Speech at 1999 Wake County Teacher of the Year Award Ceremony
Given by Kim Hughes, Wake County's 1998 Teacher of the Year and the 1999 NC Teacher of the Year
Good evening! I am honored and delighted to be with you tonight. Thank you, Dr. Surratt, and the TOY committee for this pleasure. The last time I stood at this podium was one year ago and I equated that evening to a fairy tale with genuine gratitude to WCPSS and its recognition of our teachers. Those of you who shared that evening with me may remember my fear that my "Cinderella" experience would end with my "carriage" turning to a pumpkin. Yet I am happy to report, that my year has been most gratifying. I have witnessed, first hand, the incredible dedication and devotion which drives the teachers, administrators and community leaders of this district to "do what is truly in the best interest of children". A special thank you to my colleagues of Fox Road for their on-going support and encouragement this year and to my family for their understanding and acceptance that the catalyst of my work fuels a passion within my soul to make a difference in the lives of children.
Congratulations to each of you representing your school tonight as their 1998-99 Teacher of the Year. Thank you for your tireless efforts to enrich the lives of young people and make a difference in tomorrow. Personally, the most significant part of the TOY process was the initial nomination from my Fox Road school family, my dedicated colleagues who live with me daily; each one contributing to the richness of my teaching. Your TOY nomination acknowledges outstanding leadership in your school and superior achievements in teaching. It provides a great sense of satisfaction as your creativity and expertise is truly transforming the future for children. Please remember, the title of "TOY" is truly attitude,…a state of mind if you will, representing all those educators who diligently and passionately support individualism and diversity. I continue to embrace the philosophy that we serve as ambassador's representing every educator who dedicates their energies and passion to the enrichment of young people's minds and spirits.
In preparing my remarks for tonight, I struggled with the content because teaching is SO important to me! Those of us, who choose a life in teaching, share ever-changing images filled with wonder and an abiding sense of challenge. For the past month I have reflected on this great perplexity. … (pause)
Well,…(pause)…I must confess, a couple of weeks ago, I was cruising down the highway in my Saturn (thanks Bill and Mike!), when a thread of memory emerged within my soul…and the passion for work began to weave a message of hopeful inspiration. It was a beautiful day, the sky was clear and Carolina blue,…the sun was shining when suddenly I felt like a teenager again. I slipped my favorite Carole King CD into the player and began to sing along at the top of my lungs. Then came the song, Tapestry, whose lyrics have always served as a gentle reminder of what teaching is for those who accept its "calling"...
"A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold
A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold…"
For you see, I view teaching as one might envision a tapestry - - woven with threads of odd size, unusual texture and unique color; twisted with ingenuity, perseverance and innovation plaited with determination, foresight, passion and knowledge. Success in our professional craft means accepting long hours, working until your fingers ache. Your mind begins to wander and your eyes tire, causing mistakes and forcing you rework large sections of the cloth. It is often tedious and demanding, confusing and uncertain, and yet it is as often creative and dazzling. Unexpected splashes of color can suddenly burst from its edges; unexpected patterns can materialize and supply the creation with a sense of purpose and possibility.
I find continuing fragments of my teaching contributions and accomplishments everywhere. I see it daily in the eyes of the young child experiencing the joy of knowledge as he mixes yellow and red to manufacture orange and in the exuberance of a beginning reader discovering that letters makes sounds, pictures give clues, and the world of a reader is a wonderful place to be. Carefully interweaving fosters a love of life-long learning and an excitement to build upon educational successes.
I remember DeQuan, a second year kindergartner who was labeled by his former teacher as a troubling distraction, an ultimate failure before the age of six. In my classroom, I struggled to find something of value in DeQuan that we could build on, something he cared about or longed for. I found it in his ability to recall literature, his capability to comprehend and extend the story's context. Naturally, he became a favorite facilitator of our kindergarten Literature Circles, thus enabling his peers a chance to pay closer attention to the meaning of the text. Together we worked and reworked his piece of cloth so he could experience "what could be", rather than "what was inevitable".
I feel the impact of my teaching when children I taught some 16 years ago and their families continue to be part of my life. Recently, Kelly contacted me to share the excitement of becoming a freshman majoring in education. The abused and neglected "Kelly" I first met as a four-year-old had little chance of a productive life. Her short lifetime had been filled with the monsters many of us pretend do not, cannot, exist in our world today. Continuous efforts to understand, support and guide her family led to success in breaking a family cycle of poverty, ignorance, under-education and low self-esteem. Today, Kelly's mom enjoys her work as a data technician for a large medical practice and Kelly delights in the never-ending possibilities she will enjoy as a college graduate..thus, another thread dazzles this never-ending teaching tapestry of mine.
This giving of oneself weaves a "each one, teach one" thread throughout our ever growing, always changing tapestry of teaching successes. Teaching is truly a woven act of construction and reconstruction, a gift we give to others which makes a difference in the lives of many and benefits our personal being each and every day.
Many other members of our Greater Raleigh community make daily differences in the lives of the children we serve. To those community leaders who make a commitment to excellence in education by reflecting on the question "Are we Equal Opportunity Educators?", I say THANK YOU!. These community leaders insist on consistency in educational opportunity and QUALITY of service by allocating supplemental fiscal resources, offering teachers training in technology and other areas, educating us about the "real-life" skills necessary for preparing tomorrow's superior worker and encouraging real community involvement with release time/ participation in mentoring and tutoring programs. Teachers appreciate these efforts.
Thanks go out to our legislators who look at the real world of tomorrow by discontinuing the ostrich approach, by getting all of our heads out of the sand and looking at what is, not what was, in regard to today's family dynamics, economic opportunities, diversity and societal trends. I am grateful to our Wake County Commissioners, the members of our Board of Education and other elected officials for their leadership in putting forth innovative initiatives and tackling controversial such as the upcoming School Bond Referendum..teachers applaud your courage and thank you for your global thinking.
Thank you to administrators who adopt a "Get Schools Ready for Children", rather than "Children must get ready for schools" philosophy thus celebrating the foundation the child initially brings to the school setting so we can construct a framework based on success rather than failure. We appreciate your leadership! Thank you to parents who become part of their child's school life by advocating for their child's social, emotional, academic and physical needs while building mutually beneficial home/school relationships. Teachers appreciate partnerships, which help children learn and grow.
But most important of all, THANK YOU to the outstanding educators sitting in this room tonight…those who insist on nothing but the best for their students. Those whom embrace the philosophy that advocating for the rights of children and "what is in their best interest" can be a lonely business, as risk taking and "coloring outside the line" create discomfort for many who expect students to conform to preconceived adult ideas. Congratulations to those of you who enjoy success and good favor from colleagues as a team player willing to share and support their growth; from parents as one whom fosters an open and honest home/school partnership and genuinely know and care about their child; from administrators as one whom can "talk the talk" AND "walk the walk"; and from your students because you believe education is adventurous and creative, exciting and inviting, open-ended and never-ending!
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; We've split the atom, but not our prejudice. These are the times of tall men, and short character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are times of world peace, but domestic warfare. These are the days of 2 incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes.
It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology brings us a world of information, and a time when we can choose to make a difference, or to just hit delete… Teaching is a tapestry, spectacularly unlimited, always challenging, rich in color and never boring. Teachers choose to teach as we want to share our lives with young people, to shape and touch the future. In return, we gain the satisfaction that our lives make a difference and are a masterpiece for a better tomorrow.