the year.
A committee of past winners, school administrators, and a PTA representative selected the three district-level Teachers of the Year. All the honorees have incorporated exemplary learning programs into their teaching, and are making a positive difference to the students of the Poway Unified School District.
Barbara Fletcher
Westview High School
High School Music Teacher and Choral Director
Concert goers experience the incredible results of students who have mastered professional performance skills, music theory, and teamwork. Behind the scenes is a master teacher whose students know if they follow Mrs. Fletcher’s uncompromising expectations of dedication, participation, and attitude they will be excellent. Hard work and commitment are the ingredients Barbara Fletcher instills in her students. Two of Barbara’s greatest accomplishments in education are building self-esteem and pride through hard work and accomplishment, and teaching students to love learning.
Barbara said, “My teaching emphasizes many motivational and inspirational strategies. In a performance-based class, knowing the material is a given. It’s the ability to move beyond the material to expressing the meaning of text and communicating the emotions involved that requires strong motivational strategies. I will try anything to encourage and inspire my students. These strategies include setting high expectations, working as a team, demanding commitment for the group, reading stories and giving inspirational speeches, modeling hard work and preparation, and demonstrating my own passion for music.”
How do you build a music program from scratch at a high school? Barbara replied that you base the program on sound legitimate choral literature, music theory, and technique and you inspire excellence. It is not just about the singing voice but all about attitude, dedication, and willingness.
“I can’t imagine a better choice to represent our school district than Barbara Fletcher,” said Westview High School Principal Dawn Kastner. “She is one of the most exceptional teachers I have ever seen. Barbara presents vocal music performances at the caliber equal to or beyond college level. She truly connects with her students. Her classes are known as “hard but fun.”
Music class reaches out well beyond the final concert. Students become well versed in music theory and the history and intricacies of what is behind the most challenging classical music. They gain valuable professional performance skills and are held to the highest of standards.
Barbara recalled an email she received recently from a student who often challenged the need to follow strict standards while striving to do the very best. She has since graduated from high school and wanted to let Barbara know the impact being in her class has had. She wrote to her former teacher that, “I really hope I can become the responsible woman that you taught me to be.”
The Westview choirs touch the community through their musical outreach. The choirs sing at retirement homes, holiday gatherings, and this Christmas they sang for the homeless at the Salvation Army. They perform at school and community events throughout the year. The choirs also travel to state-wide competitions and participate in a spring tour filled with music education and team-building activities. This year, Westview choral groups performed at the Winter California Music Educators Association Conference.
Barbara has taught music and been Choral Director at Poway High School for 15 years. For the past few years she has built the music program at the school district’s newest school, Westview High. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and her Master of Science degree in Music Education. She has attended district workshops and clinics and music workshops at conferences and conventions, including American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and California Music Educators Association conferences. At an ACDA convention, 1800 choral teachers gave the choir a standing ovation! Barbara was Poway High School’s Teacher of the Year in 1999-2000. Barbara was recently named this year’s California Music Educators Association Southern Border Section “Choral Educator of the Year”.
Barbara graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She received her Masters of Arts degree in Music Education from Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska.
Lynne Harvey
Monterey Ridge Elementary School
Fourth Grade Teacher
Lynne Harvey powerfully inspires learning. She is always looking through the lens of children’s eyes and asking, “How will it work for the kids?” Her students experience the excitement of real life adventures through a rigorous curriculum enhanced by innovative projects. At the same time, Lynne offers her teaching colleagues an opportunity to share her learnings and has worked as a mentor and teacher trainer. The school district benefits from Mrs. Harvey’s expertise on committees ranging from assessment and technology to piloting new curricular programs.
"I am thrilled to see such a wonderful and deserving teacher recognized by her peers for all that she does for her own students as well as all students,” said Rebecca Wardlow, principal of Monterey Ridge Elementary School. “Lynne graciously shares her knowledge of technology with the entire staff, works with all of the fourth grade students on the Falcon Watch Project, and is always willing to support and teach others. She is a tremendous asset to our school as well as the Poway Unified School District."
Lynne continuously challenges herself and others as she pursues learning opportunities that demand far-reaching vision and understanding for herself, her students, and her colleagues.
The Falcon Watch Project is an example of connecting students in an innovative way. This year, Ohio’s severe winter weather has lasted into March, and for Mrs. Harvey and her colleagues’ fourth grade environmental scientists, each icy snowfall brings barriers to peregrine falcons SW (mom) and Buckeye (dad) who have successfully nested and hatched babies on the 12th floor window ledge of the Terminal Tower building in Cleveland, Ohio every spring since 2002. In this real world, project-based learning experience, students are actively engaged in monitoring a pair of nesting Peregrine Falcons via a live web cam, over the Internet. The project addresses all areas of the fourth grade curriculum as students collect data, conduct research, and make predictions and document findings based on observations online. High-level science fiction, and non-fiction reading strategies are employed in doing research and exploring literature; purposeful writing and presentation skills are developed; math skills and geographical knowledge are embedded in students’ work. Students communicate and collaborate with a variety of people, including scientists, over the Internet as they virtually travel to Cleveland, Ohio, the nest site.
