Teachers honored for making impact

The teacher reception was a simple ‘thank you’ for a job well done.

BY HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Sometimes teachers never know the impact they have on their pupils.

For about 230 Youngstown city school teachers, that question was answered Wednesday by the pupils themselves.

The teachers were recognized at a Youngstown Best Academic Practice Classroom Teachers reception at Youngstown State University’s Kilcawley Center.

They were selected for the honor by pupils who have achieved in the classrooms of the city school district.

Some 600 essays were recently written by pupils who held at least a 3.0 grade point average on the topics of academic achievement and what teacher influenced them the most.

Those essays resulted in the selection of some 230 teachers as offering the best academic practices in the district, said Jimma McWilson, president and chief executive officer of FAMILY Empowerment Student Achievement Institute, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering families in relation to the education of their children.

“It’s the greatest honor for me,” said Mary Whiteleather, a fourth-grade teacher at Kirkmere Elementary School whose name is on the best-practices list.

“I want to touch someone in the classroom,” she said, adding that apparently she has succeeded.

Elizabeth Warrick, who taught fourth and sixth grades but resigned from the district this year as she is relocating, came back for the ceremony because she, too, had made the list.

You never know when a teacher affects a life, Warrick said, noting that the pupils who nominated her are now in high school.

“You see that you make a difference,” she said.

“I think it’s a dream come true for a teacher,” said Janet Vagas, a third-grade teacher at Kirkmere. “You hope every day to make an impact in the classroom,” she said, noting that she still doesn’t know who nominated her for the best-practices list.

McWilson said the reception was a simple “thank you” to dedicated and caring teachers who have made a difference in someone’s life.

The teachers were asked to fill out a piece of paper before they left, answering the question, “What can we, the community and families, do to help you and our students do an even better job?”

It’s part of a continuing effort to stress academic achievement in the city schools, McWilson said.

The Higher Education Resource Support Network, the Africana Studies Department and the Office of Associate Degree and Tech Prep Programs, both at YSU, helped sponsor the event.

Past best-practices celebrations have honored pupils and parents.

gwin@vindy.com