The Poway Unified School District proudly recognizes our teachers and announces that
Betsy Goff, Julie Goodwin, and Andrew Shean have been chosen as Poway Unified School District Teachers of the Year for 2008-2009 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.
Betsy Goff
Shoal Creek Elementary School
Second Grade Teacher
Elizabeth
(Betsy) Pletcher-Goff inspires her students to celebrate their strengths and
learn from each other. Through exciting lessons, differentiation, and
consistent intervention, she creates an atmosphere that fosters powerful
learners.
Betsy coaches
her students to be successful writers. Over the years, she has noticed that
children who were good writers often had parents who told good family or
make-believe stories. As a result, Betsy ensured that verbal storytelling
became an important part of the writing curriculum. A storyteller comes to the
classroom to teach her second graders the art of storytelling. The children
hear entertaining stories from Betsy’s own childhood and are encouraged to share
stories with each other. “Children need to know the sound of a good story in
order to write one,” said Betsy.
Betsy
believes that cultural literacy is important for well-educated students. After
reading a variety of multicultural fairy tales, students learn how to write
reports to represent their cultural backgrounds in the tales. Students research
their own country using maps, books, the internet, and family stories. A parent
or grandparent is invited to help each child present his/her report to the
class. Excitement grows in the class when the child and parent share their
personal culture using clothing, photos, stories, music, and more.
Art inspires
learning for Betsy’s students. As a result of her background in design, she
inspires writing through the use of art as a prewriting technique, teaches math
concepts using quilt blocks, and encourages scientific analysis by teaching
students to draw what they see. Last year, Betsy led a teacher in-service on
how to use a variety of art techniques and media to bring out the artistic
talent of students. Students created amazing artwork for Shoal Creek Elementary
School’s inaugural art auction.
Betsy is a
Westview High School choir and band booster, a Sunday school teacher, youth
group leader, and volunteer interior designer for St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church
in Rancho Peñasquitos.
Betsy
received her Bachelor of Science degree in Design from University of California,
Davis, and her Masters Degree in Literacy with emphasis in mathematical problem
solving from San Diego State University.
Julie Goodwin
Monterey Ridge Elementary School
Special Education Resource Specialist, Grades K-5
When asked,
“What are your greatest accomplishments in education?” Julie Goodwin notes that
in the area of Special Education great accomplishments are all relative, with
student success almost always at the center. She reflects on the success of a
student as well as on her students’ success on both state and districtwide
assessments.
Julie instructed
a student with Asperger’s Syndrome whom she describes as one of the most
brilliant and charismatic people she ever had the pleasure of knowing. He
independently wrote movie and comic scripts and created his own comic book
character at age five. After three years of working with this student, he
became very comfortable talking to Julie about his disability and how it affects
him daily. Together Julie and her student discussed what it was like to have a
disability that is often out of control. He was the first student Julie told
about her own life with ADHD.
“I will never
forget the look of relief on his face when he realized he was not alone,” said
Julie. “We decided that we were not going to let anything stop us from
achieving great things.” The student moved to a general education classroom at
the end of fourth grade and is currently attending High Tech Middle School.
Julie is confident that someday she will witness him accepting his first Oscar
on live television.
Julie’s goal is
to make students feel confident and successful no matter how big or small the
task at hand. At Creekside Elementary School, the Special Education students
achieved 27 points of growth in English/Language Arts and 19 points in
mathematics, in one year, on the California State Test (CST). They are the
highest performing group of special education students in PUSD. Julie feels
strongly that they approached their tests with the confidence that they could do
anything. The group continued to make steady progress in the following two
years.
While attending
graduate school, Julie taught in a residential lock-down facility for sixth
through twelfth graders who experienced severe emotional disturbances and had
been rejected from juvenile hall. Julie said this is where she gained a great
amount of experience in behavior modification and multicultural education.
For the past
eight years, Julie has been married to an active duty Marine. She is a sounding
board, resource, and supporter of students and families of active duty military
personnel serving from San Diego. Currently, Julie is training for her third
“Ironman” Triathlon. She has raced for, and supported, local charities such as
The Race for Autism and the Challenged Athletes Foundation. She
has also coached competitive and private soccer for local clubs and players, and
has organized and participated in school-wide soccer and basketball tournaments.
Julie received
her Bachelor of Science degree in Allied Health Science Studies from Quinnipiac
University in Hamden, Connecticut. She received her Masters Degree in Special
Education with a minor in English as a Second Language and Elementary Education
pedagogy from Texas A&M University.
Andrew Shean
Abraxas High School
English Teacher
Andrew Shean
describes his work at Abraxas High School as being part of a culture, family,
and community that transforms lives. He accompanied hundreds of students
through educational journeys that were complicated by addiction, family
problems, and failure to thrive within the educational system. Andrew helped
them walk out as different people than when they came to Abraxas. “It is about
more than academics here, it is sometimes about saving a life,” Andrew wrote in
his nomination form.
“I am very
proud that every week students from prior years return to visit and share their
successes,” Andrew said. “It makes me proud to see them proud of themselves.”
Andrew
strives to motivate his students using technology, literature, and real-world
experiences to encourage student success. He developed a Wikipedia page for his
English students that is now completely designed and supported by the students.
Through web design, video editing, digital storytelling, guest speakers, and
field trips, Andrew enhances student opportunities to connect with problem
solving, fields of interest, careers, and colleges.
He serves as
advisor/coach of the Abraxas student flag football team that competes against
other continuation high schools, stressing team work and pride in Abraxas High.
He began a partnership with Highland Ranch Elementary School where Abraxas
English students travel to a fifth grade classroom to teach students how to
create their own web page. Their next visit will feature creating a wiki.
Andrew was
instrumental in Abraxas High School attaining Model Continuation High School
status, which the school received this year (1 out of 13 schools in
California). He has demonstrated an intense commitment to Abraxas students and
staff by chairing the Western Association of School and Colleges (WASC)
committee this year.
Andrew
developed and aligned the High School Exit Exam Test Prep, Career English, and
English II courses utilizing online resources. He has conducted training for
Abraxas staff in Learning Point and UnitedStreaming, and in other technological
areas. The staff finds these in-service sessions informative and entertaining.
Andrew was selected to represent his school on the PUSD Integration of
Technology Strategic Planning Committee.
Andrew has
volunteered for Habitat for Humanity in Nogales, Mexico, and Jacksonville,
Florida, and helped families during the last wildfire. He also spends countless
hours beyond the regular school day mentoring Abraxas students and helping them
with daily life issues.
Andrew is an
Adjunct Professor at Alliant International University, where he has taught
courses in leadership, counseling, and utilizing technology.
Andrew
received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology of Education and his Masters
of Arts degree in Special Education from the University of Northern Colorado.
He received his Doctorate of Educational Leadership (Ed.D.) with an emphasis in
Curriculum Development and Administration from Alliant International University.
