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For a complete list of Teachers of the Year for individual
school, click here.
With more than 8,000 outstanding educators
in the Cobb County School District, it has become an annual
tradition to recognize a Teacher of the Year for each academic
level and to give the district-wide honor to one of those
three unique teachers. The District is honored to name Ms.
Jan Bernard of Bullard Elementary School, Mrs. Helen
Arrington of Daniell Middle School, and Mrs. Diana
Lossner of Pope High School as the 2005-2006 Cobb County
Teachers of the Year.
Jan Bernard, third grade teacher at
Bullard Elementary, searches for the elements in the
curriculum that can capture the eyes, ears, and minds of her
young students. “I know that my students sit up and take
notice when something ‘special’ is on for the day,” Ms.
Bernard said. Whether the subject is earthworms or economics,
Ms. Bernard has found ways to engage the children at Bullard
with a personal, hands-on perspective. Her 21 years of
teaching began in Ohio in 1970 and she joined Cobb at Addison
Elementary in 1991, staying with the District for more than a
decade. Ms. Bernard earned a Bachelor’s degree from Bowling
Green University in 1971 and furthered her education with a
Master’s degree from Kennesaw State in 1997.
Ms. Bernard begins every day at Bullard
renewing a promise she made to herself as a teacher: “I would
only do it (teaching) if it could be different from what I had
experienced. I wouldn’t undermine any child. I wouldn’t let
the quiet, compliant, ordinary kid blend into the background.
And I’d never cause any child to fear coming to school….it was
a solemn promise, one that I still keep in my mind each day,
every year.”
Middle school honoree Helen Arrington
spent a number of years as a chemist, living as an expatriate
in Saudi Arabia, and taking time to raise a family before
answering the call to teach. “Volunteering, teaching Sunday
school and, later, substitute teaching showed me that I
enjoyed being around children,” Ms. Arrington said. All five
years of her teaching experience have been at Daniell Middle
where she teaches 7th grade life science and pre-algebra. She
feels that her self-described “kooky sense of humor” and
unique approaches to the curriculum help make the connection
with kids. Ms. Arrington puts her energy into ensuring that
her students truly absorb the material. She notes, “I begin my
units with the end in mind – What do they need to know? How
will they show me they know it, and can I find a lab so the
students can figure out the concepts themselves?”
Ms. Arrington earned her Bachelor’s degree
in Biology from Agnes Scott College in 1981 and her field
experience as a chemist, paired with a 2000 degree in Middle
Grades Education from Kennesaw State University, helped
prepare her for the classroom. Ms. Arrington expressed her
philosophy about professional learning: “It astonished me the
first time I heard a teacher say, ‘I never use what they
taught me in teacher school.’ I disagree. I admit, I love to
learn, and that must make a difference.”
A 27-year veteran, Pope High’s Diana
Lossner began her career in the Knoxville, Tenn. area. She
has taught students at a variety of levels in both public and
private schools, but joined Cobb in 1985 and never looked
back. She attained her Master’s in Education in Mathematics
from Georgia State University in 1997 and is currently
pursuing a doctorate degree in Teaching and Learning.
Ms. Lossner feels that her greatest
contribution to the classroom is “equipping students with the
ability to solve any problem, regardless of the difficulty,
using a variety of methods.” According to Ms. Lossner, helping
students develop thinking skills provides them with a variety
of ways to arrive at solutions, which helps them not only in
math, but in other disciplines. She also values the training
and encouragement she provides to her fellow teachers. In
addition to being the “go-to person” for mathematics,
statistics, or calculator problems, Ms. Lossner leads school
and District workshops and serves on the statistics textbook
adoption and curriculum committees.
The Cobb County School District began
recognizing Teachers of the Year for all three levels in 2004,
providing an opportunity to recognize more than one
outstanding educator and allowing the honorees to showcase the
unique talents and skills needed at each academic level.
The teaching staffs at each school select
their own Teacher of the Year who is, in turn, nominated for
the district-wide honor. Each application is read and rated
independently by a committee of administrators. The
highest-rated applicants from elementary, middle, and high
schools become the Teachers of the Year. The District Teacher
of the Year is chosen from among the three finalists through a
comprehensive set of interviews and classroom observations and
will be announced in a surprise ceremony on Friday, Sept. 9. |