“I am as much a learner as the students in this project, and every year is different,” said Lynne. The Falcon Watch Project is the 2006 recipient of the "Inspire Award" in the San Diego County Classroom of the Future Innovation in Education Awards program. The review panel recommended Falcon Watch 2006 for this honor, stating it "best exemplified the innovation in instruction through the use of teacher learning communities and the application of new ways to enhance literacy." Find out more about the Falcon Watch Project at the following websites:
http://powayusd.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/teachers/lharvey/falcon2007/default.htm
http://www.classroomofthefuture.org/2006iie.asp
Lynne works with her students to help them learn goal setting and self assessment skills so they can have a better understanding of their strengths and areas of need.
Lynne taught at Rolling Hills Elementary School for 17 years in grades 2, 3, 2/3 multiage, 4 and 5 before coming to Monterey Ridge when the school opened in 2006. She is the webmaster for the Monterey Ridge website, and she serves on district and site committees for assessment. She is presently working on a pilot program for PUSD called Criterion(a web based writing evaluation tool).
Lynne received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology from Cal-State Hayward and her K-8 multi-subject teaching credential and Masters of Arts degree in curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Leadership from National University. Mrs. Harvey earned her National Board for Professional Teachers Certification in 2001. She is the RB Environmental Group Award Recipient for 2005 and the Classroom of the Future Foundation 2006 Inspiration Award Recipient for the Falcon Watch Project.
Sarah Woolley
Oak Valley Middle School
Critical Skills Teacher, Grades 6-8
Giving to others is a way of life for Sarah Woolley, who teaches autistic students at Oak Valley Middle School. Those touched by Sarah’s earnest commitment benefit by the nurturing environment she creates. Sarah’s passion for education, and commitment for doing what is best for children, fills the room. She says that her greatest accomplishment in education is building positive relationships between her students and the entire school community. Creating a naturalistic environment for her students and teaching them that the world around them is a safe place to be is providing her students a vital opportunity to learn. In addition, said Sarah, “The students in my classroom have taught everyone in Oak Valley’s school community far more than we could ever teach them. They have taught us acceptance and tolerance of differences and provided opportunities for students and staff to learn and understand how to better communicate with people with autism, and in turn to better communicate with each other.”
Oak Valley Principal Sonya Wrisley enthusiastically agrees, “Sarah is phenomenal! Not only is she completely devoted to her autistic students, she is also very committed to helping all students in our school. Her enthusiasm and positive attitude toward our special needs students has spread to the teachers and students of Oak Valley. Our students have become kinder and more compassionate, especially when they interact with our special needs students.
Sarah’s students surprise her by their reaction to their interactions with others. One student who is most sensitive to sound decided to take off his headphones to hear the applause of the crowd at an assembly. One of the parents was so happy that for the first time this Christmas her son sat on the couch and interacted with his family instead of staying in his room alone with the lights off.
Sarah’s students work on their academic goals with middle school students assigned to her class as teacher assistants. These students are educated about autism by Sarah and, most importantly, learn how to communicate with people with autism. They are trained as to how to work with autistic students on their academic goals. Presently, 15 students work as teaching assistants. Principal Wrisley says what is really remarkable is the way Sarah has several at risk students as teaching assistants and how she and her students are changing their attitudes toward school and learning. Sarah teaches the general education classes on the Oak Valley campus about successful strategies for communicating with the students when they see them on campus. Sarah said, “Before coming into the profession I had only worked with one person with autism. I think in the long run my “lack of experience” has been a benefit. I wasn’t concerned with what my students shouldn’t do, I just expected they could.”
Sarah’s warmth and caring is very much who she is 24/7. She has volunteered at Cedar Sinai Hospital spending time and caring for children with terminal cancer. For six years he was a member of the National Charity League, completing over 1000 hours of volunteer service, while holding leadership positions of president, vice-president, and treasurer. She has also volunteered at a group home for people with disabilities, a rest home for the elderly, and at an elementary school where she initiated activities and community outings for students to provide respite for parents. Twice a week, Sarah teaches therapeutic riding for children with disabilities in Del Mar. Sarah’s commitment to help others reached into her personal life last year when she became a single parent, adopting three children whose home environment had been filled with increasing challenges.
Sarah graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Diversified Liberal Arts and a Masters of Education in Moderate/Severe Special Education from University of San Diego, where she participated in research as a fellowship student for two years. Sarah is pursuing her doctorate in Educational Leadership. She taught at Mesa Verde Middle School for two years before coming to Oak Valley Middle School. At Oak Valley she is the co-advisor to the Associate Student Body (ASB).
