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BLUFFDALE -- A Utah teacher is winning top honors for her work in the classroom. She's been selected as one of five teachers from across the country to receive the Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence.
We've all been there: right angles, obtuse and acute angles. So what's Karen Gorringe's angle?
"Anytime you can bring in all those different senses to help them remember, that's going to make your teaching the best," she says.
The Bluffdale Elementary School teacher uses narratives, pictures, whatever it takes to really help her sixth-grade class learn. Thursday, in geometry, it was physical movement. The students made 90-degree angles with their arms, and listened to a story about a castle and a king.
"She takes kids and gives them the gift of ‘I believe.' She's great in the class," says Bluffdale Elementary Principal Ken Westwood.
Back in May, Gorringe was nominated for the Horace Mann Award for teaching excellence for the entire state of Utah. Then she got the call she'd made the top 10.
Gorringe flew to Washington, D.C., to present a lesson for a tough panel of judges, and went through a 45-minute interview.
At the start of this school year, she learned she won -- along with four other teachers in the country.
"I feel so honored to have this opportunity. I'm so honored to represent such a vast field of qualified professionals," Gorringe says.
For now, it's back to the regular classroom; but she'll be back in D.C. in February. One of the five finalists will go on to win an additional award.
As for Gorringe, she says she's not nervous. As far as she's concerned, she's already won.
"I absolutely love what I do," she says. "Teaching, for me, I never had a bad day."
Gorringe won money for her school, as well as $10,000 dollars for herself. She plans to use it to get her master's degree.
Meanwhile, Bluffdale Elementary has another reason to celebrate. Another teacher there was named Jordan School District's Teacher of the Year.
Megan Smith teaches fifth grade. Her principal says she's a wonderful educator and mentor, and is quick to brush off the praise.
"I think wherever you go, you're going to find excellent teachers. In our building, we just happen to have two," Smith says. "When I think about this award, I really think about and remember all the people who helped me get to this point."
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
